What you're actually choosing between
It helps to know that both options are the same roof. The blades, the frame, the all-round gutter system and the 95% watertight performance when closed are identical. The only thing in question is what turns the mechanism: your hand on a crank, or a Somfy motor.
Every motorised louvre we build runs on a Somfy motor. The motor is covered by Somfy’s own warranty; our 15-year guarantee covers the aluminium.
Load-shedding, and other honest questions
The question we get most often about automation in South Africa is what happens when the power is out. Worth raising with the team when you quote. It is a genuine argument for manual on a holiday home or a rental, where simplicity is worth more than convenience. A manual gearbox has nothing to fail and nothing to power.
The counter-argument is speed. A Highveld storm gives you minutes, not half an hour. If the patio is the room you actually live in through summer, closing the roof quickly, without cranking it by hand, is not a gadget. It's the difference between using the space and giving up on it.
Thinking about your own patio?
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Which fits your patio
| Your situation | Usually the better fit |
|---|---|
| Small to moderate span, simple layout | Manual gearbox |
| Large or multi-bay system | Automated |
| Main entertainment area, used year-round | Automated |
| Budget is the deciding factor | Manual gearbox |
| Holiday home or rental property | Manual gearbox |
| Reaching or winding is difficult | Automated |
Decide before manufacture, not after
This is the single most useful thing in this article. Planning for automation at the point of manufacture is clean; retrofitting it later is not. Even if you're going to start manual, tell us if a motor is a possibility down the line, so we can specify with that in mind. It saves a much more awkward conversation later.
Maintenance either way
Keep the gutters and downpipe outlets clear, especially heading into the rainy season, and clean the roof regularly, especially the valleys in the blades. That regular cleaning is a condition of the 15-year guarantee on the aluminium. A motorised roof needs exactly the same care.
What to tell us when you quote
Send a photo of the area with rough width, projection and height, then add three things: roughly how often you'd be opening and closing it, whether the patio gets used in the evenings, and whether automation is in budget now or later. That's enough for us to recommend rather than guess. Every dimension is confirmed on site before anything is manufactured.
