Canopy Rebuild —
You may have seen in the recent Maker Pipe Monday video (https://youtu.be/lgAiF0tDiPA) the description of my new, bolt-secured bimini eyelet bracket. The rumors about the canopy failing due to wind are not quite true. . .
Ok, so the recent snow and ice we had in the Pacific Northwest was the issue, and one that I anticipated. We don’t get a lot of snow in Portland, Oregon, but every other year or so we get some measurable accumulation. Our house is at 900ft elevation, so we get a little more than the rest of the city when it happens. The week before last I was periodically bumping the canopy from underneath to send the accumulated ice pellets down and over the edge, but when I went to bed I was worried. By morning, a good six inches had piled up, but everything was holding!
I started my routine, bumping the snow into the air, down and over the edge. When I got to a heavy section I started pushing up on the canopy from underneath, once, twice, three times—and this resonant bouncing caused a LOT of additional weight, and, well, the upper eave slipped free and the whole thing came down on top of me.
Fortunately, the setup was not that heavy to begin with, and our metal deck furniture, grill and tables gave me plenty of protection once I hit the deck! I was fine and crawled out, but the noise gave my wife quite a scare. Some of the pipes bent from the impact, but in the end, everything was rebuildable. It’s one of the things I love about Maker Pipe—the connectors can be reused, and I only needed to replace one 10-foot EMT pipe.
So, here are some pictures, totally rebuilt. The failure happened at the bimini eyelet. The hinge brackets remained attached to the house. The problem was my EMT stub attached to the bimini eyelet part had slipped out of the T connectors holding the upper eve to the house. Using a stub this way with direct tension pulling out of the connector was a poor design choice.
The rebuild now has through-hole bolts using the technique I wrote about earlier (I replaced the bimini eyelet part and now have a stub of 1/2 EMT captured by the Maker Pipe bolt and running up to the bimini hinge bracket). The only way this is coming off the house now is if it rips apart my siding and wall framing behind that, as these brackets are attached to studs using 3.5 inch stainless steel framing screws. There can be no slipping now with everything setup as bolted steel.
I wanted to write this because the overall canopy design was strong to begin with. It only came down because of my own flawed stub solution—and my stupidity bouncing the snow like I did. In retrospect, one of the benefits to my build was supposed to be the ease of setup and removal of the tarp using bungee ball connectors. I could have easily pulled the tarp back beforehand, leaving the deck free to receive the snow. Live and learn. In any case, it is rebuilt now using the better bolted brackets and we are ready for spring rain!
You may have seen in the recent Maker Pipe Monday video (https://youtu.be/lgAiF0tDiPA) the description of my new, bolt-secured bimini eyelet bracket. The rumors about the canopy failing due to wind are not quite true. . .
Ok, so the recent snow and ice we had in the Pacific Northwest was the issue, and one that I anticipated. We don’t get a lot of snow in Portland, Oregon, but every other year or so we get some measurable accumulation. Our house is at 900ft elevation, so we get a little more than the rest of the city when it happens. The week before last I was periodically bumping the canopy from underneath to send the accumulated ice pellets down and over the edge, but when I went to bed I was worried. By morning, a good six inches had piled up, but everything was holding!
I started my routine, bumping the snow into the air, down and over the edge. When I got to a heavy section I started pushing up on the canopy from underneath, once, twice, three times—and this resonant bouncing caused a LOT of additional weight, and, well, the upper eave slipped free and the whole thing came down on top of me.
Fortunately, the setup was not that heavy to begin with, and our metal deck furniture, grill and tables gave me plenty of protection once I hit the deck! I was fine and crawled out, but the noise gave my wife quite a scare. Some of the pipes bent from the impact, but in the end, everything was rebuildable. It’s one of the things I love about Maker Pipe—the connectors can be reused, and I only needed to replace one 10-foot EMT pipe.
So, here are some pictures, totally rebuilt. The failure happened at the bimini eyelet. The hinge brackets remained attached to the house. The problem was my EMT stub attached to the bimini eyelet part had slipped out of the T connectors holding the upper eve to the house. Using a stub this way with direct tension pulling out of the connector was a poor design choice.
The rebuild now has through-hole bolts using the technique I wrote about earlier (I replaced the bimini eyelet part and now have a stub of 1/2 EMT captured by the Maker Pipe bolt and running up to the bimini hinge bracket). The only way this is coming off the house now is if it rips apart my siding and wall framing behind that, as these brackets are attached to studs using 3.5 inch stainless steel framing screws. There can be no slipping now with everything setup as bolted steel.
I wanted to write this because the overall canopy design was strong to begin with. It only came down because of my own flawed stub solution—and my stupidity bouncing the snow like I did. In retrospect, one of the benefits to my build was supposed to be the ease of setup and removal of the tarp using bungee ball connectors. I could have easily pulled the tarp back beforehand, leaving the deck free to receive the snow. Live and learn. In any case, it is rebuilt now using the better bolted brackets and we are ready for spring rain!
Finally, I settled on this design shown here which uses a pair of T connectors and some EMT stubs and a rubber foot to effectively wedge a simple hook up under the rail. The idea is that the leg has a rubber foot on the deck surface and this short arm hooks under the handrail with another rubber foot. The connectors are tightened such that the rubber part puts spreading tension under the rail. Think of it like compressing a pogo stick and slipping the handle under the handrail.
Now, all three legs are wedged under the handrail in this manner and they are very solid. I can pull up on them and they do not budge. I also wrapped the post with black heatshrink from Maker Pipe for four inches or so where it passes the handrail. This was to protect the finish of the handrail should it start to rub, but actually, there is a small gap anyway, so they don’t even touch.
