There are four common questions around Brisbane on shade sails performance.

1. Will my possessions get adequate sun protection?
2. Will the sail be okay in high winds?
3. Will the sail protect my car from bat faeces and leaves?
4. Will the sun shade protect my car from large hail and storms?

The short answer is YES to all four. However, today’s blog will focus on Bullet point # 4

Will the shade sail protect my car / vehicles from large hail and storms?

Let’s start with Queensland’s summer storm season. What the weather has thrown at us here in South East Queensland has been unpredictable, hence the need for insurance policies and a need to have one eye on the Bureau of Meteorology throughout the storm season.

Talking with residents from Algester, Salisbury, Parkinson, Browns Plains, Calamvale Sunnybank, Sunnybank Hills, Runcorn, Heathwood, Stretton, Regents Park and Greenbank they have a belief that they are in a zone where they will get the brunt of the storms, and appear to be more prepared than other areas.

A few years ago we had a massive storm that ravaged Brisbane CBD and its surrounds, and few years before we received one mighty storm in The Gap. Needless to say the storms have a few things in common, they are ever present in summer: they often bring destructive winds and large hail stones, but where they strike, is largely unpredictable.

Storm Preparation:

Many people ask me if they should take a shade sail down in the event of a storm. The reality is that most people don’t get that chance as they are tied up with work or are out and about. A lot of household sails are there to protect us and our possessions such as cars, so it wouldn’t make much sense to take them down. A lot of my customers are inexperienced in taking shade sails down so attempting to take down a sail with a storm looming, may be an unsafe option.

My new customers often underestimate Superior Shade Sails POWER. The first thing they underestimate is the size and depth of the hole we make for a basic sail, let alone a commercial sail which complies to Australian Engineering Standards. Superior Shade Sails will comfortably take out 3-4 barrows of soil per hole for domestic jobs. Note: some of our customers ask us to leave all the soil from the entire job in just one wheelbarrow.

The Bursting Pressure of the Superior Shade Sails fall between 2500kpa and 4750kpa. Shade Sails bursting refers to the sheer weight applied to them, Shade Sails are very, very hard to break as I am yet to see one of our sails burst. There is a long term customer in Darra who has experienced the 316 Stainless Steel perimeter breaking on many occasions without the sail itself bursting. It is suspected that a group of kids dangerously tested the breaking strain when no one was present.

If you have had a look at the storm video on Superior Shade Sails website, you will notice hail the size of tennis balls hitting the shade sail and once they hit the shade sail they roll off. Hence the set up or design of your sun shade sail is critical to how your shade sail performs in storm conditions. It is important for material such as hail or leaves to be able to escape without human intervention.

Do you have sufficient protection for you boats caravans and vehicles. If not will your insurance cover any damage, if so, how much will you pay for your insurance access and what is the real cost of having a vehicle off of the road? These are real questions you need to ask yourself.

Last year I quoted a customer in Parkinson around August for carport shade sails. I didn’t hear from him for 2-3 months, he called me up the following day after a big storm where his two cars each 20K+ were written off. He asked ‘how quickly can you erect my Carport Shade Sail’? Needless to say the horse had bolted, and he had to wait months and months for the cars to be fixed.

Superior Shade Sail Turnbuckles have hooks at either end, and appear upside down. Hence if you see a job with hook hook turnbuckles upside down there is a good chance it was designed and built by Superior Shade Sails.

What is the reason for placing your hook hooks upside down, well last year one of my jobs in Heathwood during a violent storm was struck by a big branch off  a gum tree around 5 meters long, and 150mm in diameter. The branch fell and hit the sail connected with a Pro Rig hook hook. Luckily for the customer it saved his fence and only minor damage was done to the shade sail. The turnbuckle was rated to 800kg breaking load and bent flat on impact, the branch and hook safely fell to the ground and the post set in concrete didn’t move, which as I see it was a perfect outcome.

When the hook is attached to the sail, and it comes adrift from post, it will also dislodge from the sail due to its upside down position, making the sail/area safe.

Hence Safety is built-in to Superior Shade Sails Designs and its attachments, which is just another reason to choose Superior Shade Sails when you are looking for your 1st or 21st shade sail.