FAQs

We ask for a 50% deposit on all goods we sell. As you can appreciate we have to buy all our raw materials before we can make your goods so a deposit certainly helps with our cash flow and our ability to offer you first class products and service. But more importantly we want to make sure you are fair dinkum dealing with WeatherSafe so your deposit helps to create the trust between us which we feel is so important when dealing with businesses these days.

We sure do! The most important part about buying anything is to make sure you get exactly what you need to solve your current outdoor weather protection problems. And the preferred way to do this is for one of our friendly team to visit you on site, or at our showroom, to find the best way to sort out your issues. We will give you the first rate advice and a comprehensive quote and best of all completely free.

It is required by law to give at least 12 months warranty on most new purchases and we will go above and beyond this in most cases. Different products have different life expectancies and we offer fair and reasonable warranties on all our handiwork. Be sure to ask one of the WeatherSafe team what is the warranty on the article you are enquiring about.

We have every payment choice available to make your transaction with us as smooth and easy as possible. Cash, cheque, direct debit, credit card, paypal, we’ll even take Bitcoin (once we work out how to!) Whatever option you decide we will make it easy for you. Just remember there may be small charges for credit card transactions.

Depending on the product you order, whether we have materials in stock or if we have to get approvals and engineering will determine how long it will take from the moment we get your deposit to you receiving your goods. We make every effort to make this time period as short as we possibly can as we know how keen you are to get your order. If there are delays then we make sure we keep you in the loop and update your delivery expectations.

We make every effort to cut down the rust factor when making and installing our blinds. Most of the hardware we use is galvanised, aluminium and stainless steel as we know what happens when things are outside in our harsh Aussie climate. If we are near the ocean then we will recommend stainless steel fittings which may cost a little extra but will stand the test of time. Our installers are full bottle on the right fitting for the right location. The actual fabrics used have no metallic content and therefore no risk of rusting what so ever.

Like everything the better you look after your blinds the longer they will last. We give all our customers a care for and maintenance sheet after the sale so you know what things you can do to prolong the life of your blinds. However different materials have different life spans and we will tell you this when we first meet. Mesh fabrics have a longer life than clear PVC blinds, but if you follow our instructions and be kind to your blinds we have seen outdoor blinds and awnings last up to 20 years.

These days we have so much choice with fabrics and colours it can be quite daunting! With Clear PVC as the name suggests the fabric is clear like glass but it also comes with tinted options to increase privacy and blockout a small amount of sun. With the Mesh fabrics there are heaps of colours available to match any décor. Headboxes and tracks are powder coated to match your interior or exterior furnishings

Blockout fabrics are the only blinds which give 100% privacy along with blocking out UV rays but unfortunately they also blockout your views. This is where the versatility of Mesh fabrics which have the ability to give uninterrupted views as well as daytime privacy come into play. The only downside with mesh is at night, when the lights are on in your outdoor room, you can see through the mesh from the outside. Clear PVC is clear like glass and offers no privacy but we have known customers to install curtains for night time seclusion.

When designing and installing your blinds we do our utmost to make sure they do the job you ask of them and that is to keep out the sun wind and rain. The added bonus is they can also keep out those pesky flys and mozzies. We have to point out that mesh blinds will let in the ambient temperature while blocking the wind and sun but they will let in a small amount of rain especially when it is heavy. Clear PVC will block out 100% of the wind and rain but will not block out the sun or let any airflow through so the different qualities of the fabrics serve different purposes and we will always discuss this with you before you order.

For most WA homes and businesses, yes. A shade sail is one of the most cost-effective ways to make an outdoor area usable through summer. It can meaningfully reduce how much direct sun hits your windows and walls, which in turn eases the load on your air conditioner. WeatherSafe WA has been supplying shade solutions to homeowners, schools, councils, and major commercial clients across Western Australia for decades, including projects for the City of Bunbury, BHP Billiton, and the East Metropolitan Regional Council. This reflects how broadly the product is used, from a single backyard sail to large community shade structures.

Whether a shade sail specifically is “worth it” over an awning or a solid patio roof depends on your budget, how permanent you want the structure to be, and whether you need it to handle rain as well as sun. WeatherSafe WA’s team gives straightforward advice on this during a free quote, rather than pushing one product over another, since they also supply awnings and outdoor patio blinds as alternatives.

