Securely fitting a tarpaulin as a wall?!

[sammy7boy]

Hi all! I've just moved into a rental property with a 'lean-to' next to the house. I want to keep stuff in the lean-to dry but it doesn't have a wall at the far end! - it faces south and is open to the wind and rain.

If i owned the property i would simply have a wall built, but since i can't do this i've ordered a made-to-measure heavy-duty translucent PVC tarpaulin that will be fitted to the end of the lean-to as a much more cost-effective solution.

I haven't quite got my head around how to fix it in place yet though. The lean-to has a nice chunky wooden frame around the end. The tarpaulin will have eyelets around the edge every 50cm (so about 4 on each side). I need to be able to remove the tarpaulin easily - at least at the sides so it can be rolled up to open up the end when required.

I'm picturing something along the lines of very short heavy-duty bungees, which, rather than having hooks at both ends, have a hook at one end and an eyelet at the other end so it can be screwed/bolted to the wooden frame. Thing is, i'm not sure such a thing exists! Alternatively i could just screw heavy duty stainless steel hooks into wooden frame.

Anyway, they are just my thoughts so far. Any other ideas would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Sam

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Photos please.

 

[wrathkeg]

You can get adjustable bungees at the likes of Screwfix. An alternative might be cable ties depending on how often you want to undo it. Or spring clamps/stall clips for the full market stall look.

 

[sammy7boy]

The tarpaulin hasn't arrived yet. Here's the end of the lean-to and the wooden frame i speak of. The tarp should fit perfectly but it won't overlap the wooden frame at the sides, meaning that any fixings (hooks, bungees, whatever) will have to protrude inwards slightly to grab the eyelets of the tarp.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You're profile is private!

 

[Deluks]

These type of fellas, what scaffolders use.

http://www.tarpaflex.co.uk/acatalog/Shock-Cord-Ties---Pack-of-25-SHOCK.html

 

[sammy7boy]

Sorry, finding this whole adding image thing really bloody tricky. Should be open to all registered users to view now? Thanks for the Shock Cord Ties tips!! That's exactly the kind of thing i need! Only thing is that the cords only need to be about 5cm long, rather than 30cm! Not sure if you can get shorter ones?

 

[s60tsy]

i did this at my dads we folded the edge over a length of wood and screwed through the eyes with a screw and washer, then fixed the length of wood at the top, then did the same kind of thing at the bottom. its lasted 3 years now with no rips and we havent had to touch it since it was fitted

 

[big-all]

yep definitely use wood
your better with it bigger and toll round a bit off 2x1 treated with the eyelets removed or not pinched and screw the baton to the timber at the top
then 2 bits off 2x1" treated at the bottom again rolled and eyelets removed or clear and sandwich in between but clear off the ground around 1 " you can then screw the bottom baton to the timber or use elastics
unless its quite windy the wood will hold the sheet without any fixings
in my situation i used bungees to hold the sheet up onto a fence post either side giving a 6ft covered area
you can see the tarp in the down position here


note the wood between the eyelets in the top to give support

 

[sammy7boy]

Brilliant advice guys. Yep that sounds like the answer to me: use wood to clamp the whole edge of the tarp down! Much more secure than just relying on eyelets alone. Unfortunately there's not going to much in the way of overlap between the tarp and the side of the frame, but can definitely clamp along the top and see where i can go from there.

Thanks everyone for your contributions