How to fit a cassette awning
Updated: 22.10.2026
You have a heavy cassette to hang above the patio doors, and the listing may say it needs no assembly. This how to fit a cassette awning page is the sequence: check the wall, set the height so the doors open, fix into brick or concrete, and lift with enough people. A no-assembly line is not a one-person wall fit. The only credible patio weight in our [cassette awning comparison](/hub/sun-shades/cassette-awning) is the Green Bay at 56 kg. UK fitter sheets plus that listing's review notes. No lab test.
You have a heavy cassette to hang above the patio doors, and the listing may say it needs no assembly.
You have a heavy cassette to hang above the patio doors, and the listing may say it needs no assembly. This how to fit a cassette awning page is the sequence: check the wall, set the height so the doors open, fix into brick or concrete, and lift with enough people. A no-assembly line is not a one-person wall fit. The only credible patio weight in our cassette awning comparison is the Green Bay at 56 kg. UK fitter sheets plus that listing's review notes. No lab test.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Item weight | Housing | Assembly claim | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Green Bay Green Bay electric full cassette 3.5 x 2.5 m | 56 kg | Full cassette | Listing says no assembly required | 8.4 | about £1,099.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  WKIEQACO WKIEQACO manual cassette 350 x 250 cm | 2.5 kg | Manual cassette | Not stated | 4.0 | about £1,499.43 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Dalumian Dalumian electric full cassette, size line 1 x 0.5 m | 50 g | Full cassette | Listing says no assembly required | 2.8 | about £500.17 | View offer |
On this page
Check the wall before you mark it
Hang the cassette only into sound brick or concrete. Mortar will not hold the bolts. Primrose's full-cassette sheet says so for their kits, and Awnings Online wants several solid brick courses above and below the brackets. Caribbean Blinds uses spreader plates or cantilever brackets when the wall above patio doors is too short or too weak. Those plates are a fitter's detail, not a bit you invent on the day.
Stop and call a fitter if the wall is timber frame, heavily rendered, a single-storey extension or bungalow with little masonry above the doors, a listed building, or a flat. Flats do not get England's householder permitted-development rights. On sound brick, mark only where the brackets land on brick, not on the joint.
Height, door swing and pitch
Primrose's sheet for their full cassettes puts the housing about 2.5 m to 3.5 m from the ground, and about 20 cm above a door frame. Awnings Online talks about 2.5 m to 3 m. 247 Blinds marks a line 450 mm above the window or door on their own fit. Green Bay B09TQN1RH4 prints a minimum clearance of 20 cm. It is not permission to copy another maker's hole depth onto the Green Bay.
Open the patio door, including any vent, before you drill. Then set a downward pitch so rain leaves the cloth. Awnings Online's rule of thumb is about 14 degrees or steeper. A flatter fall is one they would not leave open in rain. Retract the awning when you leave it.
Brackets and the bolts in the box
Brackets should sit on sound masonry, under the arm attachments where the sheet says so. Primrose, for their kits, uses a 14 mm bit and holes about 90–100 mm deep, and says mortar will not hold the bolts. 247 Blinds, for their kits, uses a 12 mm masonry bit about 85 mm deep, away from mortar. Keep those diameters with the sheet that printed them. Do not copy either bit, or Primrose's scaffold towers for their 3.5 m to 6.0 m units, onto B09TQN1RH4.
Green Bay's specification says assembly is not required. In a sample of 50 United Kingdom reviews, people still describe two people, a drill, and supplied wall bolts that are poor in brick. Some of those reviews name other widths. If the bolts feel wrong, stop and use a masonry fixing that matches the bracket and the wall. Keep the arms fully in or fully out.
Lifting it, and what no assembly does not mean
Green Bay is listed at 56 kg. No assembly required means the seller says the unit arrives built. It does not mean one person can hang 56 kg. The review sample describes two people and a drill. 247 Blinds asks for at least two, preferably three. Primrose says their 3.5 m to 6.0 m units need more than three people plus scaffold towers. The WKIEQACO pages print 2.5 kg and Dalumian prints 50 g. Those figures are not a lighter cassette you can hang alone.
After the lift, check the pitch and retract the awning when you go in. If the wall failed the first check, stop before the drill comes out.
Brick, two people, then the drill
If the wall is sound brick or concrete and the door still clears, plan at least two people for a 56 kg unit and follow that awning's sheet. If the wall is timber, render, a short extension, listed or a flat, stop. A no-assembly line is about the factory build, not your ladder.
Common questions
Can the bolts go into mortar?
No. Primrose's sheet says mortar will not hold the bolts, and 247 Blinds tells you to drill away from the joint. Awnings Online wants several solid brick courses above and below the brackets. If the only level line is a mortar bed, move the brackets onto brick or concrete, or stop.
Does no assembly required mean one person can hang it?
It means the listing says the unit is already built. On the Green Bay page that sentence sits beside 56 kg, and the UK review sample still describes two people and a drill. 247 Blinds wants at least two people, preferably three. The phrase is about the factory build, not about your ladder.
What pitch stops rain pooling on the cloth?
Awnings Online uses about 14 degrees or steeper, and mentions about 14–20 degrees. A flatter awning is not for rain you leave unattended. Set the fall when the arms are open so water runs to the front bar, then retract the awning when you go inside. Wind class stays on the data sheet for that size.
Can I fit one on a single-storey extension myself?
Often you should not. Awnings Online pulls out single-storey extensions, bungalows, timber frame and heavy render for special brackets. Caribbean Blinds points to spreader plates or cantilever brackets when height or strength is short. If you cannot see several solid brick courses above and below the fixing line, stop.
How high should the cassette sit above patio doors?
Follow the sheet for the unit you bought. Primrose uses about 2.5 m to 3.5 m and about 20 cm above the frame. Awnings Online cites about 2.5 m to 3 m. 247 Blinds marks 450 mm above the opening. Green Bay prints a 20 cm minimum clearance. Check the door still opens before you drill.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Shelf figures stored 21 October 2026. Updated 22.10.2026.
- Awnings Online, buying guide (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Awnings Online, measuring (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- BASE Direct, cassette versus semi-cassette (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- BASE Direct, EN 13561 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Primrose, full-cassette fitting PDF (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- NICEIC, garden electrics (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- GOV.UK, party walls (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Waltham Forest, planning permission FAQ (retrieved 22.10.2026)