Can You Put a Camper Awning on Your House?

Camper Awning

• Because a camper awning is made to be installed on a vertical flat surface of the side of the camper, there should be no problem with installing a camper awning onto the side of the your home. As long as the awning is bolted to structural members of the house framing, it should work just as well as it does on the side of a recreational vehicle. An advantage to installing a camper-type awning on your home is that it can be retracted and rolled up in a short time when inclement weather is imminent.

Home Awning

• Many home patio awnings on the market as of 2011 follow the same principle as the roll-out camper awning. In fact, some home awnings look very closely related to the camper awnings they are derived from. Some major camping supply stores actually carry both versions of awnings for your camper and your home. A major difference in the home version is that it can be had with electrically operated controls, as opposed to the manually operated awnings on most campers.

Camper Awning Construction

• The average camper awning consists of a spring-loaded roller that the front edge of the fabric portion of the awning is attached to. The rear edge of the awning is slid into a track that is securely attached to the structure. When open, the awning is supported by rafters on each end of the unit. The bottoms of the rafters are securely attached to the side of the structure.

Camper Awning Operation

• The retracting device allows a camper awning to be rolled up tightly and stored against the side of the structure at a moment's notice. Once the rafter thumb-knobs have been loosened and the ratchet lever is switched to the “down” position, a special tool with a hook on the end is used to pull the awning down until it is fully extended. The rafters can then be adjusted manually to the desired height and the thumb-wheels tightened. Rolling the awning back up is done in the reverse order.