When springtime rolls around and the weather turns delightful, few things in life can compare to the pleasure and comfort of sitting outside on your porch or patio with a hot cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea. But the weather doesn’t always cooperate. You won't get a lot of enjoyment from hanging out on the porch with the sun blasting its rays straight in your face. What’s more, the scorching summer heat in some areas of the US is too much to handle without any sort of protection or added shade.

It’s a shame when the enjoyment of your patio is limited by the weather. A quality patio or porch cover can change that.

Find Superior Porch Protection

Awnings for porches and retractable covers for patios from RetractableAwnings.com can increase the usability of your valuable outdoor living spaces. To get the most out of your patio or porch, you'll need to know how to find the right product type and model for your house or business.

To make selecting a retractable cover easier, consider the following factors.

Manual Or Motorized?

Motorized retractable screens, awnings, and covers are convenient, and users love them. They save time, they look nice, and they make it easy to relax.

Motorized covers, awnings and screens are more expensive than their manual counterparts, and they may require a little more care. For example, motorized covers may require maintenance. Breakdowns can be costly and very inconvenient. This risk can be minimized by purchasing these products from reputable companies that specialize in European quality TÜV Product Approved, CE certified retractable systems, like RetractableAwnings.com.

Manual patio/porch covers must be operated by using a detachable hand crank. They offer a cost-effective cover solution for this lack of convenience.

Is The Climate Mild?

Your local climate is a critical factor that should influence your decision-making process. For example, if you're based in an area that gets a lot of heavy rainfall then you will want to shop for covers and awnings for porches that are built to withstand stormy conditions. You may want a fully waterproof cover, for example, or one that can detect rain, sun, wind and extend/retract automatically.

Premium advice – When shopping for waterproof porch covers pay close attention to the language used to describe the product. It can seem misleading. For example, if a product is advertised as water-resistant, that is not the same as being waterproof. Water-resistant means it can shed water with enough angle/pitch placed on the arms or cover but it will not provide full protection from water leaking onto your porch. For maximum protection, get a cover that describes itself as waterproof. (Or chat with us now, and we’ll be glad to explain the difference.)

Partial or Full Cover?

Unlike in some other areas of life, size does matter when it comes to choosing patio covers. Depending on your needs, you may want to go for an awning that fully covers your porch or one that leaves some open space, which is particularly useful if you have some potted plants or flowers on your patio, and growing them requires a lot of sunshine and water.

Premium advice – No matter your choice, make sure to measure your porch/patio area before you shop. Double-check the measurements. Getting the wrong size custom made porch cover can be expensive and difficult to fix.

Find the Right Cover for Your Budget

All of the factors mentioned above affect the price of your new porch cover. Staying within your budget can be difficult if you're shopping with a supplier who does not provide a good range of options. At RetractableAwnings.com, we maintain an updated array of porch covers and other modern retractable products that meet a variety of needs. Our business model helps to keep our prices down, and we can offer factory/distributor direct pricing on all of our products.

Low-priced non-engineered covers and awnings for porches are dangerous and almost always bring the risk of less dependable construction. Low-priced products tend to fail faster than quality-built products. Money spent on repairs can outpace the initial expense.

Will your patio/porch cover protect anything important? What will happen if it fails to retract? A better choice is to purchase quality equipment. Our award-winning products are designed for many years of reliable operation.