Our winter awning - awning for the wet, German winter
What am I missing on German winter? The snow is not - we can go there. Even Carlsfeld and Amselbach in the Erzgebirge probably have enough snow every winter. Am I missing the cold? No - you only have to wait 20 minutes in Berlin for the S-Bahn. Then it gets cold enough.
What is missing then? The light!
Because of the heather in the flower box, the awning still protrudes a bit beyond the balcony. It's getting darker than it already is. It has been raining every second or third day for weeks? Already back in the living room!
The balcony faces to the east side. With slightly cantilevered awning one feels already between 13 and 14 o'clock the evening come. Actually, only the northern lights are missing.
So the idea came to me:
We need more light on the eastern side in winter! However, the balcony must be protected against heavy rain, snow.
After a short search on the web I found different materials. First of all, I thought of underpants (usual under the roof). Greenhouse films, however, are much more translucent and perhaps (?) Better UV resistant.
My careful choice fell on grid foil with nail edge. The edge reinforcement seemed to me the safest solution in view of the ausfasernden ribbon fabric of the existing awning, even if it visually still seems to be in need of improvement.
The material was quite easy to cut and sew. Of course, with the color matching (multiply torn) sewing thread. On the cloth shaft (horizontally, above), I have attached the grid foil as well as any awning cloth, with small screws and washers.
If you leave the film at these fasteners a little longer, the protruding film can be rolled up with. The fasteners are additionally secured by the remaining, later unrolled film layer.
The so-called downpipe (horizontal, bottom) must be fixed evenly in an awning in the fabric. This is only possible if you make a kind of shell of 6 cm width. In this the "downpipe" is inserted. This can be screwed on both sides of the thin pivot arms.
Roll up once and roll in the overlapping foil! Everything OK.? And - the awning for the wet, German winter is ready.
P. S .: I sized my awning with about 185 cm so that I can roll the large, central awning roof also vertically up to the balcony railing. It should not be a conservatory, but if necessary almost snow and rain.
