Shade

[brillig]

So....

I've been checking out greenhouse shade fabric. Some of it is heavy duty and has grommets so I'm sure it stand the wind.

some fabric is lighter. It's cheaper (which is a plus), and can be cut (which is a plus). I found some that doesn't have grommets, they have clips that you snap on the edge of the fabric. But will it hold up in a wind storm?

Does anyone have experience with this? Do you like the alumnite type vs black or green?

Thanks

[robotland]

Truck tarps can be had for cheaper than shadecloth, and come pre-grommeted- They also cut easily and don't fray at the edges because of a coating on the mesh. Only available in black, though, as far as I know. The mesh is tight enough to block something like 60% of sunlight, and more if doubled up...You get nifty op-art patterns when you do that, too.I'd love to play with this aluminized shade cloth- I wonder if it's actually metallic, or just silver-colored synthetic?

[Remark]

...so let us know where you're finding truck tarps.

Hey Prof.

You can add your own grommets to just about anything really easy. I used the medium grade shade cloth (60% I think) and I didn't have any of the grommets rip through (I folded the fabric once and put the grommet through two layers) this year. Then I used metal shower curtain rings for easy hanging. I'm hoping that if the wind really picks up, the shower curtain rings will bend and open before the grommets rip out.

I hung the fabric in the backyard using just the clips and things started to rip. I also tried just using zip ties pushed through the fabric, double and triple layers of fabric worked just fine for me, but I wasn't going for the tight "like a drum" look either.

haven't tried the metallic.

[robotland]

Truck tarps are EASY to find! Surplus Trading Corporation, right on Blue Star Highway across from the Whirlpool corporate headquarters! You should be there in about three days if you start now.....(check your local surplus dealer or flea market, or trucking suppliers if you have to- some big truck stops even carry them! They also have giant mesh signs that say WIDE LOAD- Wouldn't it be a smile to cover yer dome with those?)
To reinforce tarps and plastic, use secondhand webbing material as a "hem" and grommet through all layers. (you don't need to sew unless you feel like it..) If you web around the entire perimeter of the material you get A LOT of added strength, or you can cheap out and just add a little cut scrap at each grommethole. It helps.

[brillig]

Thanks to both of you - now I can started (no more hysterical last month of getting my stuff together for BM). And if I decide to drive x country, I'll give robotland a holler
Professor

[Skyhawk]

and for those of us a little more spread out in the nation, truck tarps, from small all the way up to Dang thats big, can usually be had from Harbor Freight

[Ducky]

I completely cover each grommet with several strips of duct tape and cut a hole for the rope...I have yet to see one rip out. Also duct tape each knot to prevent from coming loose.

[robotland]

When setting your own eyelets it helps to sandwich the tarp material between two scraps of thin plastic, leather or whatever else is laying around....gluing the scraps to the tarp with Goop or epoxy, letting it cure and THEN punching the hole for the eyelet works well.
On wooden structures I've had good results with wrapping the edge of the tarp around a strip of lath and drywall-screwing thru tarp and lath into the framework to be covered.....The whole edge of the tarp bears the load this way, and will take a lot of windload.