How To Prepare Your Awning For Winter

We live in Arizona so the winter temperature dips to the mid-70s. We may see snow once per decade, and there’s never any accumulation. While we don’t need to winterize our awning, I will want to create a guide for all the people who do.

I consulted with people who lived in Boston, Indianapolis, and Seattle so that I had a perspective from each coast and the Midwest. The information below is a combination of the suggestions and tips they shared with me.

An awning that is exposed to the elements year-round will have its lifespan greatly shortened. The cold temperature, snow, and ice can wreak havoc on all parts of the awning.

A damaged awning can lead to issues for the entire home. A canopy filled with snow can pull the brackets from the home. It may crash into a window or through a deck.

The metal frame and joints can rust. The joints can also become stuck or grind as the lubrication stops working. Additionally, most homeowners don’t open and close the canopy on a regular basis which also leads to sticking in the frame.

Additionally, the metal frame is designed to support a specific amount of weight. If it is left extended during heavy snow, the support arms and struts can bend or warp. According to a study at North Dakota State University, a cubic foot of snow will weigh between 7 to 20 pounds depending on the dampness.

Let’s do some quick math and assume you have only 3 inches of snow on your 8’x10′ awning. This would be 20 cubic feet of snow (8 x 10 x 0.25) which under the best scenario would be an extra 140 pounds of weight on the awning frame.

A larger accumulation or heavier snow could easily weigh several hundreds of pounds. Most modern fabric awnings are designed to handle anywhere near this level. So at the least always keep your awning retracted before a heavy snowstorm.

Even stainless steel and aluminum can rust. The metal will oxidize which creates small pits in the metal. For steel, this will look like a scaly brown and orange material. For aluminum, it will look like white bubbles or powder. If your frame has rust, we’ve written a full guide to handling rusty awning frames.

There are several different types of fabric that are commonly used to make the canopy of residential awnings. While they can all get damaged from prolonged exposure to cold temperatures and elements, how they react will be different.

his is the most expensive option, and it handles cold temperatures the best. The acrylic sheets are created by extruding individual threads of polymer and then weaving them together. This material does well with the cooler temperatures and handles moisture reasonably well.

The drawback is that space between the threads will expand and contract from the snow, ice, and cold rain. The individual strands are completely water resistant as they won’t absorb any moisture, but the cloth as a hole can leak due to the tiny gaps created from the warping and stretching of the weave.

If you are going to leave your awning outside during all seasons, we highly recommend you choose this acrylic.

This fabric is the most popular for budget-friendly and entry-level awnings. Many homeowners purchase this because they’re not aware of the difference between the fabric options.

The vinyl fabric is a very similar chemical composition to PVC pipes that are used in plumbing. The fabric as a whole is completely water resistant, but the risk is the snow and ice creating holes in the fabric. This material is known to rip which during the colder months.

If you have a vinyl awning, we’d suggest taking the entire awning inside for the colder months. There are normally less than 4 bolts per bracket that attach the support arm to the home. I’ve been told it takes less than 20 minutes to take down the awning. While it does take slightly longer to reinstall in the summer, this is far and away the best option to extend the lifespan of a vinyl awning.

Let me begin by saying something frequent readers know. We absolutely do not recommend canvas awnings. This section is designed only for people who already own this type.

Canvas is composed of cotton threads woven together. Cotton itself absorbs water so the entire material is normally treated with a water repealing solution. This can wear over time, and exposure to snow and ice will dramatically shorten how long the solution lasts. If your canvas awnings leaks, you can check out our favorite water repellent here.

Canvas awnings aren’t known to stretch. They will occasionally tear, but because cotton is biodegradable there is a risk of mold or mildew. We highly recommend doing a full cleaning of the awning before storing it inside for the winter months.

We’ve looked at several awning covers, and our favorite is the Aleko awning cover. It’s designed to fit almost any size awning, and we really like the tie straps to keep the awning protected without damaging it.

As a bonus, this cover works well whether you have a cassette or open reel awning, and it is large enough to easily fit around the support arms and struts.

If you are going to use an awning cover, we suggest removing any valance from the front of the awning. This is normally attached with a few screws or some clips making it a trivial task to complete prior to winter storage.

For any type of awning, our top suggestion is to take it down and store it for the winter. Before putting it away in a dark corner of your garage or attic though, it’s highly preffered to give it a thorough cleaning.

Below we’ve create a complete step-by-step walkthrough of the cleaning process.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end of our post. We’ve spent a lot of time research and writing this guide. As always, please remember that I’m just a normal homeowner who is sharing what I’ve learned about awnings.

I am not a licensed contractor, and your individual situation may differ. If you’re unsure then I highly recommending consulting a contractor who can speak to your specific needs based on where you live.

Finally, we love hearing from our readers, and I could use some more pictures for this post. If you have some nice winter images that you’d like to share, feel free to tweet us @newAwning.