Not everyone will have the same situation as me, but the use of stubs and rubber feet has me thinking of non-destructive ways of attaching things, and I plan to attach a bird feeder post and arm using the same technique.
One thing I may not have made clear in my posts is that my sections are measured “on center”. The width of my canopy roof is exactly 10 feet because those EMT pipes are uncut, straight from the store. But the peak and eave sections between them—these are cut to accommodate the Maker Pipe connectors so that the sections measure 4 feet on center, then 6 feet on center and so on. They are not 4 foot and 6 foot pipes—they are something less than that, and I don’t recall the actual dimensions. Maybe I mentioned it in my first post on the topic. I don’t recall. If they were actual 4 foot and 6 foot pipes, by the time it is all built, it would be several inches bigger than the 24-foot length I needed.
Also, tarps are sold in nominal dimensions so that if you built your frame like me—exactly 24 feet long (on center of the pipe) the tarp comes 6 inches shorter in each dimension so that 6-inch bungees will hold it perfectly within the frame.
Good luck on the build!
How could I attach the legs to a cement patio? Or in the ground just outside of the patio edge?
What diameter of EMT pipe did you use?
No snow, but the occasional hurricane here, I like how the fabric is attached, so its easy to remove.
I would probably avoid attaching legs to a cement patio. You may be able to simply weigh them down. I would probably pour concrete into buckets around a PVC sleeve and use through-hole pins, bolts, or even kayak-clips that can snap the legs to the sleeve, holding them securely, but still allowing some mobility when needed.
I used 3/4 EMT for everything but the stubs that attach to the Bimini hinge bracket. In retrospect, the stubs could have also been 3/4 with a little cutting and bending to get the inside ends to extend past the Maker Pipe bolt (drilled and captured). I have a different post on how to do that nicely. The flattened end of the stub doesn't matter, but probably fits in the hinge better as 1/2 vs. 3/4.
The bungee method for attaching a tarp with the same nominal dimensions as the frame is convenient for measurements and for keeping it tight and flat without straining it. You can take it down quickly, or depending on your design, remove one end of bungees and slide the canopy open like a Roman shade.
VTurboWay 4 Pack Bimini Top... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N19Y27S?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
https://imgur.com/a/zrHjaU4
https://imgur.com/a/kClDQq7
https://imgur.com/a/E56O8EII’ve made some progress on my awning. Slow going as I mentioned earlier. Two kids, FT work, and measuring and leveling everything 10 times. Having said that I did make a mistake and so now I have to move the bimini brackets slightly higher on one wall. The awning will span a wall with a bump out. So, to maintain the same slope and so that the awning itself is flush throughout, the brackets and the side of the house need to be mounted higher than brackets on bump out. I spaced a little and attached the brackets at the same height. It’s tough to describe. Here are some pics just to share. Multiple links since since I’m not sure how to make just one album on Imgr.
https://imgur.com/a/zrHjaU4
https://imgur.com/a/kClDQq7
https://imgur.com/a/E56O8EI
Also, assuming you looked closely at my images on this post. . .the compressed pipe in the bimini hinge is also captured by the maker pipe bolt in the T-connector so it does not slip out. That was an important learning opportunity for me between Version1 and 2 of my canopy!
Maker Pipe is great for easy assembly, disassembly, and the friction connection is great for most applications, but where something hangs from that friction overhead, you really need to make sure you are capturing the pipe with a bolt somehow. Fortunately, there are several solutions—you can slightly compress 1/2” EMT so it goes in past the constriction and drill it with 1/4” bit so the Maker Pipe bolt can go through. You can go right through the connector with self-tapping screws, or use my technique here: https://connect.makerpipe.com/post/bolted-joints-ok-maker-pipe-community-i-have-another-tip-for-you-i-am-calli--61401879ceb32f59d20819ab for making strong bolted joints in T connectors with 3/4” EMT. This last example is my favorite.
1. Wooden Siding and Studs
2. Stainless steel screws
3. Bimini hinge bracket
4. Flattened EMT drilled hole captured by bimini hinge pin
5. Compressed EMT (same as above, other end) drilled and captured by Makerpipe hex bolt
6. “bottom” section of Maker Pipe T connector
7. Puzzle Pieces grabbing perpendicular “peak” of canopy frame EMT
This causes the frame to hang down a couple inches below the bimini mount points, but once you crank down on that hex bolt, the puzzle pieces grab the canopy frame tightly and it’s not like it swings or anything.
For a while, I had pointed these little stubs up, so the T connectors were oriented upright like a “T” and holding the canopy frame a few inches above the house mount points, but I figured it was possible for the whole frame to pull out and away from the house and swing down anyway—the puzzle pieces have a tight grip, but leverage. . . so in the end, I just let them hang down a few inches. This affected my slope a little, but did not cause enough of a problem to be a clearance issue with my railing when setting it up.
That’s another benefit to this. You get security with the through hole bolting, but you can be loose with the hex bolt until setup is done, so as you set it up seasonally, the frame can be assembled in sections and can swing out onto the legs before you need to tighten down these Ts.
https://imgur.com/a/FIm5Cra
This is mirrored on the opposite side on the downslope—it is exactly the same cut sections of three 4-foot and two 6-foot (on center). That means my section cuts had to be slightly less than 4 and 6 feet to account for the connectors so that they hit those marks ON CENTER. I don’t remember if I shared the actual cut lengths or not, and I don’t remember.
The effect is that my canopy is exactly 10 feet wide from peak to eave, because the capped rafter pieces sit flush, running through 180s and Ts.
The resulting peak section in your photo is made up like this from end to end:
T + 4’ + 180 + 6’ + 180 + 4’ + 180 + 6’ + 180 + 4’ + T
Of course, those foot lengths are nominal references—they are actually a little shorter so the connector centers on that measurement.
I hope that makes sense.