Keeping this information site simple……
Our aim is to offer sound advice on shade sails, shade structures and basic related matters.   We want to keep it as simple and straight forward as possible.  Recently someone said “teach me how you do shade sails”.  The response was “it is very difficult for one person to be proficient in all facets of the business so what part do you need to know?” “Everything!” was the answer.   Our advice is to know what you need to know and trust a professional to handle the rest for you because….
–       Apart from the universal needs of a business such as capital, premises, legal, insurances, accountancy, taxation etc etc.  Our list includes site issues inspections, quoting and measuring, designing, Building Codes and the various construction and safety regulations, CAD drawing, fabric patterning, fabric compensation, connection detailing, reinforcement, hardware selection, fabric/hardware/cable sizing, pre-stress allowances for all fabrics, fabric tension methodology, clamp plate systems, edging systems, cable dimensioning, cable termination systems, fabric patterning software, steel fabrication template design software, finite element analysis software, interpretation of wind codes, structure load application, structural analysis of shade structures, reading structural and architectural drawings, interpreting them into finished products…. then there are the skills need to actually make and install the shade sail.
–       If at any stage you believe you do need more information…. Don’t hesitate, please ask ….  

When it is not so simple…….  
When our general information is not enough for you there is the FAQ section…. and if you have a specific shade problem or shade project in mind then you can easily access the combined wisdom of TheShadeGroup by emailing   This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it