Shade Structures & Shade Canopies

The Playground, Shade and Surfacing Depot offers multiple types of sun shade structures to meet your needs. Shade structures help protect children and grown-ups alike from the damaging UVA and UVB rays of the sun but did you also know that commercial sun shade structures may also extend the life of your outdoor products or equipment from premature wear and fading. Protecting your investments from both a health and financial decision make it an easy choice to allow us to design a shade structure that meets your needs.

Traditional shade structure canopy fabric blocks up to 97% of harmful UV rays and provides approximately 80% water repellency. With providing shade up to 91%, shade canopies are on average 20 degrees cooler than conventional steel roofs.

Shade structure canopy fabric is fade resistant, mildew and rot resistant and the shade fabric allows hot air to rise and escape creating cooler air underneath. Our sun shade fabric is constructed of UV stabilized high density polyethylene ASTM 84 and is available in a wide variety of colors.

Our shade canopy fabric carries a 10 year limited warranty and our post carry a 20 year limited warranty against failure due to rust through corrosion.  We can stamp and seal Shade Structure Engineer Drawings in all 50 States which helps on any shade structure permitting needs.

In addition to shade structures and playground shade structures we also sell shade structure post pads or cushioned post pads for the posts and other product’s posts that need cushioned protection.  These are custom made post pads so call us and we will be happy to provide you a quote.

Top Reasons to Add Playground Shade

From swings, independent events, and play structures to children’s tables or benches, there are many benefits of integrating shade into various parts of your play environment.
1. Children can play longer without overheating.
Heat from the sun can be a burden after a while, and children will want to go back indoors for relief. By shading your playground, children will be able to play longer, allowing them to have more fun while staying active. Shade structures typically keep spaces 20 degrees cooler for children to play in.
2. Keep equipment cool to the touch.
Many playground injuries come from children touching over-heated playground structure surfaces that are exposed to the sun for too long. Shading your play area will help prevent children from getting burns.
3. Increase the life of your play equipment.
In addition to cooling the playground, shade structures will actually increase the life of the play equipment. It does this by protecting it against fading and cracking that happens from sun exposure over time.
4. Protect children from harmful UV rays.
One blistering sunburn could increase a child’s risk of getting skin cancer later in life. By adding our UV-protective shade to your playground, children can have fun and stay active outside while protected from harmful UV rays.

Ways to Shade Your Playground

  • Enhance your outdoor play environment by integrating shade structures into any portion of active use zones.
  • Cover an Entire Play Structure
  • Cover play structures with our Sail Shades or Hip Ends in square, rectangle, or hexagon shapes. We offer many sizes and fabric colors to match your play environment!
  • Integrated Shade
  • Use any of our modular shade canopies to integrate a canopy into the posts of your playground.
  • Swing Set Canopies
  • Did you know you can incorporate sun protection into your swing set? We have a unique one of a kind swing with built in shade. Our skilled engineers have designed this to be a safe and economical way to shade swing sets.  Call us for more information.
  • Shade Independent Play Areas
  • Use umbrellas or cantilevers to protect musical play areas, climbers, or other independent play areas.
  • Bench Canopy.  Have a bench beside your playground? Our Bench Shade Attachment perfectly fits on the back of any 6-foot standard in-ground or surface mount bench. This economical option is a great way to add playground shade!

Cantilever Shade Structures

Many locations require the use of as few shade posts and/or footings as possible. The Cantilever style shade canopy is very effective when it comes to having a large covered shade area with limited post availability. Cantilever sun shade structures extend shade over a given area with large overhead steel supporting the shade canopy rather than utilizing additional posts. Our Cantilever shade designs are available in a number of different overhands, lengths and heights.

Custom Shade Structures

Looking for a custom space that needs shade coverage? Let our team of Designers work with you to design a shade canopy that fulfills your needs and vision. Contact us to begin a complimentary design consultation. The sky is the limit, or in this case, the shade to what we can accomplish for you.

Polygon Shade Structures

If you want to create a more unusual, creative look, our polygon shade structures may provide the look you are seeking. They offer all of the benefits that our other shade structure products offer; they just offer it with more shade style.

Sail Shade Structures

Both aesthetically pleasing and practical, Sail Shade structures allow your project to stand out. Sail shades also are convenient when you have an odd shaped space where shade post locations may be limited. Sail shade structures allow the use of different colored shade canopy fabric to make your project ‘pop’ as well as allow your shade fabric to have varying heights of connection to the posts. This allows for a very whimsical and free flowing design of the shade structure.

Square & Rectangle Shade Structures

Square and rectangle hip shade structures offer economical and efficient shade protection. They are available in a wide variety of sizes, heights, colors and fabrics. When inclement weather is approaching and/or winter weather dictate temporary removal of the shade canopy, our quick release patent pending Glide Elbow allows easier release of the shade structure fabric. Playground shade structures not only keep children cooler and safer on the playground, playground shade also help keep your commercial playground equipment from getting so hot and fading and deteriorating as rapidly. Shade structures are also very common for car washes, car dealerships, sandboxes as well as providing picnic shade or school multipurpose shade.

This hip and ridge style of shade structure is often used for shading picnic areas, bleachers, dugouts, car washes, playground shade, water parks, pool decks and many other spaces needing shade.

Cabana Shade Structure / Pool Privacy Rooms

Cabana shade structures or ‘pool privacy rooms’ offer practical shade from the sun for your guests or customers but also allow for money making opportunities. Cabanas or pool privacy rooms allow you to rent the shaded space out for birthday parties, water park home away from home space or a multitude of other party room ideas. Our zoo cabanas, water park cabanas or any style can be custom themed to your particular architectural design or era choice. Another great idea that is popular is to brand your logo into our cabanas for additional marketing exposure.

Custom sizes with an array of choices including drop down walls for the cabana, colors of shade fabric, colors of shade structure frame, etc. These cabana shade structures offer 100% waterproof high tensile membrane fabric roofs and 100% UV protection.

Call us to start your design or themed cabana shade or pool privacy room today.

Single Post Shade Umbrella or Shade Canopy

Single post shade structures, single post shade umbrellas and a single post shade canopy work well for areas that have limited space for posts. Our shade structures provide UV and weather protection for people, parks, playgrounds, schools or any outdoor area. The architectural appeal of our shade structures add value and uniqueness to any project.

Single post shade umbrellas are common for water parks, pool decks, sandboxes and courtyards.

Single Post Cantilever Shade