Terrace or gazebo with polycarbonate roof with own hands

The polycarbonate roof is increasingly used in the construction of arbors, canopies, swings and other subsidiary buildings.

Construction of this material is experiencing a real boom, more and more often the owners of houses and dachas prefer to cover the roof with polycarbonate.

Technical characteristics of polycarbonate

Polycarbonate is a modern, high-tech polymer material with hollow longitudinal chambers of the same size.

It is the presence of these cavities that makes it resistant to severe temperature changes, why it is so well established in our country, where it is so cold in winter and hot in the summer.

Permissible temperatures at which this material does not lose its properties: -40 ° C to + 120 ° C.

We list the main advantages of polycarbonate:

• resistance to mechanical damage, shock and even heat;
• low weight and flexibility make installation easy and fast;
• high light transmittance, it is used not only for roofing, but also for glazing buildings;
• high level of thermal insulation;
• resistance to ultraviolet light, does not burn out in the sun, even in color;
• excellent sound insulation;
• strength at bending points. Polycarbonate roofs are often made of semicircular shape,
• polygonal and other complex shapes. They can even cover the tent, garden swings, semi-circular
• roof for the pool, and the angle of the roof can be any;
• warranty service life - from 5 to 20 years, depending on the manufacturer;
• thickness of polycarbonate sheets from 4 mm to 16 mm;
• resistance to atmospheric precipitation;
• is relatively inexpensive.

Simple and intuitive installation attracts thousands of private house owners. A polycarbonate roof with its own hands is available even to those who are far from construction.

That is, polycarbonate has a mass of merits, which also led to the fact that more and more often canopies for the pool, garage, gazebo, verandah make of this material.

Beautiful garden swing or tent, covered with polycarbonate can be seen in the photo below.

Types of polycarbonate

In this article, we understand how the roofing is assembled from cellular polycarbonate, but this is not the only kind of this material that exists.

Consider the main types of polycarbonate:

• Cellular - the range of applications is the widest, it can be used to install the roof of the house, veranda, pool, you can make a tent or a swing;
• Profiled - a monolithic polycarbonate type with a wavy profile or profile in the form of a trapezoid, actively used in private construction. From it you can make a tent, a swing, a roof for the verandah and other buildings in the yard;
• It is also popular to use a monolithic polycarbonate, which is a sheet of polymer material without voids.

It is also classified by service life.

Depending on your budget, you can purchase:

1. premium class - it serves more than 20 years;
2. class of elites - more than 12 years;
3. optimum - service life 10 years;
4. economical - 5-10 years.

To give preference is only to polycarbonate, the manufacture of which is carried out by well-known, proven manufacturers.

Why is polycarbonate used in private construction?

A few years ago this material was used mainly in the construction of greenhouses in industrial or private households. But more recently you can see beautiful architectural solutions using polycarbonate. Most often it is used for mounting:

• verandas;
• basin;
• the balcony of the house;
• garage;
• pergolas;
• other garden buildings - swings, awnings, balconies.

Such a roof can be not only a gable or one-sided, but also a semicircular and even multi-faceted, lightweight and flexible polycarbonate make it possible to include imagination in the design of buildings.

From it you can make even a tent, an arch or a dome. Beautiful photos of different types of roofs you can see below.

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The tasks that are put before such a transparent and easy material - do not hide the space, fill it with additional light and do more visually.

How to choose the right polycarbonate?

It is right to choose the brand of material - the primary task when carrying out roofing works for a garage, gazebo, veranda.

First, honeycomb polycarbonate is a material consisting of two or more plates connected by stiffeners, which are located at an angle of 90 degrees without tilting.

The difference between different types of this material is that it can have different thicknesses, maybe several layers.

Most manufacturers make it in several colors - the choice for the consumer is huge.

For roofing works when erecting verandas, gazebos, garage it is not recommended to use polycarbonate of minimum thickness.

The choice in each case should be based on the characteristics of your structure. The thickness of the sheet is calculated individually.

When installing, it is necessary to take into account the available area of ​​the structure and possible loads.

Longitudinal bearing supports should be located at a distance no greater than 70 cm.

