Here's a great build and write-up from Julie!

"A year ago, we were hit by a hurricane. We lost 2 pergolas, a gazebo, a roof, a boat, a lemon tree and also sustained damage to a car. We have replaced the roof and fixed the car. So now we need shade. The canopy we built is large (30ft by 10ft). Multiple criteria had to be met and we had to shift our design a few times to maintain our goals. First, two old people had to be able to manipulate the shade without the help of neighbors. Second, it had to withstand winds of 35-40 mph. Third, it needed to be taken down quickly if the winds were greater than 40mph. Also, we couldn’t mount anything on the roof or eaves. We ended up building an EMT frame to support the canopy, attached to the house under the eaves. There is an EMT bar running parallel to the eaves. Everything is bolted to the house and anchored to the patio. This structure will remain in place in bad weather.

We attach the canopy to the EMT frame bar using double port pipe clamps and quick releases. The front of the canopy is supported by EMT that are anchored to the patio with adjustable flange and joined to the canopy using T-connectors and quick releases. The front supports are designed to lie flat on the patio when the canopy is taken down. The canopy itself is in 2 sections that attach to each other using straight connectors and quick releases. Each section is 15ft by 10ft. We could not build the canopy with support every 4-5 feet as we wouldn’t be able to lift it. We have one support at the 8 ft mark on each section. We mounted 1/8 in steel cable in a W pattern on the 30ft frame for support, using turnbuckles to maintain taut cables.

Shade is provided with a waterproof pergola cover attached to the frame with steel zip ties. When putting up or taking down the canopy, we attaché the sections separately and then join them. It takes about 15 minutes to install and take down the canopy. Attached are a few pictures."