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How to Install a Shade Sail on Your Patio, Balcony or Deck in Under 30 Minutes!

 

The Rail-EZ mounting system offers a nonpermanent solution for installing a Shade Sail on your deck, balcony, or patio. Unlike traditional methods, it doesn't require erecting permanent poles or posts, nor does it involve pouring concrete or permanently affixing posts to your railing. The best part? You don't have to worry about rot or rust during the winter. At the end of the season, you can easily take it down and store it without taking up much space!

Setting up the Shade Sail with the Rail-EZ is SUPER Fast and EASY

Choose the right size and shape Shade Sail to get perfect shade coverage for the small or narrow decks you can by rectangle or triangle sales, you can even overlap them. For bigger decks, you just need to buy a bigger shade sail and again, you can layer a few.   Rule of thumb is to measure the size of your deck space you want covered and subtract 6-12 inches from that as you want about a foot of rope between the pole and the sail to get good tension 

There are a lot of choices for poles, you just need to make sure they are 1.5 inches or smaller in diameter, to fit in the Rail-EZ holder.

We bought 10 foot Chain Link fence Top rails, you can get them in Galvanized or black finish. We also picked up some pole connectors to use as caps. 
You can also use a metal Closet rod and simple "Hinge Pin Clips" as shown in this video below. 

BONUS: DIY hack on how to get the drill a hole and get it perfectly on center in this video :) 

How To Create Quick Release Ropes for Your Shade Sail 


The Shade Sails we used came from Amazon, but you can also get them from other online stores such as Wayfair.  We decided on one triangle and one rectangle to overlap and add some interest :)

What we love is the flexibility,  we can decide to put them up and 10 min later we have a Deck/ Patio Shade Sail for complete shade coverage!  The best part is it’s non-permanent, we can take the whole setup down in under 5 minutes! 

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SKILL LEVEL: EASY

MATERIALS LIST

TOOLS LIST

  • Screwdriver

STEPS

1. Layout your Shade Sail(s) to the ideal configuration to get best shade 

2. Attach the rope to your shade sail in all corners making sure to leave enough rope to secure it. 

TIP: Shade Sails look good with at least a foot of rope between the anchor point and the Sail, its what gives it that unique look you don't get from a standard awning., 

 3. Screw the D-Rings into the wall or soffit high enough up leave clearance for the Shade Sail 

4. Attach the cleat to the wall so you can have a place to easily tie and untie the rope. 

5. Set your Rail-EZ units up with the instructions provided, the are moveable so you can just play with the spacing on the railing to find the best spot to hold your Shade Sail Poles. 

6. Decide how you want to attach the rope to your pole. You can use the Cap method or a simple Hinge Pin Clip as shown in the video above. 

7. Insert your Poles in the Rail-EZ holder and tighten the tension knob. If you want a really tight pressure fit, lift up on the Rail-EZ top plate before you tighten the tension knob and it will give you extra downward pressure where the pole meets the floor or deck. You can also use the Rail-EZ Bottom Bracket for additional support 

8. String your ropes on the corners of your Shade Sail through D-rings attached to the wall and secure the rope by wrapping it around the cleat on the wall

8. On the other corners of the Shade Sail, thread the rope through the pole caps and hoist the sail!

Tie off the the rope on the Rail-EZ side by looping it around the tension knob or the eyebolt you installed on the pole. 

Enjoy your new Shade Sail!!