An alfresco the family uses all year

The brief

The home sits on a semi-rural block on the edge of Pimpama, with a covered timber deck that looks west and south over open paddocks. In summer the afternoon sun reached right across the deck. In winter the wind off the paddocks made it too cold to sit out after about three o'clock.

The family wanted shade in the afternoons, shelter from the wind and to keep the view, which is the reason they bought the block.

What we fitted

At the measure we looked at which way each side faced and where the wind came from, and checked the hardwood posts and beam the blinds would fix to. We recommended splitting the long western side into two blinds between the posts, rather than one wide blind, so each one carries less wind.

The two western blinds are a charcoal sunscreen mesh, which cuts the glare and much of the heat while keeping the view and letting some breeze through. The southern side, which takes the winter wind, has a clear PVC blind that stops the wind and keeps the paddocks in view. All three are zip track blinds held in side channels, motorised on one remote, with a wind sensor that raises the mesh blinds when gusts get too strong.

Charcoal sunscreen mesh on the western side takes the afternoon glare off the deck.

At the free measure we checked what every channel and headbox would fix into.

On the day

The blinds were fitted three weeks after the measure, in a single day. The electrician had already put a power point near the beam, so the crew fitted the headboxes and channels, connected the motors, set the limits on each blind and positioned the wind sensor where it reads the wind clearly.

Before leaving, they showed the family the remote and the sensor, and how to rinse and care for the clear PVC so it stays clear.

The result

The deck is now where the family spends late afternoons, with the mesh down in summer and the clear blind down in winter.