The required thickness of polycarbonate sheets for different structures:

• 4 mm is used for greenhouses and canopies;
• 6 mm suitable for garage roof, swimming pool or gazebo;
• 8 mm, if you are doing a swing, a tent;
• 10 mm is used for vertical partitions, glazing of buildings;
• 16 mm, take if you cut the roof of the house.

Photos of different types of polycarbonate on different buildings can be seen below.

Photo:

In the choice of colors, usually guided by their own taste, but here there are several tips:

1. for places of rest and especially where they eat, it is better to make a roof of warm shades;
2. for the pool on the contrary - choose blue or turquoise colors;
3. transparent polycarbonate is used for auxiliary buildings, greenhouses, trade pavilions.

When choosing the material, pay attention to the manufacturer. Only tested brands have a special ultraviolet coating, which protects the roof from destruction, and the color from burning out.

The second important point is the amount of secondary raw materials used in the production of the material. This indicator should not exceed the accepted norms.

Preparing a support structure for a gable roof or a saddle roof

The roof of this material should have a small angle of inclination so that rain and snow do not accumulate on the surface.

The polycarbonate roof with its own hands can be made almost any shape, the main thing is to make the frame correctly.

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When constructing a veranda, pool or house, build an aluminum or steel profile frame.

There is also a special polycarbonate profile, which is usually manufactured by the same manufacturer as the rest of the polycarbonate.

This profile can be detachable or one-piece, its advantages over the conventional metal profile is that it:

• is hermetically sealed;
• is strong;
• has a protective coating from ultraviolet;
• is transparent, it will not break the overall design aesthetics;
• has a light weight and a simple system of fasteners.

As already mentioned, the maximum distance between the longitudinal elements on the roof of the veranda, pool, house or pergola is 70 cm.

The maximum distance between the cross members depends on the angle of inclination of the roof and the thickness of the material you choose.

If the thickness of polycarbonate is 8-16 mm, then it is necessary to indent 1 m if the material model is thinner than 8 mm, then the step between elements is 70 cm.

The polycarbonate roof should have a recommended inclination angle of 10% -18 cm / m, but notless than 5%, that is 8sm / m.

Tools you will need:

• jigsaw or saw;
• cellular polycarbonate, with a standard sheet width of 210 cm;
• profile for supporting structure.

For rafters a metal profile or a beam with a section of 60mm x 40mm is used.

Fasten the rafters so that there is a distance of about 1 m between them, and at the same time, to ensure that the joints of the sheets are on the longitudinal and transverse rafters.

Video:

It is attached to the connecting end profile.

Features of working with polycarbonate:

• before fixing it with screws to the profile, it needs to drill holes 1-2 mm thick;
• it is impossible to tighten screws too much, as polycarbonate can expand due to strong heating in the sun;
• it is important not to confuse the top and bottom side of the sheet, since only the upper part has a protective coating from the sun;
• so that the sheets do not deform with time, they must be laid parallel to the bend or slope of the roof slope;
• do not remove the protective protective film until all the holes in the polycarbonate sheets have been made. Before you start working with them - glue the ends of sheets with adhesive tape or a special film so that dirt is not collected in them.

Stages of work on the installation of the roof:

1. installation of the profile - the lower part of the profile is first fixed, the calculations are adjusted and corrected, the angle of the roof is taken into account, changes are made, if necessary;
2. after that you can start cutting the roofing material, do this in advance, before the frame is mounted, it is not necessary;
3. fixing of polycarbonate on the frame from the profile - installation is carried out so that the angle of inclination is parallel to the direction of the hollow channels in the sheets;
4. mounting of the upper part of the profile - if the profile is prefabricated, it looks like this: first the lower part is assembled, then the polycarbonate, then the upper part.

This material very well transmits light, like glass, and you will get a transparent beautiful roof, which will give the terrace or gazebo space a lot of light and visually increase it.

In our uneasy climate to find material that equally tolerates both cold and heat, and is relatively inexpensive and easy to install - it's not easy.

That's why beautiful polycarbonate roofs are decorated with an increasing number of private buildings: terraces, swings, arbors or a tent with such a roof look very attractive and modern.

Whatever you build, it is better to take into account the small angle of the roof, so that it lasts longer.

How to make a polycarbonate roof - see the video below.

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