Standard shade cloth is not waterproof. It is woven to block a high percentage of UV radiation and reduce heat, but it will let rain through, and heavy rain will come through faster than a light shower. This is by design: shade cloth needs to breathe to stay cool, and a fully sealed fabric would trap heat underneath it.

If you want a shade structure that also keeps rain out, you need a waterproof PVC fabric rather than mesh or shade cloth. As WeatherSafe WA explains, both shade cloth and waterproof PVC block UV effectively during summer, but PVC has the added benefit of keeping you dry through winter too, which is why it is the choice for anyone wanting year-round outdoor use. Because PVC is heavier and carries more wind load than shade cloth, the frame and footings supporting it are usually built stronger, which is reflected in the price. WeatherSafe WA’s Shade Sails for Pool range specifically uses waterproof PVC where all-weather cover matters, such as over a pool or entertaining area.

A well-engineered shade sail, properly fabricated and tensioned to correctly installed fittings, should be able to handle winds up to around 80 km/h according to WeatherSafe WA. But a shade sail behaves like a yacht sail in strong wind: the fabric and every fixing point come under real load, and in a severe storm it will try to move exactly the way a sail on a boat does.

For this reason, WeatherSafe WA generally recommends taking sails down over the West Australian winter storm season to avoid the risk of them blowing away. Also, note that not all sails are equal, so it is worth monitoring your particular sail when strong. wind is forecast to learn what it can actually handle. Their blog post on preparing shade sails and blinds for WA winter storms walks through a practical seasonal checklist if you would rather leave yours up and just prepare it properly.

Yes, for a small, temporary shade sail over a corner of the yard, a competent DIYer can put one up with a handful of posts, turnbuckles, and carabiners. But there is a real difference between a light DIY sail bought off the shelf and a properly engineered shade sail designed to handle years of Australian sun and winter storms.

A basic DIY installation generally involves:

1. Choosing your anchor points. These can be posts, an existing structure such as a house wall or fascia, a fence, or established trees, as long as they are strong enough to take ongoing tension.
2. Setting your posts (if you need them) firmly in concrete footings, angled slightly away from the sail to counter the constant pull.
3. Fitting the hardware — turnbuckles, D-shackles, and eye bolts — to each corner of the sail.
4. Tensioning the sail evenly from each corner so it sits drum-tight with no fabric touching a post or wall.
5. Checking the fall so water runs off to one side rather than pooling in the centre.

Where DIY installs usually go wrong is underestimating wind load. A shade sail acts exactly like a yacht sail: strong wind puts enormous strain on the fabric and every fixing point. Undersized posts, shallow footings, or the wrong hardware are the most common causes of sails tearing loose or pulling fixtures out of a wall.

This is exactly why WeatherSafe WA exists as an alternative to the DIY route. The company has been solving outdoor weather protection problems in the South West of Western Australia for more than 40 years, formerly trading as Del-Ray Canvas Australia. Every shade sail it fabricates is engineered, properly tensioned, and installed by a trained team rather than guessed at. If you want the DIY look without the DIY risk, WeatherSafe WA’s Domestic and Residential Shade Sails service includes a free measure and quote, so you get an expert opinion on your fixing points before anything goes in the ground.

Yes. Blocking UV radiation is the core job of a shade sail, and a good quality sail is genuinely effective at it, not just at casting visual shade. The level of UV block depends on the density and quality of the fabric weave, which is why WeatherSafe WA sources from a wide range of shade cloth and PVC suppliers rather than a single low-cost option. The fabric can be matched to how much protection and how much airflow you actually want in that spot.

The current guidelines for any outdoor structure larger than 20 square metres or more than 2.4 metres high requires council building approval and possibly, in most commercial settings council planning approval.

These are simple documents to prove the structure will be sound, with no chance of being dangerous or falling down. The council wants to know if you are A. not covering too much of your allotted open space and B. the structure you are planning is properly engineered, fabricated and installed.

WeatherSafe will do all the hard work to check if your structure will be allowed before we send you a quote. If there is no problem we can aquire all the necessary council approvals for no extra cost other than permit costs. If you would prefer to deal direct with the council yourself we can give you all the relevant engineering and paperwork for you to complete.
Council approvals are a necessary part of building any shade structure and we will take all the guesswork out of your application.

