AIBU to wonder how best to shade the back of a house with a south west facing garden?

You can buy or have fitted professionally a type of film that is brilliant, it keeps out some of the heat and reflects the brightness too. I have just had some fitted on the front of my house to use for privacy (instead of net curtains) and I am thrilled to bits with it. It isn't cheap but use a proper supplier/fitter, don't try yourself as its very difficult. The company I used is called Sun Guard.

We bought a 3x2m retractable roof pergola from B&Q a couple of weeks ago. It cost £160 and wasn't complicated to install. We paid a handyman friend to do this as we didn't have a drill for drilling into concrete. It was made a difference and is much more pleasant to sit in the garden as well.

https://www.harbourlifestyle.co.uk/collections/pergolas

The pergola is this kind of thing. It was not insanely expensive and DH and I put it up ourselves (with just a bit of mild swearing) and it’s still standing a few years on.

Long term solution - we paid £££ for integrated blinds in between to double-glazing layers and they make a huge difference. Short term - fix some little hooks into the brickwork above the glass and hang either bedsheets or white netting or white bamboo blinds across the exterior of the glass to reflect away the heat, using mutiple short widths so that there aee gaps to walk through when you want to go out.

If you use a retractable canopy, some of these come with detachable vertical side pieces which perhaps solves the angle issue?

We have a very similar set-up - SW facing, bifold doors on the ground floor, full height windows on the first floor, big windows on the top floor. Most of the time it’s lovely - right now not so much!

We have a huge (I think 3m square) tilting parasol, which we can position right up against the house and alter the angle of as the sun moves. It makes a big difference to the temperature downstairs. Upstairs we’ve hung a silver tarpaulin across the outside of most of the window, which is definitely not pretty, but also helps. On the top floor (our bedroom) we’ve caved and bought a portable air con unit. That’s a game changer!

We tried a sun sail before that and it was hard to get the angle right and looked a bit shit

We did this and it looks lovely (IMHO) is very useful in rain and sun and has made a big difference to the heat levels.

The other thing DH did is get some kind of see through reflective film for the upper windows and that does a good job too.

At work we had a glass wall that in the summer caused the room to overheat and made it harder to maintain the equipment in optimal state. We had blinds which didn't do much. They then fitted UV film on the outside and it made a huge difference.

I don't think building design in the UK has adapted to the changing climate. I would say at least half of the people I know with bifold doors complain in this weather overheating the rooms. Especially alongside a more stripped back harden design. I look at my neighbours garden where they have removed all shrubs and trees and there is no shade. We have established hedging and shrubs as well as apple, plum and acer trees which provide dapple shade across the lawn. It makes it more comfortable for my daughter to play in

I’m about to have a glass roof removed from the back of my SW facing extension. It’s all open plan so there’s nowhere to hide and it and would never have been my choice but it was there when I bought. The large windows bring enough light in and I can’t wait to lose it. Freezing cold in winter and insufferable in summer. Also hard to clean and looks scruffy when sun shines on it. Roll on next week… pray for dry weather!

Another vote for pop up gazebo as a temporary measure, you can put it up directly outside your windows and it will cut out the sun actually reaching the window.

Our rear garden is south facing so our back rooms get it a lot and because of the shape of the rear wall, we can't install our gazebo right up against the back of the house. It still makes a big difference to the amount of heat that builds up in the kitchen being nearby. We were going to rebuild the rear of the house and I would install electric shutters on the south facing windows if we did. We stayed in a Greek villa that had electric shutters, they are marvellous.

@Thatfattrollopi do inside so I can slide it open but I guess I could put one on the other panel on outside - the really hot year I did one pane and then tilted a umbrella for the other pane. That said outside is probably a better option as you are right it wouldn’t even get to it.

Do you affix to the inside or outside of the window @snowymarbles? I wonder if outside is more effective as then the sun doesn’t hit the glass at all.

I use a gro blind on my patio doors. They are just the right size for one of the panels and affix with suckers. It’s mainly because I don’t want a blind on the doors the other 51 weeks of the year so it’s an easy / cheap solution.

I always think people are nuts putting huge bifolds on south facing walls. My friend did this with a lantern window in the roof & behold, his kitchen is essentially a greenhouse.....

• awning to shade it
• exterior shutters

I’ll take no credit for it, my DH built it and planted it, and the current highlight is the most beautiful jasmine( variety unknown) that will bloom and scent the garden until autumn.

Wow!

@Abustedflushwould you be willing to share a photo of your pergola? It sounds lovely. This is something we want to do too and I’m looking for inspiration

the back of our house - which is an orangery so lots of glass - faces due south and gets hot whenever the sun shines and is unbearable in this kind of weather. Surfaces are screaming hot to the touch and everything melts. We considered blinds and other types of barriers but didn’t like the look of window coverings. To solve the issue, this year we installed an air con unit inside. It’s been life changing.

This is a long term suggestion, but we’ve got a pergola with a grape vine outside our south facing kitchen. It’s took about 5 years to become established but is now the perfect shade and even today I can sit outside in comfort.
A friend harvests the grapes every September, he’s a keen home made wine maker, and we get a few bottles of our very own house wine in exchange.

Actually a shade sail could work quite well. You’d attach two corners to the house and two corners to posts (or your fence posts if they happen to be in the right place). If you put hooks at different levels down the posts then you could adjust the angle of the sail to deal with W facing sun?

I just have a massive parasol that shields my kitchen window and pull down black out blinds on my french doors which are down from early afternoon.
Appreciate may not work for bi-folds, maybe an electric blind?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/23/how-to-shade-your-home-supercharged-heatwaves-uk

I like the big sail idea....

Trees in pots?

We have blinds and curtains on ours. We keep them closed. Also south west-facing. It’s actually the coolest room in the house now.

I actually just randomly wrote a thread about this after reading an article about super expensive shades and things.

I wondered about chalk paint. It is non toxic, slightly opaque, washes off and can reduce solar gain more than closing curtains - without having to closet the curtains. I am going to do windows around my French doors this week and experiment.

This might be my only chance at a nobel prize, so I am hoping there is something in it.