Home improvement help - Need to shade one side of my house!

[jravenwood]

Long story short, my house is parallel with the suns arc, and the western side of my house (2 story) (also the side my bedroom is on) gets the blazing sun for second half of the day. So by the evening our room is hotter than heck. Does anyone know a way I can somehow shade this side of my house? I have an HOA but they can go to he||. Hang something from the eaves? Maybe a company that can make a shade that will attach to the fence? Also would prefer it to be neighbor friendly. Ill take any ideas....thanks gents

 

[mayfair70]

Short term - White curtains, shades or blinds (or a combination) to reflect light out of the rooms. Awnings sound good, but I've never dealt with them. Also, they can be expensive. Paint house white?!
Long term - Plant shade trees, or bushes, to block sun in the summer and allow sun in the winter. I'm currently planting lots of trees on the East, South, and West sides of the house to deal with the same problem. Fast growing soft woods will get the job done quicker. I'm taking young maples from the periphery to establish lines of trees now, and they are free. Mine will take 5 to 10 years to have an effect. Some fruit trees grow quickly, and will only take a couple years if you buy ones that are already well established. Down side is the larger ones can be pricey. Good Luck !!

 

[balkisobrains]

jravenwood

I have an HOA but they can go to he||.

Take that to the bitter end, and you might end up with the sheriff telling you to leave "not your house anymore". I would suggest that you ask them what you can and cannot do for your issue.

 

[aquadoc]

White shingles. Seriously will reduce the temp of your house. Plant a few fast growing trees such as river birch, sycamore, elm, etc. Also, a thick shrub next to the house will help. Mayfair made some great suggestions. Google white roofing to see how much it will cool your house. Pretty amazing, really.

 

[jravenwood]

Lots of good ideas...yeah I know, the HOA rules all ha ha! In the end they are good to have albeit annoying. I plan on being in this house for less than 5 more years, so shade trees sadly wont help me.

 

[drwatson]

If it gets direct sunlight for long period of time, short of putting awnings up I think a tree may be your best option. I would suggest a "blaze maple". They grow fast and tall and provide alot of shade. I planned on being in my house for five years, that was ten years ago...Good Luck.

 

[jravenwood]

Hah good point, you never know. Maybe I can find a mature tree somewhere ... maybe Costco hmm good food for thought

 

[ssjones]

Tint the windows?
Our patio was in the direct sun for most of the day, which was hateful between noon and sundown. We covered it a few years ago and now spend the majority of our time out there from May-September. In fact, I'm going out now for my morning pipe.

 

[aquadoc]

BTW, HOAs are BS!!

 

[dochudson]

The HOAs will win 99% of the time so you want to play nice, as far as, them being BS never heard of an HOA forcing someone to buy.
Back to the problem.. Be sure the outside walls and ceiling have max insulation. Don't let the sun shine through the windows! Heavy e rated tint and heavy insulating curtains. Awnings would be good if you can get them pass the HOA. Don't know how far you want to go but an antic fan to pull the heated air out and the cooler evening air in is a winner.

 

[fitzy]

Definitely +1 on shades, blinds, curtains and keeping them closed.
Keeping them closed in my bedrooms helps a lot.
Also Doc is correct an attic fan would help a ton.
My neighbor has black awnings over each window on the south side of his house and I hear that helps but it also makes his house look an awful lot like a funeral home.

 

[tbradsim1]

. I did this on the old home place, 4 live oaks 20yrs old. Man was going out of business, got em for 500$ a piece, screwed up though did not plant any on West side of house . ::

 

[aquadoc]

No, HOAs do not force people to buy but there are many times that you have no choice with commute times and job relocations. HOAs are slowly losing their power in the courts, thankfully. It is one thing to require a clean yard for the sake of maintaining property values. It is a different bear when many become draconian in their overreach with requirements reaching into your personal space and culture. They are big government writ small. Small minds given power over your home to a great extent in many cases. And they are selective in their enforcement. As long as you are part of "the" crowd, the rules can be bent.

 

[jravenwood]

Well the guy that checks on houses, has been caught on my lawn looking at things on my house, so that's one issue that is not kosher. There are more but I won't get into that here. Hoa are good and bad in my opinion!
Yes tinting the windows... excellent idea . I have blackout shades and curtains but that's a good extra step. There ARE two windows on that west facing wall .... I'll look into E RATED tint and a better attic fan . My house was built in the 70s , so I wonder if it even has an attic fan. Thanks boys!

 

[tbradsim1]

Yep been there done that. Wife went to Beauty school, I opened a home shop, HOA said No Business in home. Mine was Deseret, no line of cars, no loud noise. At Homeowners meeting about 20 people said shut it down. I pulled a list of man mechanicing on cars at home, woman doing tax returns, man selling and making furniture at home then selling it there, etc, even a prick that I worked with at Exxon who sold home products at home I closed the meeting with if you shut me down all you assholes that are doing this are going down too, and listen to this I make a lot of money at Exxon and I will sprend my last dollar going after you pricks. My wife worked in her Beauty shop for 3 yrs until we bought in the Country.

 

[pitchfork]

One of the great modernist architects (van der Rohe, Gropius?) had blinds on the outside of his picture window to keep out the summer sun. I think you can purchase some version of these for home installation. Not sure how much that would help your situation, though.
Just google: "exterior blinds"

 

[tbradsim1]

Nurserys use a sun screen, probably sold at Home Depot or Lowes that blocks very effectly the suns rays. You can make screens, then tint your windows, install block out shades which I had as I was a shift worker.

 

[deathmetal]

HOAs are slowly losing their power in the courts, thankfully. It is one thing to require a clean yard for the sake of maintaining property values. It is a different bear when many become draconian in their overreach with requirements reaching into your personal space and culture. They are big government writ small. Small minds given power over your home to a great extent in many cases. And they are selective in their enforcement. As long as you are part of "the" crowd, the rules can be bent.

This is my experience as well. They are usually parasites.
If you can do it, plant some trees and then use some kind of filter on the windows to keep the worst of the sun out. A fast-growing tree might take only a year or two to reach the level where you will be comfortably in the shade. They are also attractive, add value to the house, and are a "green" solution, and most of us are fond of those when they are of the non-BS variety.

 

[jravenwood]

Good stuff. I'm stopping at Home Depot or lowes while I'm out today for tint and shades.

 

[mso489]

Research trees carefully. You want one that stops growing at a specific height (within tolerances) but still casts shade. You don't want one that might lob over on your house eventually (he said living under three huge old oaks). Same with shurbs. Spare yourself manic trimming and sawing by buying shade trees and tall buses and shrubs that grow to limited heights.