Shade sails are in essence a big sail and when the strong winter winds arrive they put an extra load onto the sail and the fixing points and just like a yacht will try and move! We recommend you take down your sails in winter to avoid any chance of them blowing away. Having said that not all shade sails are equal. A properly engineered and fabricated sail should be able to handle most winds up to 80kms an hour. We suggest you monitor your sail when strong winds are forecast and test them for yourself. This way you will know what your particular sail will handle.

The method changes depending on what you are anchoring to:

• Attaching to a house or fascia: the fixing point needs to be bolted into solid framing, not just cladding or thin fascia board, because the constant pull of a tensioned sail will eventually work a weak fixing loose. A stainless steel eye bolt through a structural timber or steel member is the usual approach.
• Attaching to a brick wall: this requires a masonry anchor rated for the expected load, set well clear of mortar joints, which are the weakest part of a brick wall.
• Attaching to a tiled or metal roof: roof sheeting and tiles are not designed to carry sail tension on their own. The load needs to go into the roof structure itself, usually via a bracket fixed to a rafter or truss.
• Attaching to a metal pole or timber post: the post needs a footing deep and wide enough to resist both the downward and sideways pull of the sail, especially in wind. As a rough guide, posts are commonly set at least 600mm to 900mm into a concrete footing, though the right depth depends on the post height, sail size, and local soil. This is exactly the kind of detail an engineer or experienced installer will calculate rather than guess.
• Attaching to a fence: most standard fences are not built to carry sail tension and can lean or fail under sustained pull. If a fence is your only option, it usually needs additional bracing.
• Attaching to a tree: living trees move in the wind and grow over time, so any fixing needs a webbing strap or similar that will not girdle the trunk, and the tree needs to be genuinely strong enough to take the load.

In every case, the connecting hardware — turnbuckles, shackles, and eye bolts — should be marine-grade stainless steel or hot-dip galvanised. As the WeatherSafe WA team explains on their FAQ page, most of the hardware they use is galvanised, aluminium, or stainless steel because of what a harsh Australian coastal or country climate does to lesser fittings. Stainless steel is recommended near the ocean even though it costs a little more. If you are unsure whether your walls, roof, or fence can safely take a shade sail, WeatherSafe WA’s team will assess your fixing points as part of their free measure and quote service before you commit to anything.

Regular cleaning keeps a shade sail looking good and extends its working life. As a general routine:

• Hose the sail down from both sides to remove loose dirt and dust.
• Use a soft-bristle brush and a gentle liquid detergent, not a harsh chemical cleaner, to scrub off grime and bird droppings.
• For mould or mildew, a diluted solution designed for outdoor fabrics works best. Avoid bleach on shade cloth, as it can weaken the fibres over time.
• Rinse thoroughly so no detergent residue is left to attract more dirt.
• Let the sail dry fully before folding it away for storage, if you are taking it down for winter, since packing it away damp encourages mould.

A light wipe-down every couple of months, with a proper clean at least twice a year, is a reasonable routine for most WA conditions. WeatherSafe WA has published a full seasonal walkthrough in their guide, How to Clean and Maintain Your Shade Sails: A Bunbury Homeowner’s Guide, which is worth reading in full if your sail has visible staining or mould buildup.

A well-made shadesail, fabricated from a first class shade cloth, stitched with UV resistant thread and tightly tensioned to properly engineered fittings, should last you more than fifteen years. The right galvanised framework should last 100 years. You are investing in a long term product so don’t be afraid to pay a little more to get a lifetime of benefit from your shade structure.

Shade sail pricing depends on the size, the fabric, the number and type of fixing points, and whether engineering and council approval are needed. A small DIY shade cloth sail from a hardware store can cost as little as a few hundred dollars, but that price does not include proper posts, footings, or professional installation. It will not carry the warranty or engineering certification a permanent structure needs.

For a properly fabricated and professionally installed sail, expect the price to reflect:

• The size of the area you are covering.
• Whether you choose shade cloth or waterproof PVC (PVC structures need heavier-duty framing and footings because the fabric carries more load, so they typically cost more).
• The number of posts required versus attaching to existing structures.
• Council engineering and permit costs, if your structure needs approval (see below).

Because every yard, roofline, and budget is different, WeatherSafe WA does not publish a flat price list. Instead they offer a genuinely free, no-obligation measure and quote, where a team member visits your property, assesses your fixing points, and gives you an accurate cost based on your actual site. You can request one through their Contact page or by calling 08 9725 4433.

