How to attach shadecloth from roof to Colorbond fence?

[Litchfield]

I would like to attach shade cloth from our colour bond & ansulight patio roof to cover gutters.  to our colourbond fence to stop the neighbour’s mango tree leaves & mangoes dropping onto our patio area & fernery

[JacobZ]

Hi @Litchfield,

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community and thank you for your question.

Is it possible to get some photos of the space where you are looking to install your shade cloth? This will certainly help our members better understand the issue and offer their best advice. Let me know if you need a hand uploading images, I'm happy to help if required.

Unfortunately, it's not advisable to attach a shade cloth to a Colorbond fence as they are not designed to resist lateral loads which will be applied to them if a shade sail is attached.

You're more than likely going to have to install posts in front of and separate from the Colorbond fence to support your shade sail. Check out How To Install a Shade Sail for some guidance on this.

Once you've uploaded some images, I'll be happy to assist further. Your images may bring to light a potential solution I haven't considered based on your description.

Let me know what you think.

Jacob 

[Litchfield]

Thanks getting back to me to take clear photos I would have to go into neighbors place.  Also it is not a shade sail I want to put up but shade cloth.

Thanks .

[EricL]

Hello @Litchfield 

I'm afraid the same rules apply even if it is shade cloth. The shade cloth will behave literally like a sail and the first strong gust of wind that catches it will tear off your gutter and the Colorbond fence rail. The wind forces applied to the shade cloth can go from 0.5kg all the way to 100kg in an instant during severe weather storms. In the interest of health and safety, it's best to attach the shade cloth to independent posts so that neither the fence nor the gutter will get damaged.  

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric