A pair of Coolaroo Shade Sails set up for our summer camps.
Coolaroo Shade Sails
We bought 2 of the 16' 5" shade sails for our summer camp programs to provide additional shading. My one worry about them was having to take them down before every storm so they would not be damaged. As it turned out, less than a week after putting them up, we had a microburst type storm and I was not there to take them down. The storm knocked down several trees in our complex and sent a branch through a windshield in an adjacent parking lot. Upon inspecting them after the storm they were none the worse for wear. After that I never worried about leaving them up. It is important to note that the shade sails where anchored correctly to strong attachment points.
Before You Order
Supplied Coolaroo hardware.
To avoid any surprises I would recommend looking up the exact dimensions of the shade sail you want to order and then lay out the dimensions on the ground where you want the shade. In our case even though a 17' shade sail seemed huge, once we marked out the dimensions on the ground we knew it would be too small and ended up ordering 2 of them.
Dimensions and available shapes for the shade sails are available here.
Another consideration is attachment points. Coolaroo emphasizes that the attachment points must be structurally sound. It would be a good idea to look through the coolaroo installation instructions and then look at the area where you want to install the shade sail. If 3 or 4 posts are needed to be installed to support the sail it could add significantly to the final cost.
Cable is also not supplied with the shade sail. While some online reviews complained about this they can't really be expected to supply a quantity that would fit everyone's needs. That said, the amount of cable needed to install the shade sails can also add significantly to the cost of the installation. Coolaroo customer service recommended 1/8" stainless steel cable which is pricey stuff so figure how much you would need when considering costs of the installation.
Online Reviews and Info
There are numerous reviews of the shade sails on Amazon with average an impressive 4.5 out 5 stars.
There are also a good number of reviews on Buzzillions which also average 4.5 out 5 stars.
Epinions also has a review of the shade sail that is well written and positive.
Key Points:
- Lay out according to dimensions of sail before ordering. The actual shaded area will be slightly smaller.
- Figure out how you will support the shade sail also before ordering.
- There are a lot of great colors available for the smaller size shade sails but the large 17' triangles were only available in a limited selection.
- The hardware supplied is high quality. I can not say this definitively but I doubt a lesser priced shade sail would have hardware of the same caliber.
- While the shade sails block the sun they do not block water. Do not get them if you are looking for rain protection also. This actually can be a good thing as if they collected water they could put a huge strain on the attachment points.
- Our shade sails were up for the whole summer and stayed clean and presentable. There was no mold or discoloration noted at all. This was also stated by several of the online reviewers.
- Overall, going by our experience and the large quantity of positive online reviews, an excellent product.