Makeover Awning

Our awning was attached with screws on the sides and then was slid onto a track across the top, so—depending on how big your door area is (i.e.: porch, stoop, whatever it is your awning is hanging over)—you may need someone’s help removing the awning safely. I unscrewed the sides but had Rob slide the awning off and take it down.

Here’s a shot a of the awning once it was down. I’m embarrassed to even share this photo but obviously I didn’t realize the extent of the nastiness on the top until we removed it and I could see the entire awning. AGAIN…GROSS!

First, I took a big wire brush and scrubbed the living day lights out of both sides of the awning. I underestimated the elbow grease this awning needed when it was hanging up—it was only after Rob took it down that I discovered all of the lichens on the top. It wasn’t just chipped paint that needed to be removed! I made sure to get in all the crevices of the awning to get the clumps of dirt and lichens out as well. If you have a pressure washer, I’m sure that would be even better, but we don’t have one and I really didn’t want to bust out the crazy chemicals (paint strippers, etc.), so the wire brush worked nicely. Keep in mind that my awning is plastic! Rob and I never knew that either until he took it down.

Then, I hosed down the awning, washing away all of the gunk I had scrubbed off with the wire brush. I took Dawn soap and a scrub brush and scrubbed both sides of the awning. I thought about scrubbing with bleach or Simple Green but settled on Dawn soap because I read on a few sites that some people simply used a detergent to clean their awning. I let both sides of the awning air dry completely.

It took me at least an hour to clean the awning because I would add the Dawn soap, scrub, then rinse a section at time so that I could ensure it got a good cleaning.

Make sure to purchase a scrub brush with rough bristles (if you don’t already have one) to really get the dirt off of the surface. This was a miracle in my books, because it took a lot to get those piece of dirt off.

When you’re finished scrubbing, spray the awning off with your water hose and let it dry completely.

After my awning was completely dry, I sprayed 3 light coats of spray paint on each side. I made sure that each coat was dry before applying the next coat. It took me about 5 bottles of spray paint to complete the entire awning, so I’m really happy I got them at such a good price.

I know the awning itself isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s so much better than it was! We have a laundry list of things that need to be purchased between our supplies for our kitchen/living room reno, décor, furniture and other things, so for now, I’m happy with the facelift our awning received until we can purchase a new one.

Here’s a shot from the side–again, so much better than it was!

Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post! GO