A shaded stoep over the paddocks, on demand

Most Beaulieu stoeps and entertainment decks face straight out over the paddocks — exactly the outlook you don't want to lose to a fixed roof. A folding-arm awning solves that properly: it extends over the space on spring-tensioned arms with no posts to interrupt the view or clutter a braai area, and folds back into a cassette against the wall the moment you want open sky again. It's also the rare product that argues both sides of a South African summer — shading a baking north or west stoep in the afternoon, then retracting to let welcome winter sun through.

Projection runs to around 3–4m over wide spans, and solution-dyed acrylic fabrics are built to hold their colour under highveld UV rather than fading out in a season or two.

Choosing the mount

• Full cassette — fabric and arms sealed away when retracted; the right call for anything weather-exposed.
• Semi-cassette or open mount — a lower-cost option for more sheltered positions.
• LED and drop-valance add-ons — available on the premium lines for evening entertaining.

The wind-sensor argument

A crank-handle awning is fine until it's caught open when a highveld thunderstorm rolls in — and on an estate plot with nothing to break the wind, that happens fast. We specify motor and wind sensor as the responsible default: the awning retracts itself ahead of a gust, protecting the fabric, the arms and the investment. It's a shade product, not a rain product, so it's built for a summer downpour at a pitch, never for standing water.

Before you commit

The fixing substrate matters — brick, timber and steel all take an awning differently — so a proper site assessment at the free measure isn't optional. On estates with an architectural committee, we'll supply the finish and colour spec your application is likely to need.

Putting a number on it

Awnings price by projected area — the width along the wall multiplied by the reach of the arms. On a crank, reckon on R3,500 to R5,500 for each square metre of projection, hung: span and a full cassette push it upward. On a motor with the wind sensor, reckon on R5,500 to R7,500.

A modest awning still wants full arms, real brackets and a look behind the fascia, so the price will not scale down on a short projection. The spread is for planning; the stoep gets measured, the fixing checked and the figure written up afterwards, at no cost to you.

We fit folding-arm awnings on stoeps right across the corridor, from Kyalami and Chartwell through to the newer estate decks of Blue Hills and Waterfall.