How to mount a nesling shade sail?

Vinuovo has been a reseller for Nesling shade sails for more then 10 years already and we have introduced the Nesling shade sails to the french market! We have installed dozens of them and provided hundreds of customers with advice!

You can buy a very expensive shade sail, but once badly mounted it might cause some severe problems. A correct installed shade sail, can remain in place all season long, from the first sun in spring up to the first snow at the end of the season (except for very heavy storms... (personally I have never demounted a shade sail due to heavy winds, however our offices are based upon a 500 meter high windy hill. We also have many customers in the south of France where the shade sails are exposed to the southern Mistral winds but never a Nesling shade sail has torned! If something goes wrong, it's always due to the fixations or bad mounting...)

However, it's not that hard to mount s shade sail, as long as you don't underestimate the force of heavy wind. Below we provide you with some tips and trics, please don't hesitate to contact our customer service if you need some additional information.

Shade sail post:
Almost anyone will need shade sail posts to mount a Nesling shade sail, unless you are able to install your shade sail between 2 walls of course!
We recommend the Nesling shade sail pole, very nice but a little expensive or hard wood poles 9cm thick. Be carefull with pine-wood poles or thinner poles, in case of strong winds, they might break or crack... We are able to supply you with hard wood poles in Angelim Vermelho, unfortunately we only ship them within France, as international shipping is very expensive due to their length.

What to take into account when mounting a shade sail?
Always mount your shade sail pole inclined, with an angle of 10°. As there will be much tension on the pole, the pole will bend slightly. If you install the pole straight up, the pole will be pulled out of the ground.

In case you have nice hard, tough soil, drill a Ø15cm wide hole under an angle of 15°, 80 to 100cm deep. Place the pole into the hole, push it up to an angle of 10° and fill up the hole with soil. Poor some water in the whole to compact the soil.

In case of weak soil, you realy need to use concrete or cement: dig a hole 80cm deep, 50cm wide, palce you pole in it with an 10° angle, and fill up the whole with concrete or cement.

Fastening materials: Hint; only use stainless steel fastening materials; rust might leave mean stains on your shade sail!

Fastening eyes for pole or wall mounting:
The type of fastening eye to choose strongly depends on the type of pole or wall you are going to use.
There is however 1 rule that you should strongly consider; use welded eyes only! Most cheaper eyes are not welded and they will simply bend open in case of strong winds.
All Nesling eye bolts, anchors and pads have welded eyes, and you can chose between 3 different models:

Welded eye bolt with nut M8, 10cm long
You can use this eye bolt in 2 different ways:

1. to mount in a wooden pole with a section of 9cm max.
   Drill a 8mm wide hole in your pole, insert the eye bolt and fix it with the nut on the other side.
2. to fix in a weak or hollow wall by using a chemical anchor.
   Buy a chemical anchor set at your local hardware store, including injection sleeves of Ø15mm wide and minimum 10cm long.
   Drill a Ø16mm wide hole in your wall, remove all the dust, make sure the hole is dustfree, put the injection sleeve in a hollow wall, fill it up with the chemical anchor, the idea is that the injection mortar goes through the holes of the sleeve into the wall to block everything, then put the eyebolt in the mortar and let everything harden according to the instructions of the chemical anchor. After that, everything is really tight!
   Anchor with welded eye Ø14mm x 5cm
   An anchor is well suited for hard stone or concrete
   Drill a hole of Ø15mm in the wall, minimum 5cm deep, stick anchor in it, fasten the bolt and the anchor will expend within the wall, blocking itself.

Pad with welded eye
A pad with welded eye can be used on any flat surface like a wall or square pole.
Fix the pad with welded eye with 4 stainless steel screws and make sure those screws are very well tightened.

To mount a shade sail, you need as many eyes as the sail has corners. 3 eyes for a triangle, 4 eyes for a square shade sail.
Nesling also sells an aluminium rail with an adjustable eye. i won't recommend this rail as its made out of aluminium which is not very strong. I already had a broken rail myself due to heavy winds. In addition, their are not many people who adjust the height of a shade sail; you need to untighten your shade sail, alter the height, and retighten the sail. Please bear into account that once you change the height, the length of the chains is also to be altered, so not very practical in daily use...

Snaphooks:
To connect your the eye of your shade sail to the eyes on the walls or poles, you will need snaphooks.
WARNING! Please assure that the hooks snaps correctly once you mount the assembly, else the hook will bend in heavy winds!zorg ervoor dat wanneer u een
Pending on how you fix your shade sail, you'll need none, 1 or 2 snaphooks per corner, please find a list of potential fastening combinations below:

- shade sail eye > snaphook > eye bolt or eye pad = 1 snaphook
- shade sail eye > spanner > eye bolt or eye pad = no snaphook
- shade sail eye > spanner > ketting > snaphook > eye bolt or eye pad = 1 snaphook
- shade sail eye > snaphook > ketting > snaphook > eye bolt or eye pad = 2 snaphooks

HINT: prepare a drawing of your installation to count the number of snaphooks and other fastening materials you'll need!

Turnbuckles:
A high quality turnbuckle that is able to withstand high forces is essential when mounting a shade sail!
Use always minimum 2 turnbuckles when mounting a shade sail, preferably each one opposit of the other one: the turnbuckle will tighten the corner, so pulling on 2 sides of the shade sail.
HINT: I don't recommend the M8 turnbuckle, it's to light for a shade sail, that's why we only sell the M10 version.
HINT: Use ratchet straps to tighten your shade sail during installation, it allows you to adjust the length on each corner untill you are satisfied with the installation of your shade sail. Once everything in place, mount the fastening materials, tighten everything and release the strap afterwards.

Stainless steel chains:
You'll need some pieces of stainless steel chains to bridge the gaps between the walls and poles. when mounting the poles, allow yourself some additional space, at least 20 cm on each corner, but preferably more, to be able to adjust your shade sail. You will always encounter some stretch and additional space allows you to tighten you shade sail later on in the season.
Nesling stainless steel chains are sold with a standard lentgh of 2 meters, you can cut the chains with scissors for reinforcement bars or a grinder. Only cut the chains once your shade sail installation is completed!

How many and which fastening materials do you need to mount a Nesling triangular shade sail?
For a triangular shade sail you'll need:

- 2 turnbuckles M10.
- 1 stainless steel chain
- 1 to 4 snaphooks
- 3 eye bolts or pads with eye

How many and which fastening materials do you need to mount a Nesling square shade sail?
For a square shade sail you'll need:

- 2 turnbuckles M10.
- 1 stainless steel chain
- 1 to 6 snaphooks
- 4 eye bolts or pads with eye

Please see below some videos on how to mount Nesling shade sails: