Repairing an Awning

By Lionel Mussell

When you visit the Tebb’s Canvas premises in Brooklyn Avenue, Dandenong, Vic, you are given the feeling that despite the modern building and showroom, you are dealing with people who believe in the old-fashioned values of integrity, service to the customer and a no-pressure approach.

Missing are any signs of hype, and no matter how busy the staff are, customers always gets a full demonstration and explanation of what they are buying. In many cases this will be a rollout A&E awning and, more often than not, walls to suit to turn it into an annexe when the need arises.

When Charlie Tebb started the business 60 years ago it made all kinds of canvas products but in recent years the emphasis has been on the caravan industry. Besides the core business of awnings and annexes, Tebb’s sells a range of other accessories for RVs of all kinds.

Poor old awning!

My recent visit was made because the rollout awning we had used in all weathers and conditions for more than 11 years was beginning to show its age and starting to come apart at the point where it attaches to the van.

It had small holes in the roof from the sharp claws of kamikaze possums who used to drop onto it from a nearby tree and slide down at one site where we spent some time. A very large possum also dropped from a greater height once and broke a rafter fitting so it was time for some major renovations.

A phone call to Rick den Hartog at Tebb’s revealed that although it was possible just to renew the vinyl, a much more satisfactory idea was to fit a kit that consisted of a new roller assembly complete with new vinyl. This was cheaper than a complete awning as it utilised the existing rafters that were still in good working order.

Once I confirmed that I was happy with this option, it was a case of measuring the old awning, deciding on a colour and making a date for the fitting.

When I arrived at Tebb’s, the van was unhitched, a fork-lift quickly moved it into one of the purpose-designed fitting bays and I retired to a comfortable couch inside the showroom with a cup of coffee.

While there, I probed Rick with a few questions about the company. Rick – who doesn’t like to use the term ‘sales manager’ although that’s what it says on his pay slip – has been with the company all 23 years of his working life so it’s not surprising that he knows the product range inside out.

Rick’s record is similar to that of the present ‘boss’, Des Tebb. Des joined his father Charlie in the business when he left school and has been there ever since. When Charlie died a few years ago, Des naturally stepped into the top position and has continued the family tradition of service that was the hallmark of the ‘Charlie Years’.

No flapping

Rick showed me the Anti Flap Kit that is now a feature of annexe walls supplied by Tebb’s, and a very neat idea it is too. Not only is it a quick and simple way of stopping that annoying flapping in moderate wind, but it provides an easy way to attach the walls.

New walls come with a wedge-shaped piece that clips into the Anti Flap Assembly and then the wall itself is simply zipped to the bottom of the wedge. Rick emphasises that you still need to roll the awning in to prevent damage in high winds if the walls are not attached and he recommends using a guy rope to steady the roller in moderate breezes.

In just over an hour I was away with our new awning in place and a warm feeling that I’d been dealing with a firm where honesty and customer service are still very important despite today’s clamouring marketplace.

Tebb’s Canvas located is at 33 Brooklyn Road, Dandenong, Vic 3175, (03) 9793 2044.