Aluminium, start to finish
Aluminium Awnings
Extruded frame, colour baked into the metal, gutter built into the beam. Nothing to rust, nothing to varnish and nothing to repaint, on patios from Camps Bay to Kyalami since 1988.
23 baked-on colours
The material
The colour is baked in, not sprayed on
Every profile arrives pre-painted, with the colour baked onto the aluminium before it is cut to your measurements. There is no spray coat to chip off a corner and no primer to go chalky on the north side. All 23 colours cost the same, so matching the roof, the fascia or the window frames is a decision, not an upgrade.
Aluminium also does not rust, which is the whole argument at the coast. Salt air will lift paint off a steel frame and then start on the metal underneath. It leaves aluminium alone, which is why almost everything we have fitted along the Atlantic seaboard and the Garden Route is built from it. Inland the argument is hail and a Highveld storm season, and the answer is the same metal.
- 10-year guarantee on materials, 1 year on workmanship
- No repainting, ever: the finish is the metal, not a coat on top of it
- Colour-matched to your roof, fascias or window frames at no extra cost
Owner-designed frame
The frame
The beam that holds the roof up also carries the water
Most suppliers bolt a splash tray under the join between the house and the awning and hope for the best. Ours does not need one. Albert van Wyk designed the frame so the profile carrying the roof is the same profile carrying the run-off: water comes out of the existing house gutter, moves through the frame, and drops down a downpipe tucked against a post.
You notice the difference five winters later, on the back wall of the house, where there are no streaks.
How the frame and fascia workThree aluminium ranges
Which aluminium awning suits the job
All three are overhead structures in the same aluminium, the same colours and the same guarantee. What separates them is what happens to the light underneath.
Louvre awnings
A roof of blades on a gearbox: open to 82° for winter sun, closed and rain-tight in a turn and a half.
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Aluminium fixed IBR
Baked aluminium IBR sheeting on an engineered frame. Nothing moves, nothing to service, covered the moment it rains.
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Patio ceilings
The same solid cover, finished underneath as one flat plane with the downlighters recessed and the gutter hidden.
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Two of our ranges are aluminium frames carrying fabric rather than an aluminium roof, and they are worth knowing about before you decide. Folding arm awnings extend for shade and fold flat against the wall when you want open sky. Drop blinds do nothing overhead at all: they close the open sides of a patio against a southeaster or the late sun coming in sideways.
Where they go
What people put them over
The frame is made for the opening it has to cover, so the same system goes over a side door and over a restaurant terrace. These are the six jobs it comes in for most.
Patios and braai areas
The bulk of what we build. The frame is assembled on site, so a built-in braai, a jacuzzi or a tree in the wrong place gets worked around rather than removed.
Balconies and upstairs terraces
Aluminium is light, which matters when the cover has to be carried up and fixed on an existing balcony. Up here access usually decides the price more than the size does.
Poolside
Shade over the loungers without a permanent dark patch on the water, and a roof that keeps the paving from turning into a skating rink in the rain.
Front doors and walkways
Small covers over an entrance, a side door or the run between the house and the garage: enough to stand under with the shopping while you find the keys.
Windows taking the afternoon sun
A west-facing window heats the room behind it for three hours a day in summer. An awning over the glass stops the sun before it gets in, and saves the curtains and the floors from bleaching.
Restaurants, lodges and complexes
Terraces, walkways and matching covers across a body corporate. Wind-loading documentation for the plans and the trustees comes with the quote on request.
Compared with the alternatives
Aluminium against timber, steel and fabric
Every one of these gets built in South African gardens and every one of them works on day one. The differences show up in year five, and they are mostly differences in what you have to do to it.
| Structure | Upkeep | Near the sea | Finish | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminium | Rinse it. There is nothing to sand, oil or repaint. | Does not rust | Colour baked into the metal, 23 shades, guaranteed 10 years | Gutter and downpipes built into the frame |
| Timber | Sealer or varnish every year or two, and more often on the sunny side | Swells, greys and splits; borer inland | Warm, and worth it if you will keep up with the maintenance | Slats dapple light; a solid roof has to be added over the top |
| Steel | Watch the welds and the fixings, then touch up and repaint | Rusts, and paint failure starts at the edges | Powder coating chips on corners and shows the repair | Depends entirely on the roof sheeting specified |
| Shade cloth & canvas | Retension it, and replace the fabric when the UV has had it | Frame rusts before the fabric goes, if the frame is steel | Cheapest way to shade a set area | Sun and light rain only; take it in before a real storm |
- Engineered for South African wind zones: spans, fixings and supports are specified for your site's exposure in line with SANS 10160 wind-loading principles, with documentation for commercial and body-corporate projects on request.
- One accountable installer. We measure, manufacture and fit with our own teams, no subcontractors, so the quote you sign is the price you pay.
- Free on-site quote: a consultant measures your space and quotes in writing, with no obligation.
Good to know
Aluminium awnings: common questions
Is aluminium strong enough, or should it be steel?
Strength is a question about the section and the span, not only the metal. We size the profile, the posts and the fixings to the opening and to your site's wind exposure, in line with SANS 10160 wind-loading principles, and we can supply the documentation for plans or trustees. Where a steel structure gets its strength from mass it also gets a maintenance schedule: welds to watch, edges to touch up, a repaint on the cards. Aluminium arrives at the same strength and then asks for nothing.
Will the colour fade?
The colour is baked onto the aluminium at the mill rather than sprayed on afterwards, which is why we can guarantee the materials for ten years. There is no coat to chalk, chip or peel, and no point in the awning's life where repainting becomes a job you have to plan for.
Do aluminium awnings rust at the coast?
No. Aluminium does not rust, and that is the reason so much of what we have installed on the Atlantic seaboard, in Blouberg and along the Garden Route is aluminium rather than steel. Salt air is the hardest test a patio cover in this country gets, and it is the test that decides the material.
Can you match it to the house?
Yes, and it costs nothing extra. There are 23 baked-on colours and all of them are the same price, so we usually match the roof sheeting, the fascia boards or the window frames, whichever the eye reads first. Charcoal and white do most of the work, but a colour-matched cover is the difference between an addition and an alteration.
Do I need council approval?
Sometimes, and it depends on your municipality, the span and how the structure attaches to the house. Small covers over a door or a window are rarely an issue; a large freestanding structure or anything near a boundary often is. Your consultant will tell you which of the two you are dealing with on the site visit.
What does an aluminium awning cost?
It depends on the size, whether the roof is fixed or adjustable, what it fixes to and how easily material gets onto the site, so a rand-per-square-metre figure is misleading more often than it is useful. The comparison of our ranges shows how they sit relative to each other. The site visit and the written quote are free and carry no obligation, and that is the only number worth planning around.
Free consultation & quote
Request a free quote today.
Tell us what you have in mind and where you are. One of our own consultants (not a call centre) comes back to you, measures on site and quotes with no obligation.
Four branches nationwide
We service all areas in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria and on the Garden Route
Local teams measure, manufacture and fit from four branches: head office in Cape Town, plus Johannesburg, Pretoria and Wilderness.