Hello everyone, hope you’re all healthy.
We are considering the best way to cover our terrace, which will be built in 4 weeks. The terrace size is about 7 x 4 m (23 x 13 ft). Our garden faces south, so we definitely need sun protection. The terrace will run along the entire side of the house next to the bay window, that is about 7 m (23 ft) wide and 4 m (13 ft) deep.
At first, we thought about an awning, 6 x 4 m (20 x 13 ft). But then a friend suggested a fixed sunshade with a louvered roof. The problem is: we have a bay window on the left, then a terrace door of 2 m (6.5 ft) width, and a 2 m (6.5 ft) wide window. To avoid an unbalanced look, the whole 7 m (23 ft) width between the bay window and the right corner of the house should be covered, but that gets quite expensive with a louvered roof – over 15,000 euros. Also, a local company said it’s difficult to get that wide. They offer intermediate sizes of 4.09 m (13 ft 5 in), 5.09 m (16 ft 8 in), and 5.98 m (19 ft 7 in) width. But these options always cut through a window or look awkward somehow.
An awning would be simpler and cost about 3,000 euros, but for example, if it rains a little, the awning doesn’t offer protection. We are absolute outdoor enthusiasts and always spend a lot of time outside during summer.
Do you have any ideas on how to best solve this? What could be done? Maybe something completely different? We also thought about a roof made of translucent photovoltaic panels, as we might want to cover our main roof fully with them later. We feel overwhelmed and unsure...
Attached are some pictures of the house.
Thanks and best regards,
Chewbacca123
We are considering the best way to cover our terrace, which will be built in 4 weeks. The terrace size is about 7 x 4 m (23 x 13 ft). Our garden faces south, so we definitely need sun protection. The terrace will run along the entire side of the house next to the bay window, that is about 7 m (23 ft) wide and 4 m (13 ft) deep.
At first, we thought about an awning, 6 x 4 m (20 x 13 ft). But then a friend suggested a fixed sunshade with a louvered roof. The problem is: we have a bay window on the left, then a terrace door of 2 m (6.5 ft) width, and a 2 m (6.5 ft) wide window. To avoid an unbalanced look, the whole 7 m (23 ft) width between the bay window and the right corner of the house should be covered, but that gets quite expensive with a louvered roof – over 15,000 euros. Also, a local company said it’s difficult to get that wide. They offer intermediate sizes of 4.09 m (13 ft 5 in), 5.09 m (16 ft 8 in), and 5.98 m (19 ft 7 in) width. But these options always cut through a window or look awkward somehow.
An awning would be simpler and cost about 3,000 euros, but for example, if it rains a little, the awning doesn’t offer protection. We are absolute outdoor enthusiasts and always spend a lot of time outside during summer.
Do you have any ideas on how to best solve this? What could be done? Maybe something completely different? We also thought about a roof made of translucent photovoltaic panels, as we might want to cover our main roof fully with them later. We feel overwhelmed and unsure...
Attached are some pictures of the house.
Thanks and best regards,
Chewbacca123
H
hampshire9 Apr 2020 21:01When it comes to the best shading, a dense canopy of leaves is hard to beat – and sitting beneath it is enjoyable for anyone who can accept that a plant may lose its leaves.
A pergola with wisteria, grapevines, or similar plants is great but requires something to grow on. Chestnut and plane trees also provide excellent shade – the latter can be trained as a espalier.
A pergola with wisteria, grapevines, or similar plants is great but requires something to grow on. Chestnut and plane trees also provide excellent shade – the latter can be trained as a espalier.
Hello, we have a classic wooden and metal roof structure measuring 7 x 4.30 meters (South side). The four concrete columns for it were already installed during the house construction. The natural light inside is absolutely not an issue, neither in winter nor even more so in summer. However, we have additional windows on the East side. The cost for the roof (excluding columns) was about 8000 EUR. We also received around 800 EUR back from the tax authorities for labor costs.
chewbacca1239 Apr 2020 22:15hampshire schrieb:
When it comes to the best shading, good foliage is unbeatable – and sitting underneath it is enjoyable for anyone who can accept that a plant may shed leaves occasionally. A pergola with wisteria, grapevines, or similar is great but needs something to climb on. Chestnut and plane trees also provide excellent shade – the latter can be trained as a espalier. Yes, trees are always great, you’re absolutely right.
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Pinkiponk10 Apr 2020 09:20I have chosen and will always choose an option that offers the highest level of flexibility, so no permanent extension.
Have you completed your garden planning, planned a pond, etc., and what does your surrounding space look like? How large is your property? I ask because it might be another option to use sun sails and umbrellas directly at the house and set up a gazebo or something similar elsewhere.
Apart from that, I would not appreciate a bedroom with little or limited natural light. For me, it’s wonderful to wake up in the morning, raise the blinds, and have sunlight flood the room from all directions. Also, it’s important when you are bedridden.
Have you completed your garden planning, planned a pond, etc., and what does your surrounding space look like? How large is your property? I ask because it might be another option to use sun sails and umbrellas directly at the house and set up a gazebo or something similar elsewhere.
Apart from that, I would not appreciate a bedroom with little or limited natural light. For me, it’s wonderful to wake up in the morning, raise the blinds, and have sunlight flood the room from all directions. Also, it’s important when you are bedridden.
Diffused light also works with a glass roof. Hardly any light is lost; in our case, I don’t notice any difference compared to having no roof at all (and it’s a fully south-facing side).
We definitely want our second terrace to be covered. A nice steel frame, then completely covered with climbing plants... We would like to have grapevines, but we don’t want all the wasps, so we’ll see what we finally decide. Really great, but for my main terrace, I wouldn’t want that... too inflexible.
We definitely want our second terrace to be covered. A nice steel frame, then completely covered with climbing plants... We would like to have grapevines, but we don’t want all the wasps, so we’ll see what we finally decide. Really great, but for my main terrace, I wouldn’t want that... too inflexible.