Craft-Bilt · Betterliving & Contempo
Betterliving retractable fabric awnings, tension shades, solar screens, and canopies, plus Contempo permanent aluminum awnings. Up to 94% UV cut. A 12-year Betterliving shade warranty from the mill.
The shade
People say “retractable awning” for four different Craft-Bilt products: retractable awnings, retractable canopies, retractable screens, and Betterliving tension shades. We spec the one that matches the wall, the wind, and how you use the patio.
Betterliving fabric is 100% solution-dyed acrylic with Dupont Teflon treatment and Gore Tenara thread. Frames are extruded and cast aluminum with stainless hardware. Motorized units run Somfy — remote, sun and wind sensors, or app control.
Where a fabric cassette is the wrong call — a west wall that wants a permanent eyebrow — Contempo aluminum awnings hold colour and cut the sun without a roll-up.
Betterliving retractable
Frame widths in 1-inch increments, projections from 4'11" to 13'1". Variable pitch, drainage in the front bar, continuous fabric tray. Motor or manual. Optional LED light bar and Vario valance for extra drop shade.
Tension shade & screens
Free-standing canopies, pergola canopies, and solar screens for restaurants and houses that need a taut run of fabric, not a folding arm. Same Betterliving shade family and 12-year mill warranty.
Contempo aluminum
Sturdy decorator-colour aluminum. Accent the house, cut harsh sun, no fabric to winterize. The right call on entries and south walls that should not wait on a motor.
What it does for the house
Betterliving claims up to 94% UV protection, lower air-conditioning load, and less fade on furnishings inside the glass. We place the cassette with the sunroom, the patio cover, or the existing fascia so it looks like it belongs.
Craft-Bilt Materials Ltd.
Craft-Bilt supplies specialty sunrooms, patio covers, awnings, stacking windows, polycarbonate roofs, and aluminum kits to the Canadian dealer market. Basswood Inc. specifies the system with the outdoor room — ledger, snow load, pad, and flashing — then sets it. craft-bilt.com
Sunrooms
Three-season and all-season rooms, balcony enclosures, Vista screen rooms, porch enclosures, and 4-track stacking windows. Betterliving is the heavier Canadian wall. Grand Vista is manufactured in Ajax, Ontario for snow load and wind.
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Patio covers
Permanent roofs for decks, patios, porches, and carports. PanelCraft insulated aluminum panels for shade and span. Northlander Skyview multi-wall polycarbonate for filtered light and UV control. Built now, closed in later as a sunroom.
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Awnings & shade
Retractable fabric awnings, tension shades, solar screens, pergola canopies, and Contempo permanent aluminum awnings. Solution-dyed acrylic, Somfy motor options, industry-leading 12-year Betterliving shade warranty.
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Sunroom systems
Covers, shade, and mill extras
Vista Railings
Vista Railings manufactures premium aluminum railing systems — picket, glass, and cable — plus QwickBuild aluminum deck framing. Fifty-plus years in the trade, stocking dealers across Canada. vistarailings.com
Picket
Clean traditional and modern picket infill. Aluminum that does not rot, split, or need stain. Residential decks, stairs, and porches that still want a classic guard.
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Glass
Glass infill that keeps the lake in the room. Framed and contemporary aluminum posts with a cap rail. Balconies, rooftop decks, and waterfront stairs where the view is the point.
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Cable
Horizontal cable infill — streamlined, low visual weight, still a real guard. For contemporary cottages and terraces that should not look like a fence.
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Where Vista sits
How we run a railing job
Questions
Craft-Bilt Materials Ltd. — Canadian dealer-sold aluminum sunrooms, patio covers, stacking windows, and Betterliving shade. Basswood Inc. specifies the kit with the pad, the ledger, and the snow load, then sets it.
Vista Railings. Picket, glass, and cable aluminum systems, plus QwickBuild deck framing. Craft-Bilt also manufactures railing and decking; on this line we specify Vista for the guard, as we already do on basswoodinc.ca/outdoor-living.
Yes. Craft-Bilt insulated patio covers are designed so you can close them in later with 4-track stacking windows and sunroom walls. Build the roof now; add the room when the budget or the season says so.
Grand Vista three-season DIY kits are on the cart at Craft-Bilt’s published kit prices, from the 10×10 at $19,500. The Northlander Skyview low-profile 12×12 cover kit is $2,622. An installed room, a heavier snow load, PanelCraft structural covers, Betterliving awnings, and Vista railings are still quoted — those do not have a single published unit price.
Grand Vista is manufactured in Ajax, Ontario and engineered for Canadian snow load and wind. Betterliving is sold as the heavier Canadian sunroom wall. Vista aluminum does not rot or need stain. We size posts, ledgers, and footings with the same crew that does the earthwork.
Width of the run, how far you want it to project, and whether you want fabric you can retract or aluminum that stays.
