Sunday, December 6, 2009

Easy How To Guide To Building A Caravan Porch Awning

By Joe Lozano

When travelling, it's important to keep yourself protected from the elements. One great way to do this is by building a caravan porch awning. If you want to to keep Mother Nature off your face, then this is a no brainer. Simply follow these instructions.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things Required To Build A Caravan Porch Awning:

1. Canvas tarp built to specifications

2. Tape Measure

3. Some Rope (nylon if you can)

4. Stakes for tents

5. Poles that are adjustable for tents

6. Scotchguard With Weatherproofing Feature

Pre-Building 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.

Purchasing 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.

Buy Remaining Supplies

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.

Park In An Appropriate Area

Move your caravan into a big enough area to accommodate the size awning you're going to build. Your best bet is to park over an area of soft earth. If you end up stopped over tar, you can use tent stakes and large metal nails to drive through the roadway. If you're dealing with concrete, hammer a stake into a crack to avoid surface damage.

Putting It All Together

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

Last but not least, spray your canvas tarp with your Scotchguard. Make sure you give your caravan porch awning three hours to dry, and then apply a second coat. When it is finally all dry, your awning should be perfectly waterproofed for years. When you've finished using it, take the awning apart and store somewhere cool and dry.

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