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

Yes of course - and thank goodness as I’m currently hiding in my N facing front room - but listings generally refer to the way the house faces at the back.

Some do (our first one didn't because it was a back to back) but like @minipie illustrates, S facing is far more popular, so whatever is wrong with north facing, a benefit must be that it's not as hot in high summer.

Don't north facing houses also face south?

Mine is E/W so the front is hot in the mornings but cool in the afternoons and vice versa.

I'm now wondering if north facing houses will become more popular/saleable after decades of people favouring south/west facing ones

Yes I suspect so. we are looking at the moment and I’ve always been insistent on S facing but even I am now looking at my baking kitchen wondering if I am stupid.

On the other hand when it’s autumn to early spring I really do appreciate any glimmer of sun in the kitchen and N facing just doesn’t get it!

I notice that Victorian streets quite often have the grander houses on the N facing side, so that was the favoured side in those days. I think this was because their “best” rooms (drawing room, master bedroom) were always at the front so would have been S facing. Now of course we live more at the back of the house by the garden.

Curtains

that’s what I’ve got - am I just a pleb?

I'm now wondering if north facing houses will become more popular/saleable after decades of people favouring south/west facing ones.

We have a retractable awning, it cost under £200 (I think it's 3.5 m x 2.5 m?) but that was DIY install. However, DP takes it down in autumn, because even when retracted, it is noisy when it's windy. It went up at the beginning of the first heatwave and will stay in place until Septemberish, depending on when we think the warm weather has ended.

I have a retracable canopy over my patio and West facing windows

In the afternoons it gives very little shade on the patio, but does an excellent job of keeping the kitchen cool.

Think long term and plant some trees.

Trees are the best natural AC.

We had a quote for a retractable awning (£4.8k) but our concern was that it wouldn’t reach far enough to shade the patio where we sit out. We have the west facing problem of low sun in the evenings so need a drop down extension but it would fall smack in the middle of the garden furniture.

We bought a £69.99 Lidl gazebo and it works pretty well. I think a permanent structure is probably what we need, but it’s a big investment to get wrong.

Second retractable awnings, with the bonus that they can provide a rain cover in winter too.

Long term I wonder if the UK will start including veranda style architecture in new designs.

I have south facing patio doors & garden I put in a (cheap & basic) retractable awning 3 years ago to make the patio more usable and it's made such a difference in the heat. Even with angled sun getting through at the beginning & end of the day having the glass shaded when the sun is strongest is a huge improvement.

Our back garden faces west and we’re also on a hill so whatever we try the sun just comes underneath after a certain time. Still looking for a good solution that doesn’t break the bank.
Nice sunsets though 😅

As a temp measure just stick up a big curtain or sheet over the windows. Or buy cheap wallpaper and stick to the outside of the glass. On the outside means it’s much better than inside.

Also spray the ground with water next to the house as this will keep it cooler.

You can get retractable awnings that also have another retractable strip of material across the front that you can lower. This means no matter what angle the sun is coming in you can still shade the glass. Not cheap but very effective.

We have a gazebo over the garden furniture on the patio. It shields the house and looks lovely with the plants peeking in round the sides. It provides brilliant shade.

We have a SSE facing garden and big glass sliding doors. We also have a retractable awning and it is a godsend. It does shade the house most of the day - but I see what you mean about the angle if you are W facing. You’d still get quite a lot of benefit, but less as the day wears on.

You could get one of those giant Ikea parasols and then you can move it as the sun moves round?

You need a sun screen. It's like an external roller blind made from thick black netting.
Aluminium shutters would work too but would cost a lot more.

lol yes I just saw that. I will remove it 😟.

it is actually inside a conservatory so not direct sunlight just a super hot conservatory but I will remove anyway.

Take care on this - people on another thread were saying it had stained their glass.

I use a parasol that I can tilt but it's not for a full set of bi-folds. I think a canopy would make a big difference though might not quite work all evening. Or could you fit exterior shutters?

I spritzed some water on the inside and stuck tin foil all over the inside of our patio doors. I appreciate you probably want a more permanent solution, but if you need something to help for the next few days it’s really effective.

We haven't yet been able to justify the cost of anything custom. We bought a camping gazebo on Amazon last summer for about £40 and it shades about half of the glass, and we use a couple of parasols for the rest. Not perfect - some direct sunlight gets through at some angles - and not pretty, but makes a massive difference whilst also providing shade on the patio.

We've had blackout blinds installed this year which also helps, but the key is to stop the sun even getting on the glass at all.

Our garden faces west south west and has no shade whatsoever. We found by accident that an excellent emergency solution was a pop up gazebo set up outside the patio doors. It provides shade for our outdoor furniture but also stops direct sun coming into the sitting room. We have weights to hold the back supports down on the patio and the front ones are pegged into the lawn. It really has been a game changer. Still thinking about a more permanent solution but this works for the time being.

We stayed in an Airbnb last week with a south facing glass wall and a retractable awning, it worked perfectly to keep the afternoon sun out.