Outdoor Living Guides & Tips

Most contractors who add awnings don't do it because they wanted a new product line. They do it because a customer asked, they had nowhere good to send them, and they watched a $6,000 job walk down the street.

Shade is the most commonly requested add-on that outdoor trades aren't set up to sell. This is a straight explanation of how our dealer program works, what it costs, and who it fits — so you can decide in about five minutes whether it's worth an application.

Start with the part most suppliers don't offer: we send you work

Every dealer program on earth will tell you about wholesale pricing. Far fewer will put a job on your calendar.

Our certified installer program runs the other direction from a normal supplier relationship. If you're set up to install, we route nearby projects to you — installation revenue on jobs you didn't have to sell, market, or chase. It's optional, and you flag your interest right on the application.

That's the piece worth reading the rest of this page for. Everything below is how the supply side works.

Who this is for

The program is built for contractors and trade businesses already selling to homeowners or commercial property owners. If you're on the job site anyway, awnings are an attachment sale — not a new business.

• Screen enclosure & pool cage companies
• Window & door contractors
• Roofing companies
• Outdoor living & patio builders
• Landscaping & hardscape firms
• Pool & spa builders
• General contractors & remodelers
• Deck & fence builders
• Solar & energy companies
• Storm & hurricane shutter shops

No minimum volume, no territory purchase, no franchise or application fee. If you sell to property owners, you qualify.

How the pricing works

Factory-direct wholesale pricing — you set your own margin. Zero fees, zero middlemen.

That sentence is doing a lot of work, so here's what it means in practice. We manufacture in Tampa, Florida. When you order, you're buying from the plant that builds the product, not from a distributor who bought from the plant. There's no markup layer between us and you — and that layer is usually the one eating a dealer's margin.

We also don't tell you what to charge. Some dealers price aggressively to win the whole outdoor-living package. Others treat shade as a premium upsell and price accordingly. Both work. Your account pricing lives in the dealer portal; what you do with it from there is your business.

What you can sell

• Architectural aluminum canopies — G-series, C-series, cantilever, open tube, standing seam
• Bahama shutters, multiple styles
• Retractable awnings
• Motorized louvered pergolas
• Motorized screens
• Aluminum patio covers & pergolas

Everything is custom-fabricated to your specs to 1/16", in powder-coated aluminum with stainless fasteners, and it's warranty-backed. We've been manufacturing for over 37 years.

The part that actually matters: quoting and permitting

The reason most contractors avoid awnings isn't margin. It's that a custom-fabricated structure is intimidating to quote, and a permit-required canopy is intimidating to get approved. Both are solved problems here.

Ordering is drop-down, not freeform. The dealer portal walks you through the assembly with built-in error checks, so you're not guessing at a spec sheet and hoping the bracket you picked matches the mount condition. For custom projects, upload your plans and we'll work from them.

You get shop drawings to present. Showing a homeowner a real drawing of the thing going on their house closes jobs a brochure photo doesn't.

Stamped plans are supported through a third-party structural engineering network — which is what your building department is going to ask for on a commercial canopy.

Beyond that: media, brochures, and product materials you can put your own branding on.

Shipping and lead time

We ship nationwide to all 48 contiguous states — FedEx/UPS, LTL, or crated freight, to your shop or straight to the job site. Crating is done in-house with heavy-duty materials, because a custom canopy that arrives bent is worse than one that arrives late.

Lead time is 2–3 weeks from order confirmation. Plan your schedule around that and you won't have a customer calling you on week two.

One thing to be clear about: all sales are final. No returns, exchanges, or cancellations once an order is confirmed. That's the tradeoff with custom fabrication to 1/16" — we're building a part that fits exactly one opening. Measure carefully and use the error checks.

How to apply

The application is short. Business name, business type, contact name, email, phone, and the state you serve. Check the box if you want in on the certified installer program.

Approval takes 1–2 business days. Once you're approved you get immediate portal access with your account pricing, and you can quote your first job that afternoon.

Apply to become a dealer →

If you'd rather talk to a person first, that's fine too. Call 1-800-AWNINGS (296-4647) or email sales@1800awnings.com. We're at 4608 N Hale Ave, Tampa, FL 33614 — you're welcome to come see the plant.

The honest pitch

We're a manufacturer. We're good at building shade structures, and we'd rather spend our money on aluminum than on customer acquisition in every market in the country. You already have the customers, the trucks, and the trust in your local market.

That's the trade: our factory, your relationships, and neither of us paying a middleman for the privilege. When we've got a job in your area and no one to install it, you're who we call.

If that sounds reasonable, the application takes about two minutes.