Polycarbonate is an innovative building material that has already become quite popular. For a short time spent in the market, he replaced the recently demanded film, glass and wood. At first, polycarbonate was used only in the country house for the construction of greenhouses and hotbeds due to the fact that it perfectly transmits sunlight, has a good margin of safety and is easy to install. But later, landscape designers drew attention to its other advantages.
Why polycarbonate
When designing the territory of a suburban area, one of the most pressing issues is the arrangement of a convenient recreation area, which would be located outside the house, somewhere on the lawn, as well as shelter for the car. There are many ways to solve these problems. But the main one of them is still the construction of the pavilion. It is the easiest to make a polycarbonate canopy, in addition, it’s not necessary to call the wizard, you can do it yourself. In addition, this design provides its owner with maximum benefits.
Types of material
So far, only two varieties of polycarbonate are known that are used for the construction of canopies - this is a cellular and monolithic thermoplastic. The first is a panel consisting of several layers of transparent or opaque plastic, which are interconnected by vertical stiffeners located along the fibers of the material. At the same time, the voids are filled with air, which gives the polycarbonate excellent thermal insulation properties. The cellular sheets bend well even in the usual, so-called cold state. Therefore, a polycarbonate canopy can be made even the most complex and bizarre shape.
Monolithic polymer has its advantages. It absorbs ultraviolet well and has saturated colors, and also, with all its strength, has a fairly light weight. It is used not only in construction, but also in other industries, which includes high-tech systems.
The advantages of this material
A polycarbonate canopy can be of any design, but each of them will have inherent obvious advantages, which should be noted. And the most important thing is the durability of the structure. It is also very important that this material is easy to install and does not require any special care. It provides high transparency or dullness of the structure, depending on the need, and also performs protective functions from the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays.
The material has a beautiful appearance, and most importantly, it is available in a wide range of colors. And another very important aspect is the low cost. Awnings made of polycarbonate, the price of which varies depending on the size, will still be cheaper than from wood or metal. One sheet of material costs from 1400 to 10 750 rubles. This price range is due to its size and thickness.
How to choose the right
When deciding which polycarbonate to purchase, you need to decide on three parameters. This is thickness, color and quality. In order to do this correctly, you need to determine the purpose of the structure. To select the thickness of the material, snow and wind loads, as well as crate pitch, are taken into account. Some practical advice on this subject will not hurt:
- four-millimeter sheets are suitable for the installation of greenhouses, greenhouses, as well as various advertising structures;
- from a plate of 6-8 mm, you can make a partition, a roof, a visor or a canopy to the house from polycarbonate of your choice of color;
- a panel of 10 mm is usually used for the construction of vertical surfaces;
- plates with a thickness of 16 mm and more are suitable for buildings that must withstand truly huge loads, for example, car parking.
As for color, this is also a very important nuance, since the color of the plates can be of varying intensity and transparency. For example, sheets of turquoise, blue and green are suitable for a canopy over the pool. But as a visor above the trading counter, these tones can not be used, because they will distort the original color of the goods placed inside.
The quality of polycarbonate depends only on its manufacturer. Products of well-known companies are always distinguished by reliability and environmental safety, and also have a protective layer from the effects of ultraviolet radiation, which is applied to the front surface of the sheet.
Necessary tools and materials
To install a polycarbonate canopy with your own hands, you need to make a calculation and purchase everything you need for the production of these works. The following materials will be required:
- press washers and anchor bolts (the latter are useful only when the pavilion will be installed on a solid surface);
- galvanized screws;
- a mixture of cement, sand and gravel, if necessary, to mount racks for support;
- pipes for the manufacture of support pillars with a square section of 60 x 60, 80 x 80 or 100 x 100 mm;
- cellular plates with a thickness of 8 to 10 mm;
- pipes for lathing with a cross section of 20 x 40 mm and for runs - 40 x 60 or 60 x 60 mm;
- bearing arch, which you can do yourself, but you must remember that in such structures you need to withstand a ten-degree or greater angle of inclination of the roof.
Tools that will be needed for the work: a welding machine, a screwdriver, a circular tool with disks, an electric jigsaw, a level and a shovel.
Calculations
Very often, the owners of country houses do not invite masters, but prefer to do almost everything on their own. In order to quickly and beautifully carry out landscaping, you need to know how to make a polycarbonate canopy yourself.
Before you begin work on installing such a structure, you must make its project with drawings. To do this, you need to calculate the size of the frame and the load that it will withstand taking into account the level of precipitation and wind strength characteristic of your region. Based on this, and select the necessary material. A simple drawing of a polycarbonate canopy is presented in this article.
Installation of the structure, the first stage
During the construction of the canopy, the main thing is the layout of the site where it will be located. After that, they dig holes with a length of 0.5-1.5 m, in which frame racks will be mounted. The depth of the pits depends on the height of the pavilion itself. I install the parts in them to which the frame racks will be attached, fill them with concrete. Then they remove the soil throughout the canopy to a depth of 10-20 cm, and instead of it, fill the so-called pillow of sand and gravel, carefully compact it. Then the topcoat is laid in the form of a lawn grill, paving slabs or just make a concrete screed.
A polycarbonate canopy is usually installed on a frame made of material that has already been used for other outbuildings to maintain the style of the interior. The basis can be wooden, aluminum or steel billets.
Installation of the construction, second stage
The final stage of installation is the fixing of sheets. First you need to prepare the panels of the right size (see the drawing of the polycarbonate canopy). To do this, they are cut using tools. It is important in this work that after cutting, the length of the slab should be longer than the arch perimeter by 10-15 cm. It is important to know here that after cutting the polycarbonate sheet, the protective film applied from its front side should not be removed.
Now you need to attach the bottom of the profile to the arch so that its step is equal to the layout of the sheets. Next, the panels are fixed using self-tapping screws. To do this, drill holes 2 mm smaller than the mounting size of the press washer itself. Then screws are screwed, and their hats are hidden under the protective caps.
After two adjacent plates are fixed, the docking profiles are covered with a lid. At the very end of the installation, the sides of the sheets are sure to protect. This is done by installing end profiles, which are fastened either with self-tapping screws or glued.