Eye of Africa shading FAQ for homes facing open veld

The estate's published guidelines are unusually explicit. One section recommends deciduous planting, eaves, awnings, canopies, sunscreens and double glazing against excessive direct sunlight, and the energy matrix scores items such as roof overhangs, window hoods and protection to west windows, so shading is on the scoresheet. Elsewhere the same document states that shade nets and canopies are not permitted, while external blinds or shading devices are permitted provided they have no scallops and use fabric of a single approved colour, subject to approval. We will not pretend to resolve those two passages from a website; in practice the fabric colour is the committee's call and a scalloped valance is out.

Because the guidelines say openly that the review is subjective, and revisions change. Before anything exterior goes on order we hand you a spec sheet and a fabric colour reference to put in front of the committee under the revision currently in force, and we wait. It costs a week and saves a re-manufacture, since a made-to-measure product in the wrong colour is a remake rather than an adjustment. We also check what has already been passed next door, because a precedent is the fastest route to approval.

That is the brief for most of the estate. The same document acknowledges that the need for a special view can override the desire for a north orientation, and then instructs that west windows be minimised or appropriate screening devices installed. Late-afternoon sun comes in almost horizontally, under any eave, in the hottest hours, which is why a west-facing lounge is so often the room nobody sits in by four o'clock. On that face we stop the sun outside the glass, with external venetians that tilt so the view survives, or roller shutters that close right down.

Further than most owners expect. At the December solstice the sun rises at 05:12 on a bearing of 116 degrees and sets at 18:59 on 243 degrees, which is well south of due east and due west, so glass you were told never gets sun catches it at both ends of the day. By the June solstice sunrise has swung back to 64 degrees and sunset to 295 degrees, and midday reaches only about 40 degrees, driving low northern sun deep into north-facing rooms. With July lows near one degree, you want it there.

Because the fairway is a mirror. South glass takes little direct sun but a great deal of bounced light: bright turf in summer and dry winter grass throw glare up into the room all day, and at the ends of a midsummer day the sun reaches the corners as well. The answer is an openness-rated sunscreen roller that kills the glare and keeps the view, rather than a blockout that would turn a bright room into a dark one.

Yes. July is the clearest month here, with clear or partly cloudy skies most of the time, and ultraviolet rises roughly ten percent for every thousand metres of altitude on a plateau that runs between 1,400 and 2,100 metres. The result is what owners notice second, after the heat: floors and rugs losing colour on the sunny side first. Sunscreen fabric cuts much of that ultraviolet while leaving the fairway readable, and an exterior product stops it before the pane altogether.

Something adjustable or retractable, never a fixed screen. The guidelines ask that living areas get at least three hours of winter sun, and on a north wall that sun arrives all day at a low, welcome angle. Summer sun on the same wall is almost overhead, so an overhang or a retractable folding-arm awning removes it without costing you the winter gain. External venetians that raise clear away in June do the same job on the glass itself.

Yes, with the right specification. The guidelines require an unobstructed patio off the living areas with cover on the main one, and a folding-arm awning delivers shade there on articulated arms with nothing standing on the paving, then folds away in winter. The condition is a motor and a wind sensor. The estate has far fewer windbreaks than a walled-in city garden, and an awning caught extended in a Highveld gust does not bend; it tears, or takes the arms with it. The sensor retracts it once wind speed crosses a set threshold, whether you are home or on the ninth.

Two honest routes. Rechargeable battery motors need no wiring, retrofit easily and are charged every few months; they are the default for existing homes and additions. Wired motors are permanent and never need charging, which makes them the right call for new builds, big or heavy systems and exterior products, but they need an electrician and some planning at build stage. On a completed house the deciding question is where a cable can go without chasing a finished wall, and that needs eyes on the ceiling void at the measure.

A motor is essentially required on spans too wide or heavy for a chain, on blinds above a stair void or double-volume glazing, on concealed ceiling-recess systems, and on every external venetian, awning or zip screen on this estate, because an exposed exterior product without a wind sensor is a liability waiting for the first serious storm. On a window within easy reach a motor is usually money misspent, and we would rather tell you that than quote it. Quality motors are quiet but not silent, and battery motors need their periodic charge.

Yes, and they ask for different things. Henley-on-Klip was laid out as a river resort village, so openings are often smaller and older, sometimes with timber frames worth keeping; timber venetians suit those small panes, cellular blinds warm the coldest room, and sunscreen rollers tame the low, late glare off the water. Weekend homes there often take motorised curtain tracks so one remote sets every room on a Friday. Walkerville's equestrian smallholdings have even less windbreak than the estate, so wind-sensored awnings, long runs of sunscreen and zip screens for stables and tack rooms are the usual list.

Because sun-path figures describe the sky, not your house. A neighbour's roofline, a change in level or the way the stand sits on a contour can move the problem by an hour, so we would rather come at four and watch it. The same visit settles the four other things a page cannot: the reveal depth and what the frame is made of, which decides inside or outside mount and whether a blockout leaves a light line; the wind exposure on your specific corner; the route for power; and the committee wording currently in force.

You use the form or the chat on this page, and one of our expert consultants will contact you shortly to arrange a free in-home measure. At that visit every opening is measured, the elevation is assessed to see what genuinely needs stopping outside the glass, and fabric, openness and control are settled room by room, with physical colour options held against your frames in daylight. A written quote follows with each window itemised and a firm fitting date once you approve it; nothing is manufactured before that. Whatever you send is used to arrange that call-back and nothing else, under POPIA.