Protect Your Family With A Caravan Porch Awning

By Henry Proctor

If you're going to travel, you're going to want a way to live outdoors without being ravaged by the elements, and a caravan porch awning is a no brainer solution. Looking to protect your family from the weather on your next road trip? Follow these instructions.

Difficulty: Simple

Directions

Things Required To Build A Caravan Porch Awning:

1. Canvas tarp

2. A roll of measuring tape

3. Preferably nylon rope

4. Tent's stakes

5. Tent Poles (completely adjustable)

6. Scotchguard With Weatherproofing Feature

Brainstorming Stage

Using the measuring tape, determine your caravan's length. How big do you want your awning to be? Canvas tarps can be bought in almost any size, but many are maybe nine feet in depth. Do your best to measure what size will be perfect for your use.

Ordering Your Materials

Call a canvas tarp dealer and speak with someone experienced with the various sizes of canvas tarps and their purposes. Let them know what your awning's dimensions are going to be, and place an order that will match your caravan.

Purchase Other Necessary Items

Any outdoors store should have tent stakes, poles and nylon rope. Be safe and purchase one hundred feet of nylon rope and six tent poles -- that ought to be enough for any caravan awning. Try using pre-made pieces to make your building the awning that much easier. Get the pieces and items all together once that canvas tarp is delivered and get ready to put up your caravan porch awning -- initially, at home.

Using The Right Area

Move your caravan into a big enough area to accommodate the size awning you're going to build. Your best bet is to park over an area of soft earth. If you end up stopped over tar, you can use tent stakes and large metal nails to drive through the roadway. If you're dealing with concrete, hammer a stake into a crack to avoid surface damage.

Getting Your Caravan Porch Awning Together

Flatten out your canvas tarp on the ground. Arrange it so that it is placed beside the caravan in the appropriate manner. Move one tent pole's tip into the grommet at a corner of the canvas tarp that is closest to the caravan, being careful to raise the corresponding awning's corner until that tent pole has become vertical. Keep this pole in the right position until a securing line is staked into the ground.

Putting On Your Awning Line

This step is fairly simple, but extremely important. Designate fifteen feet of your rope for this task, knotting one end and making a loop of it so it will stay on the correct side of the canvas. Use this loop and carefully toss it over the high point of the vertical pole. This should allow you to fasten the other side with the stake, which will then be driven deep into the canvas tarp by the loop. Make sure the loose end rope is secured by a stake.

Finish The Tent Poles

This step simply involves using your last five tent poles to connect to the corresponding grommets. When all is said and done, you should have three awning poles for the front and rear.

Keeping Your Awning Safe

Last but not least, spray your canvas tarp with your Scotchguard. Make sure you give your caravan porch awning three hours to dry, and then apply a second coat. When it is finally all dry, your awning should be perfectly waterproofed for years. When you've finished using it, take the awning apart and store somewhere cool and dry. - 31515

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