Needed a Little Shade

Lisa L Hall
by Lisa L Hall
6 Materials
$120
1 Hour
Medium
I love to BBQ. In fact, I BBQ all year round. But in the winter the wind can be a bit icy and in the summer the sun comes right in on the BBQ and the patio. Nothing like needed a hot pad just to open the grill.

I knew I needed a drape, but after pricing out the rod and attachments, I was not about to pay that. There had to be an easier way to do this on a limited budget.

I would rather buy a nicer drape than throw $200.00 into the rod alone.

One trip to the hardware store and I was ready to go. The cost for the rod was under $25.00. I got everything I needed for the rod at the hardware store in the section for galvanized pipe. They sell the pipe, and all the attachments so you can put them together and see what they look like.

The drapes were my most expensive part at $100.00 but I wanted a thicker draper and also wanted to make sure it was weather proof. So I opted for something a little more pricey.

The best part about this project, all I needed as far as tools, was a drill and screwdriver.


so this is what my BBQ looks like in the afternoons. It's baking in the sun and actually sits around 125 degrees until the sun goes down. The bricks heat up as well so it's not fun to stand there without flip flops.
I picked up a 10 foot piece of galvanized pipe. I made sure it was threaded so I could add my other pieces.


If you need to have a different length of pipe, Home Depot and Lowes can cut it and thread it. Just ask.
I bought 2 of these. They are approximately 2.98 each. These will be your mounting plate for the rod.
2 of these need to be purchased. This is your elbow joint to attach the rod. these are approximately .89 each
finally 2 of these. I got 2 in sections but you can get 1 in up to 3 in. It just depends on how far out you want your rod from the roof. These are approximate .57 each
now for the fun part. Grab you ladder and a pencil. Be sure to take the mounting plate. Measure the length of your pipe and then put one of the mounting plates along the board of your roof. You can see from my photo that I am placing this under the eave of my roof line. you don't have to but I have a lot of wind so I wanted to have the rod out of the direct wind.


Once you have your marks, go ahead and drill pilot holes. Make sure that your holes are not the same size as your screws or they will not hold tightly.
This is how your base will look with all of the pieces in place. Put your mounting plate on the wall first.


Screw in the extender piece to the elbow joint prior to attaching it to the mounting plate. Once the two pieces are together, you can then screw it into the mounting plate


You now have one side completed and on the wall.



Once you finish all your screws this is what the mount should look like.


next you will install the pipe into one side of your mount.
To install the pipe, simply insert the threads into the elbow joint and screw it in. Once it's tight you are good to move on to the next step.
Like the photo above you will want to assemble the mount for the other side prior to getting up on the ladder. You will attach this to the other end of the pipe. DO NOT attach your drape yet. You still need to get this end on your board and mark it for drilling and mounting the base plate.
You will notice in this photos that the base plate has started t
This step is sort of tricky but mainly due to the weight of the drapes.


Once the mounting plate is marked and you have the holes drilled, you are going to attach your drapes to the rod. Large grommet holes are the easiest with this type of drape but it's truly your choice.





Then, you are going to attach the elbow joint to the pipe, the extender to the elbow and then the extender to the mounting plate. All of that is done prior to getting back up on the ladder to mount the drape.


Once those steps are completed, you will take the finished rod and mount, with the drapes on the rod and attach it to the wood. All you have to do is raise the pipe, due to everything being threaded the pipe will just rotate right into position. It is hard due to the weight but if you move all your drapes to the side that is already screwed on, the weight will dispurse. Once you get the first screw in, you should be all set to get the rest without the need to hold up the pipe any longer.


I did this by myself so it can be done.
My rod and drape are up.
this is what I used to have, every day.
This is my finished project. I'm so happy with the drop in temperature.
Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 10 questions
  • Danita Davidson Danita Davidson on Jun 29, 2019

    Love this idea and have a tip, maybe lol, could you put another heavy pipe in the bottom hem to weigh down the canvas enough to keep it from blowing around? Just a thought.... Great functional idea, love the look too!

  • Jackie I Jackie I on Jun 29, 2019

    This is exactly my next project although I’m not planning on spending a lot on the curtains. I’m going to buy a couple of canvas drop cloths instead. I’m in Phoenix and these curtains will be blocking the western sun and I know how hard that is on cloth. Even if I have to get new ones once a year it won’t break the bank!

  • Cindy Taylor Cindy Taylor on Jun 30, 2019

    I love this. I want to do it however my patio is not level it has a slope. So how would I do it?

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 58 comments
Next