Should Cost Affect Your Canopy Choice?

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Should Cost Affect Your Canopy Choice?

As with a lot of purchases, it’s very tempting to simply choose the cheapest option however, that often turns out to be the wrong choice.

When making a big purchase such as a canopy or shelter, although you want to be thrifty with your cash, it’s important that you spend the money wisely, even if it means spending a little more initially to save a lot more in the long run. While cost is an important factor, be sure to take into consideration the quality of the construction materials, the benefits these materials offer and the professionalism and experience of the company you’re buying from.

Here’s some top tips for what to research when choosing your perfect shade and shelter solution:

The Product:

Ask for technical specifications of the products you’ve finalised, this will make it much easier to compare the products. The main features to compare are:

Durability – Is it a permanent structure that is designed to be left outside all year round?

The frame material – What is the canopy frame made from and what is it coated with?

The roof material – What is the canopy roof made from and what are the properties of that material?

The fixings – The quality of the fixings is just as important as the main frame, you don’t want anything that will rust.

Guttering – Does it come with guttering, if so what type, is it integrated, external or would it be an additional cost.

Colour – If you’d like a coloured canopy, check to see if the canopy is available in the colour you’d like as some can be limited. Again, this could be an additional cost.

UV protection – Does the roof covering offer high UV protection? This should be something you consider particularly if the canopy is being installed in an education or healthcare setting.

Fire performance – What fire performance properties does the canopy materials feature? Certain settings such as education and healthcare may require a specific rating so be sure to find out.

Size – Is the canopy available in the size of your choice? Some canopies are ‘off the shelf’ and therefore are only available in a selection of sizes however, some canopies are made to order and can be manufactured to your exact sizes requirements. Some made to order canopies can still be limited on length and projection, while other can be unlimited.

Flexibility in design – Can the canopy be manufactured to fit around obstacles, or to follow the shapes of your building including internal and external corners if this is something that you may require?

Guarantee – Does the canopy feature a guarantee and/or life expectancy?

Upgrades and Accessories – Are there any canopy upgrades and accessories available that you may require and can be they be fitted at a later date if required? Upgrades and accessories can include side panels, roller shutters, post protection pads and signage.

The Company:

Look into the company too:

How long have they been running?

Do they have photos of previous installations?

Do they have customer testimonials? Ask if you can talk to one of their previous customers to ask what they thought of the product and service provided.

Do they offer additional benefits such as free help with planning permission if your local authority requires it and free site visits?

The Price:

Whilst it’s best not to automatically go for the cheapest option, that doesn’t mean you should go for the most expensive option either. Consider all the above factors then compare the products you’ve finalised based on the quality and cost ratio.

An important quote to remember if you’re tempted to skip the above and go for the cheaper option is: Buy cheap, buy twice

You can discover the product features of our Coniston Wall Mounted Canopy (which is also available as a free standing canopy) here:
The Coniston Wall Mounted Canopy
The Coniston Free Standing Canopy

Or click here to find out more about Able Canopies, browse our previous canopy installations near you and read our recent customer testimonials.

Click here to Compare the Coniston Canopy and Able Canopies Ltd. to other companies: Compare our Coniston Canopy

Able Canopies Ltd. design, manufacture and install commercial grade canopies, shade sails, awnings and shelters across the UK. We specialise in servicing the education, leisure, healthcare and retail sectors and have extensive experience working with schools, councils, architects and contracting firms.
For more information on our products and services please contact us

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Should Cost Affect Your Canopy Choice?

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