What is a canopy?
In the context of the building industry, a canopy is an overhead cover with no sides. This provides shade and protection from the elements. A canopy is often installed on the side of a building. Alternatively, it can be a separate shelter held in place by a fixed support structure with no walls or a floor.
What is a door canopy?
An over-door canopy (also known as a “porch canopy”) is a cover on the side of a building. This is designed to offer protection from the weather when leaving and entering a property. When you’re fumbling around trying to find your keys in the rain the canopy will keep you dry. It will provide shade and protection from the sun on a hot sunny day.
Why should I buy a canopy?
A canopy can be useful in a multitude of applications because it provides protection from the elements and increases the amount of living or working space a building has. A canopy can be designed to any shape or size a project requires. For these reasons, most buildings would benefit from having a canopy installed.
Possible applications of canopies include:
Schools – Canopies are often used by schools to provide shelter for children during lunch breaks and provide a space for outdoor lessons.
Walkways – They can also be used as walkways between two buildings in a complex.
Waiting areas – Canopies are the perfect solution for a low-cost waiting area for bus stops and train stations.
Smoking areas – A canopy is a great way to provide a low-cost sheltered smoking area.
Air conditioners & air vents – Canopies can be used to protect external air conditioners and air vents from the elements, preventing any potential damage.
Car parks and driveways – A canopy can be used to protect parked cars from the elements such as solar radiation, ultraviolet rays, rain, hail, wind and even dust, making them ideal for car parks and driveways.
Warehousing – Canopies can be a great way to protect stock when unloading and dispatching goods for delivery.
Canopies don’t just have great functional benefits, they can also improve the aesthetic appeal of a building. A nicely designed canopy in company branded colours can drastically improve the curb appeal of any shopfront or office building.
Polycarbonate is often used for canopies thanks to the multitude of benefits it offers over glass. Polycarbonate has 250 times the impact strength of glass and half the weight, making it easy to handle and making it much more capable of withstanding extreme weathers and potential vandals. Polycarbonate is fully recyclable, has great heat resistance and flammability, and can be coated to make it scratch resistant and resistant to discolouration.
What canopy should I buy?
The type of canopy that you buy will depend on the application you intend to use it for. If you are looking for a medium to large canopy system STORMport is a self-supporting canopy/carport that is available in a selection of sizes. As such, it is adapted to suit a number of applications and arrives with the customer as a complete kit with instructions to make installation as simple as possible. STORMport can be used in schools, hospitals, smoking shelters, commercial buildings, boathouses and carports.
If you are just looking for a smaller over door canopy solution the MONSOON overdoor canopies are designed specifically for that purpose and are ideal for porch canopies, smoking areas, air conditioners and air vents.
How much do canopies cost?
Monsoon Canopies: STORM Offers different canopies for overdoor solutions ranging from £68.00 upwards however large discounts can be available through the storm distributors.
Storm Port Canopies/Carports: Stormport canopies and carports come in a huge range of sizes and are also available bespoke. Prices range from £600.00 upwards however large discounts can be available through the storm distributors.
How to install canopies
Door canopies will come with an instruction sheet, however, here are some general instructions for installing an over door canopy:
Equipment required: Tape measure, drill with a 10mm masonry drill bit, a 13mm spanner and a hammer.
- Install the two long rubber seals onto the polycarbonate sheet on the two opposite longer sides before sliding the whole assembly into the front and back fixing bars.
- The two shorter rubber seals should be assembled onto the polycarbonate sheet on the two opposite shorter sides before sliding the whole assembly into the two side brackets.
- Once the canopy has been assembled you will need to drill the wall to receive the set screws using the drill. Use the measuring tape to measure and mark the position of the four holes you need to drill, these will be dependent on the height you want to fix the canopy above the door.
- Once drilled you will need to line the assembled door canopy up with the drilled holes so that the holes line up with the brackets.
- Insert the set screws through the bracket holes into the drilled hole in the wall, you will then need to use a hammer to tap the set screws fully into the holes.
- Use a spanner to tighten the set screw, this will tighten the metal collar in the set screw in the wall to expand it to clamp into the wall and fix the canopy into position.
How to clean canopies
As canopies are an outdoor fixture exposed to the elements they would benefit from being cleaned occasionally. A polycarbonate canopy will only need to be cleaned around once a year just to make sure the polycarbonate is always looking its best.
The first thing you need to do is to remove any large debris such as branches, leaves, sticks, or anything else that may have found its way onto the canopy.
Next, you will need to consider a safe way to access the top of the canopy so that you can clean it with soap and water using a soft sponge, keep in mind that some strong detergents could damage the coatings, so we would advise using a detergent that is solvent-free.
If you are using a ladder make sure that you aren’t stretching to reach parts of the canopy, either move the ladder or use a sponge extension handle to make sure you can safely reach the whole area you are cleaning.
Canopies near me
Looking to purchase canopies in the UK? All you have to do is fill in our find a distributor form to let us know where you are and which of our canopy solutions you are interested in and we’ll let you know where your local distributor is.
Become a Canopy distributor
Looking to distribute canopies and door canopies? Just fill in our become a distributor form and we’ll be in touch. We will be happy to provide POS, marketing tools and marketing support to help you gain the sales you need!
You can also get in touch by emailing [email protected], calling 01278 455326 or filling in our online enquiry form.
This article was written by Jade Mitchell.
Jade is the Marketing Coordinator at STORM Building Products, she has been working in the building plastics industry since 2016 and has completed ISMM level 2 and 3.