A shade sail should be tensioned drum-tight, with no fabric flapping or fluttering in a light breeze. A sail that sags will collect rainwater in the middle, stretch unevenly, and put extra strain on the lowest fixing point every time it rains.

To fix a sagging sail:

• Check and tighten every turnbuckle, working evenly around the sail rather than cranking one corner hard.
• Confirm no post has moved, leaned, or sunk in its footing.
• Look for stretched or worn stitching along the seams and webbing edge, which can develop after years of sun exposure.
• Make sure the sail still has a clear fall to one corner so water cannot pool.

If tightening the turnbuckles does not fix the sag, the fabric itself has likely stretched beyond its useful tension range, which is common with cheaper shade cloth after a few years in the sun. At that point it is worth having it assessed rather than keep cranking the hardware, since over-tensioning old fabric risks tearing it. WeatherSafe WA offers a dedicated Shade Sails Maintenance and Solutions service in Bunbury for exactly this kind of repair and re-tension work.

Both shade cloth and waterproof PVC do a similar job of protecting us from UV rays during our hot summers and PVC has the added advantage of keeping us dry in the winter. We often build waterproof sails and framed structures where the customer wants all year round protection. If you think you are wanting to use your shade structure during summer and winter then its obvious to choose from the large range of coated PVC fabrics designed for year round weather protection. It’s the same stuff the big stadiums use for their covers only on a smaller scale. If your shade is only required in summer then choose from the huge range of fabrics and colours in our shade cloth range. Due to the extra weight and loads caused by PVC, the engineering, (ie. the frame and footings of the structure)are usually bigger than shadecloth and therefore more expensive.

Sizing depends on the area you want covered, the shape of the space, and how many fixing points are practical. As a general principle, a shade sail should be pulled taut across a shape with three, four, or more points, angled so no two sides are parallel and no two edges are the same length, since this asymmetry is what lets the fabric hold tension properly rather than sagging.

Height is a balance: too low and the sail feels oppressive and blocks airflow; too high and it loses effectiveness at blocking low-angle morning and afternoon sun. A workable starting point for most patios is around 2.4 to 3 metres at the low corner, rising higher at the opposite corners for drainage fall, though the right numbers depend on your specific structure and fixing points. This is exactly the kind of detail that benefits from a site visit rather than guesswork, which is why WeatherSafe WA’s free measure and quote includes working out sizing and height on site.

Neither is universally “better” — they suit different needs. Shade cloth and waterproof PVC both do a similar job of protecting you from UV rays through summer, but PVC adds the benefit of keeping you dry through winter as well. If you mainly want a shaded, breathable outdoor space for summer, shade cloth in the wide range of colours WeatherSafe WA stocks is usually the simpler and more affordable choice. If you want year-round protection and are happy to invest in the heavier-duty framing that PVC requires, a waterproof structure is worth the extra cost. WeatherSafe WA’s team talks through this trade-off with every customer as part of their quote process, since it genuinely comes down to how and when you plan to use the space.

If you choose the right fabric for your particular circumstance as outlined above then your cover will last just as long as you want it to. Some fabrics have limited life spans and other can last up to 50 years. But to put a number on it, most outdoor fabrics should last a minimum of 8-12 years and the specialised fabrics have much longer lives.

Some waterproof fabrics, like PVC plastic, create an impenetrable barrier from the elements and what they are covering and others are semi waterproof. Then there are waterproof fabrics which let the air in such as canvas which ‘breathes’. The best way to test this is whether condensation builds up on the fabric. The fabric with the most breathability will have no condensation and this is a handy choice for covering all living things. Fruit and vegetable covers, tents and canopies let the air in while keeping the water out and allows for a comfortable environment.

This all depends on several factors. How long you want the cover to last, what environment the cover has to endure and of course how much you want to spend.

If you want a short term cover to sit outside for a few months then a light weight poly cover may be all you want. If however it is to cover a load on a truck travelling at 100kph then a stronger more robust fabric will be needed. If you a covering machinery in a dirty environment you need something easy to clean like a PVC plastic and if you are covering fruit and vegies, animals or humans then you need a canvas which breathes. Every application you can think of will have a purposely designed industrial textile fabric to suit you specific application. With our access to over 30 different fabric suppliers, our team has the know how to recommend the right material for your job and 99% of the time we will have a sample at our showroom we can show you.