We Make A Porch From Polycarbonate

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

The porch is a functional element that emphasizes the originality of the design and adds a decorative touch to your home. The choice of material is relevant for home owners. Consider interesting options for a closed and open polycarbonate porch. We will tell you how to make a structure yourself

Why choose polycarbonate for porch construction

A translucent flexible material with different colors is familiar to many. Polycarbonate has good light transmission (88%), is non-flammable, 150-200 times stronger than glass, has a scanty weight, and is resistant to temperature influences.

It can be used not only for greenhouses and sheds, but also for facing the entrance area to a building. The polymer is indispensable when creating complex configurations. Allows you to make inexpensive, lightweight structures and implement any project. For construction, polycarbonate is chosen monolithic (integral structure with increased strength) or honeycomb (lightweight with hollow cells).

Types of polycarbonate covers

The variety of types for creating porches is huge. They can have curved, original-radical shapes. Complicated types include domed, asymmetric and semicircular.

The imagination of the authors allows you to make works of art from the visors. The frame can be not only the basis of the structure, but also the main decoration of the ceremonial zone. For this, in addition to galvanized iron, profile metal and wood, forged elements and chrome-plated pipes are used. The design of the decoration can have a combination of several contrasting materials, which gives uniqueness to any country house.

For miniature country houses, open porches are built. In this case, there are two elements: a railing and a canopy. Practical buildings include a closed porch with two walls sheathed with polycarbonate.

Polycarbonate porch erection technology

When making your own frame, you need to know some rules:

1. The wide canopy requires a reinforced support frame with profile / bar cross members. Stiffeners should have a step of half a meter.

2. When creating the frame structure, it is advisable to take into account the parameters of the polycarbonate sheet, since the joint should be on a bar or profile. This will make it easier to cut the resin.

3. Despite the number of supports, the porch is always fixed to the wall of the house with anchor bolts.

Making a frame made of wood

The minimum weight of the material allows you not to make a base from a thick bar. To give strength and resistance to wind and snow pressure, it is enough to use a 50 * 50 bar. A large porch area implies the use of more significant parameters.

A wooden frame is created if the steps and parapet are wooden. These are usually simplified views of rectangular shapes. The course of work is simple: the size is calculated, the timber is cut, treated with an antiseptic, the elements are fixed with a galvanized corner. Next, polycarbonate sheets are fixed.

Metal carcass

A fundamental structure is difficult to make without a welding machine. Can be bolted on if desired. The main material is a round or shaped tube of 50 mm. For complex shapes, bent elements will be required, which are bought at metal warehouses or made on their own using a pipe bender. Moving away from smooth lines, it is easier to bend the profile in a vice. A cut is made in the right places, clamped and, with the help of its force, bends in the selected direction, forming the required angle.

Before assembly, it is necessary to remove burrs from the edges, process the cuts, smooth out the seams, level the surface. Non-galvanized iron must be primed or painted with a special paint for metal, acrylic enamel.

Porch sheathing with polycarbonate

Before buying polycarbonate, make a drawing of your structure and choose sheets of the right size. Make the right calculation, avoiding unnecessary seams in the project. This will facilitate the work of creating the frame and reduce material consumption and time for cutting the polymer.

The visor should have a slope and be installed with channels perpendicular to the wall, the arched version is made parallel, on the walls - vertical. This will allow the condensate to drain freely.

The fixing points are made with a span of 30 cm, along the pre-drilled holes. When choosing a drill, the required clearance in relation to the fastening bolt is taken into account - more by half the diameter. This is necessary to exclude cracking during temperature extremes. For these purposes, the bolts do not tighten too tightly - the cap should not reach the sheet by 1 mm. It is advisable to use special thermal washers.