Custom shade sails, built for Arizona sun.

A standard sail is one we’ve already patterned and sell at a finished size — today the 12′ × 12′ × 17′ and 18′ × 18′ × 25′ right triangles. A custom sail is made to order, two ways: to the finished dimensions you give us (built within about an inch per side), or fit to your attachment points, where you measure post to post and we pattern the sail smaller so it stretches into the space. Squares and rectangles are custom for now. Try the design tool.

Price is driven mostly by the sail’s perimeter, the number of corners and the fabric. Posts, footings and engineering are usually the larger part of a finished project’s cost. Use the custom sail estimator for your measurements, or send photos and we’ll quote the whole job.

Both. In the Phoenix metro we install turnkey — posts, footings, wall brackets and tensioning — through our licensed Arizona contracting company. Anywhere in the U.S., we ship sails and hardware kits ready to install.

Knitted HDPE shade cloth — primarily Commercial 95 by GALE Pacific, which blocks about 91–95% of UV depending on color and carries the manufacturer’s 10-year UV degradation warranty. It’s breathable, so hot air escapes instead of trapping under the canopy. See fabric & colors.

No — HDPE shade cloth is an open mesh, so it shades but doesn’t weatherproof what’s underneath. Light rain usually runs to the sail’s low point by surface tension and drips off there; you may feel a light mist standing underneath. Heavy rain can pool and make the membrane droop. It normally drains over time and returns to shape once dry. There’s a small chance that water left sitting too long permanently stretches the fibers, but that’s very rare. If you need rain protection, ask about waterproof architectural fabrics for a custom structure.

With quality HDPE fabric, UV-stabilized thread and stainless hardware, a well-tensioned sail typically gives many years of service in the desert. Lifespan depends on color, tension and whether sails are taken down for severe monsoon storms.

A properly engineered structure is designed for your site’s code wind speed. For residential sails on lighter anchors, we recommend quick-release hardware so sails can come down before a severe storm. Wind & permits guide.

Plan to take it down before severe storms — as a rule of thumb, forecast winds over about 50 mph — unless your engineer’s design for your city’s code says otherwise. We’ll show you how at installation. Our systems typically use “block and tackle” tensioners at two corners: release the cleat and the membrane relaxes and unloads within seconds. One person on an A-frame ladder can then unclip the other two fixed corners. It goes back up just as easily with the block and tackle.

We include a site assessment and a recommendation, but an as-built or structural-integrity evaluation and any stamped plans or calculations come from a third-party structural engineer. Those are needed if you choose to pursue a permit. Permitting and approvals (city and HOA) are the property owner’s responsibility, working with the engineer — we don’t do permitting. If the engineer calls for bracing, brackets or reinforcement, we can manufacture and install them under a separate quote.

Three parts: the fabric carries the manufacturer’s 10-year limited warranty against UV degradation; our workmanship (seams and stitching) is warranted for 90 days, including 100% of labor; and installation, performed by our separately licensed Arizona contracting company, carries the state-required 2-year installation warranty, with limited labor. Hardware and powder coating carry no warranty from us. Full terms are in section 13 of our Terms of Service.

Often, yes — after we assess it. We’ll recommend whether an existing column, wall or patio cover can take a corner; a third-party structural engineer confirms its as-built capacity if needed, and any reinforcement is quoted separately. Cosmetic work on what we attach to — for example stucco, veneer, paint or sandblasting on existing block columns — is outside our scope, so plan for it separately if you want it.

We’re responsible for making sure the sail fits correctly. Sails have a lot of adjustment, and most small wrinkles work out by adjusting tension and the perimeter cable. That adjustment is limited by what the sail attaches to: if adding load to chase a wrinkle makes posts, walls or brackets displace, deform or creak, we stop there. Sun and heat also relax the fibers slightly and wind helps the membrane find its equilibrium, so small wrinkles often settle out over time. Either way, we do everything we know how to make it tight and look right.