Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Building Your Own Caravan Porch Awning To Stay Dry

By Jonathan Shaffer

One of the great products you can use to live outdoors regardless of the weather is an awning. If you're looking to protect yourself from the weather and create a peaceful environment for your road trip, then a caravan porch awning is the way to go.

Difficulty: Simple

Instructions

Items You'll Be Using:

1. Canvas tarp

2. Tape Measure

3. Some Rope (nylon if you can)

4. Tent's stakes

5. Adjustable tent poles

6. Scotchguard with weatherproofing capabilities

Brainstorming Stage

Using the measuring tape, determine your caravan's length. How big do you want your awning to be? Canvas tarps can be bought in almost any size, but many are maybe nine feet in depth. Do your best to measure what size will be perfect for your use.

Ordering Your Canvas Tarp

Call up a verified canvas tarp seller and try to speak with someone who knows what they're doing. Let them know how big your caravan is and what you want to do with it, then order the tarp perfect for you.

Purchase What Leftovers You Need

Any outdoors store should have tent stakes, poles and nylon rope. Be safe and purchase one hundred feet of nylon rope and six tent poles -- that ought to be enough for any caravan awning. Try using pre-made pieces to make your building the awning that much easier. Get the pieces and items all together once that canvas tarp is delivered and get ready to put up your caravan porch awning -- initially, at home.

Stop In An Appropriate Area

When you're ready to go, make sure to park your caravan in an area that is big enough to include the awning you've just built. It's a good idea to use a location with soft earth for the stakes. But, if you end up someplace where this is not the case, don't worry. You can use the tent stakes with metal nails to dig into tar roadways. If you're over concrete, simply drive your stakes into cracks to avoid damage to the surface.

Setting Up Your caravan Porch Awning

Place your canvas tarp on the ground and arrange it so as to correspond with each side toward the proper corner of your caravan. Attach the tip of one tent pole into the grommet of the canvas tarp corner you have closest to the caravan. Make sure you lift the corner of your awning until it becomes vertical. Stake this pole into the ground, taking care to hold it in place until it's securely in the earth.

Creating Your Awning Line

This step is fairly simple, but extremely important. Designate fifteen feet of your rope for this task, knotting one end and making a loop of it so it will stay on the correct side of the canvas. Use this loop and carefully toss it over the high point of the vertical pole. This should allow you to fasten the other side with the stake, which will then be driven deep into the canvas tarp by the loop. Make sure the loose end rope is secured by a stake.

Completing Your Tent Poles

This step simply involves using your last five tent poles to connect to the corresponding grommets. When all is said and done, you should have three awning poles for the front and rear.

Weatherproofing Your Awning

Finally, spray that canvas tarp with some of the Scotchguard weatherproofing you purchased. Allow the caravan awning three hours to dry, then spray on a second coat. When dry, your caravan porch awning should be completely waterproof for years. When you're done with it for the time being, take apart your awning and keep it in a dry and cool place.

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