Sunsetters...

After a lot of discussion, John and I decided to get a sunsetter--www.sunsetter.com for our back patio.
I got a great deal on a previously owned one, it came with everything (or so we thought) and looked practically new. Anyway, before putting it up, I watch the installation and user video. It shows two average adults installing it and a 100 year old lady working it by herself. Well, my parents showed up at 1:30 to help along with John's parents. Did I mention that it's in the mid 90's and this thing is 20 feet long and 10 feet wide, and attaches to the siding of my house using about 30-35 screws. Needless to say it took all the men and myself to set this thing up. Once it was screwed to the house, we set the support brackets. Unfortunately, the couple we bought it from forgot to bring the hand crank so we had to unroll this mammoth with our bare hands. Finally at 4:30 just as it was getting cooler outside, we were enjoying the shade of our new Sunsetter. I was concerned with how one person can retract the awning. While the men watched I started trying to do it by myself and gave up. This monster is heavy. We decided the best thing would be to connect the support brackets to the house. This made it much easier to retract but remember I am hand cranking this thing. We (yes we, I couldn't do it by myself) get it all rolled back up and decide that it is staying that way. I have decided that the old lady in the video could lay a whoopin on me if push came to shove. I haven't been able to get in touch with the seller, but I did order a new hand crank tonight. So in 3 to 7 days we should be able to enjoy our new shade! Hopefully once the crank arrives, I will be posting an "I love my Sunsetter" entry...