Coastal awnings specified for wind and salt air — surveyed, built and fitted across Folkestone, Sandgate and Hythe by our own team.
Folkestone is a coastal fit, and coastal fits are not the same job as inland ones. The wind coming off the Channel is stronger and far less predictable than anything we deal with in London, and salt air works on fixings and fabric continuously rather than seasonally. An awning specified for a sheltered suburban garden will not last here, and we will not sell you one.
The housing runs the full range. The Leas and the west end carry Victorian and Edwardian terraces with generous frontages and clifftop exposure. Sandgate is tight to the seafront. Inland at Hawkinge and Etchinghill the plots are newer and more sheltered, and Hythe sits somewhere between the two. Exposure varies enormously across a few miles, and it is the single biggest factor in what we specify.
So we survey before we quote, every time. Our surveyor comes out from our Barking showroom (IG11 8BL), measures, photographs the elevation, checks the fixing substrate and — crucially here — assesses how exposed the position actually is. You get a system sized and specified for your plot rather than a catalogue price.
Wind sensors are fitted as standard on every Folkestone job, not offered as an upgrade. The sensor retracts the awning automatically once gusts pass the threshold, which protects the fabric, the arms and the fixings. On clifftop and seafront positions we will also often recommend a shorter projection than the garden could theoretically take — a 3.5-metre awning that survives a decade is worth more than a 4.5-metre one that does not.
Salt air is the other coastal constraint. We specify marine-grade stainless fixings on seafront elevations and check the powder-coat specification rather than assuming it. On Victorian and Edwardian property along the Leas there is the added question of what the façade will carry — render over soft brick is common, and a bracket choice that is fine on a modern cavity wall is not fine there.
For fabric, solution-dyed acrylic is the only thing worth fitting on this coast. Sunbrella and Tempotest both carry the colour through the fibre rather than on the surface, so sun and salt do not bleach them the way a printed fabric goes. We bring the full sample book to the survey so you can judge the colour against your actual elevation.
We cover Folkestone, the seafront villages and the inland CT postcodes. Surveys are usually booked within a week of your enquiry, with fitting typically 4–6 weeks out.
Postcodes we cover:
Drive time from our Barking showroom: Around an hour and three quarters from our Barking showroom via the M20.
With a wind sensor and the right specification, yes — and we fit the sensor as standard here rather than as an optional extra. The sensor retracts the awning automatically when gusts pass the threshold. On the most exposed clifftop positions we will also advise a shorter projection than the garden could take, because that is what makes the system last.
Not if it is specified for the coast. We use marine-grade stainless fixings on seafront elevations and solution-dyed acrylic fabric, which resists both salt and UV. The failures we get called out to on the coast are almost always systems that were specified as though they were going into an inland garden.
No. We quote the same prices in Folkestone as we do in London — the M20 run is straightforward and we would rather win the work than lose it on a travel line. Survey and fitting visits are both included.
Yes, all three, along with CT18, CT19, CT20 and CT21 generally. Exposure differs a lot across those few miles, which is exactly why we survey rather than quote off a postcode.
Typically 4–6 weeks. The survey is usually within a week of you getting in touch; manufacture takes the bulk of the remaining time, and the fit itself is generally a single day.
Book a free survey or call 0208 507 3395.