Protecting The Life of Your Shade Canopy

During extreme weather events or winter seasons, we recommend removing your shade fabric until the storm/season has passed. This will keep your shade fabric in good shape for future use and prevent damage to the fabric.

If you have a shade with a glide elbow mechanism, you can easily remove the fabric with the use of a simple wrench or a cordless drill. See the steps below to uninstall and install the fabric.

Glide Elbow – Fabric Removal

1. Before removal, make sure the area where the fabric will land is clean.
2. Mark one corner of the post and fabric with a corresponding letter or other marking so the shade goes back on correctly.
3. Using the ¼ hex key, loosen and remove the glide elbow cover plate.
4. Activate the glide elbow using a socket wrench or a cordless drill. This action turns the thread rod connection nut counterclockwise until the protrusion fabric hook moves to loosen the fabric enough to remove.
5. Repeat on all corners.
6. Lower the fabric and fold or roll it for proper storage.

Glide Elbow – Reinstall Fabric

1. To reinstall fabric, unfold it and properly identify the marked corner with the corresponding column and position the fabric.
2. Tie rope to two corners and throw the rope over the frame.
3. Pull the rope to adequately raise the fabric back into place.
4. Spread the fabric over the frame.
5. Attach the fabric to the corner and remove the rope.
6. Activate the glide elbow by turning the rod connection nut clockwise until semi tight.
7. Replace the cover plate and be sure to position the horizontal drain slit at the bottom of the pipe.
8. Tightly secure the hex nut.
9. Repeat at each corner until the fabric is uniformly fitted back onto the frame.

For a standard shade canopy, use the instructions below to uninstall your standard shade canopy.

1. Loosen the turnbuckle several turns in order to put enough slack in the cable to allow the fabric and cables to unhook from all the elbow hooks.
2. Attach 3/8” ropes to each corner of the fabric and cable before unhooking to secure and properly control the fabric from ground level. If uninstalling in breezy or windy conditions, choose the windy side of the fabric and tie these corners to the posts with the ropes with enough slack to allow for unhooking the fabric from the structure. These ropes are to prevent the shade from flying away in the wind.
3. Once the corners have been secured to the posts, unhook the fabric and cables from each corner.
4. On the side away from the wind, release the corners of the fabric and cable and have a person hold on to each rope.
5. Fold the fabric back away from the hooks.
6. Now it will be necessary to remove the cable clamps to allow the cable to be free from the structure and the turnbuckle. If the cable ends are frayed, wrap them with tape.

NOTE: It is usually not necessary nor is it recommended that the cable be removed from the canopy. With a person on each rope, starting at the windy side, gently pull the canopy down in between the framework of the structure. The side away from the wind can be guided with the ropes toward the persons pulling the canopy down.

IMPORTANT HINT: It is important when reinstalling the canopy, that it is put back in its original orientation to the structure. Starting at the turnbuckle corner, the fabric and cable corners should be returned to their original positions.