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

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The back of my house is south west facing (slightly more west than south). We have the sun blaring into our bifold doors along the back of our house from about 3pm and the heat becomes unbearable.

however I can’t work out how to block the sun from coming into our bifolds! I was considering getting a big electric canopy along the back of our house but I don’t feel like it will block out the sun due to the angle?

Why not get one of these metal framed pergolas with the retractable canopy?

I had this and the one way is to close the bi folds and have some curtains you close to try and cut down the solar gain. I did consider a large automatic shade but I put it on the market to move so didn’t go too far down that path.

You could get a sun sail and then put it at the correct angle

In the short term, for this heat wave, I'd recommend taping some space blankets to the windows (the kind they put around marathon runners). It doesn't completely block the light but massively helps with the temperature.

It’s the angle I can’t quite envision! I think it would have to be basically like a sheet pitched from the top of the bifolds to near enough the floor! I’d like to have a retractable awning but I don’t think it would make a difference.

Our whole back of South facing house is glass 🥵🥵🥵 but we have the click fit pleated blinds - they're thermal so keep heat in during winter but deflect heat in summer. Okay it's not an ice box here but it's pretty good as we keep them down from mid morning when the sun hits.

Think we got them from blinds2go and had to measure the individual panes of glass.

We face south, but are fortunate enough to have big trees at the bottom of the garden - these shade the garden beautifully, but the house is still fully exposed to the sun. In hot weather we put sun umbrellas (the sort you'd use over a dining table) up against the wall so they cover the glass doors. That means the glass and the room are shaded, and it makes a huge difference to the temperature. It's a bit cumbersome and not very pretty, but it's effective. We'll get retractable awnings at some point, but it's so much faff...

We have an awning. We first had them with a south facing window but we now have south west facing and it still works. The other option is an external blind but it means you block the view.

We have a similar set up... south facing, bifolds (and glass roof, straight from the living room).
We have hung heavy curtains and it makes a HUGE difference ...and they will stay shut all week. Also a sail shade in the garden coming out from the bifolds. They are very cheap on Amazon and do make a difference!

Look into aircon OP. It can be installed for about £1500 and will be a sure way to get the temperature down without spoiling your view. Awnings and pergolas are lovely- but a good ones probably on par with the aircon install anyway!

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.

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 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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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 😅

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.

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.