Bob's Blog

Wind Loads

What can I do to “beef up” the design of an Alumawood Shade Structure to strengthen it against higher winds? 

Do you already have a cover you are wanting to improve or is this a new project?

A new project can simply be ordered for a 90 mph to a 110 mph wind load and will come with all necessary components.  The upgrade from  90 mph to 110 mph or higher includes some or all of the following, usually in this order:

1. decreased post spacing

2. increased roof pan gauge (thicker roof pans)

3. Doubling the header

4. concrete footings

5. steel or aluminum cloverleaf post inserts

6. steel C-beam header inserts

Along with these steps additional screws are also used and that’s about it!

Trying to “retro-fit” an existing cover would be difficult but not impossible.  Additional posts and screws is the first step.  Any further steps would involve disassembling the cover and replacing or adding parts.

Our engineering, available to download on our “Resources” page , has all the information for these spans, gauges and connections.  Anything out of the scope of our engineering will require “Site Specific” engineering, a free service for customers buying new Alumawood shade structures from us.

I trust this answers your question, please feel free to email or call us anytime.Regards, Bob

Comments are closed.