Pool shade sails · SydneyShade where you swim and sit.
Plan cover over the water, the deck or both, with posts placed around pool access, fencing and underground services.
Pool shade sails
Choose the area and the hours first.
Start with the parts of the pool area you actually use and the hours you are out there. Hot paving and a seat with no cover over it are what most people notice first. The shadow moves all afternoon, so the patch of shade at four o'clock sits well away from the outline you drew overhead.
We measure pool areas right across Sydney and design around the shell, the fence and the way people get in and out. The sail is cut and sewn at our own factory in Rydalmere and engineered to the NSW wind codes, with certification available on request.
- Posts kept clear of the fence line and the swim path.
- Cover worked back from the hours you are out there.
- Fabric compared beside the water, for glare as much as UV.
Selected work
Over the water, and around it.
A poolside umbrella, hip-roof structures at Miller and sails over home patios. The Miller and patio photographs show support arrangements away from a pool.
How it goes together
What makes it work over water.
Locate the posts
Pool shells, plumbing and power all sit exactly where you would like to dig. We work out what can be built beside the pool before the sail outline is fixed. Sometimes that means independent posts set back off the coping, and sometimes a cantilever off one side is the cleaner answer.
Keep the fence effective
Supports have to respect the pool barrier rules and give a child nothing to climb. That gets checked against the fence you actually have, and against whatever is standing near it.
Choose the membrane
Knitted cloth lets air and rain straight through, which is usually what you want over water. Waterproof cover earns its place over a nearby dining area, where keeping the rain off is the whole point. Our guide to shade cloth and waterproof PVC sets the two side by side.
Manage glare and sunlight
Hold samples beside the water and the paving, in your own light. Check the published UV figure for the exact fabric and colour you choose. Light bouncing off the surface and low sun from the side still reach an open-sided space.
Allow for care
Chlorine vapour hangs around a pool deck all summer and it is hard on metal, so the fittings are picked for the air they will live in. Leave yourself room to look the structure over. Keep any cleaning product compatible with the fabric and the hardware.
Good to know
Pool sails, answered.
Will shading the pool affect its temperature?+
The water warms more slowly out of direct sun, though how much depends on the coverage, the season and any heating you run. A sail is not a lid, and the surface still sees plenty of open sky. If a warm pool matters more to you than a cool deck, we shade the seating and the paving and leave more of the water open.
What colour works best?+
Darker fabrics usually read better over water. A charcoal or a deep green holds its colour and takes the glare off the surface, where a pale sail bounces light back down and shows every leaf mark.
Can the sail come down in winter?+
Yes. The sail is tensioned onto fittings, so we can release it, store it and put it back up when the weather turns. Say so at design stage and the fittings get chosen with that in mind. Put it away clean and properly dry, because damp fabric bagged up with leaf mulch still in it comes out of the shed covered in mould.
Do I need council approval over a pool?+
In our experience of ordinary home enquiries, almost never. What decides it is the size of the structure, its height, where it sits on the block and the land it stands on, and the pool barrier rules are a separate check on top of that. Our NSW council approval guide walks through what to look at before you order.
Who we are, and how a job runs from the first visit to the last tension.
Read next
Keep going.
Cantilever shade · Sydney
Cantilever shade sails and umbrellas for Sydney: every post on one side, so the pool or the driveway underneath stays clear. Made and installed by us.
Shade sail lifespan
Ten to fifteen years is the honest planning range for a good sail in Sydney sun. What shortens it, what stretches it, and how to read the signs that matter.
Council approval · NSW shade sails
Almost never, for an ordinary home sail. What decides it is the size, the height, where it sits on the block and the land, with links to the NSW rules.
Where do you want the shade to land?
Book a free measure and quote. Tell us when you use the pool and which areas need cover.