How to make a canopy made of polycarbonate
The contents
- The advantages of polycarbonate
- How to make a canopy made of polycarbonate with their hands
- Design and calculation of a canopy made of polycarbonate
Practicality skillfully designed and constructed a canopy so large that often people under him in the summer spend more time than in the house, even in bad weather. A canopy made of polycarbonate to easily perform their own hands, and, in contrast to structures made of metal roofing, it helps to keep a natural lighting vacation spot. Level of comfort under the sunshade can not be compared with other coatings.
Why choose canopy polycarbonate? High transparency and mechanical strength have made it the most popular substitute for glass surfaces in construction. Small negative point – the polycarbonate has high transparency, but the UV in the greater part of the delay, much to the upset owners of greenhouses and polytunnels. For vacationers is only good. This property has led to the fact that the vast majority of canopies for the outdoor pool made with your hands made of polycarbonate.
The advantages of polycarbonate ↑
Polycarbonate as a material for canopy provides undeniable advantages:
- Sheets of material compared to equal size and characteristics elements of metal, wood or silicate glasses are cheaper;
- The material allows to obtain spatial canopy structures with complex shapes and sharp radius bending of the surface.
- Svetopropuskanie and optical properties of polycarbonate allow to execute design solutions that cannot be achieved using other materials;
- High resistance to heat and frost, good fire safety.
How to make a canopy made of polycarbonate with their hands ↑
To build a canopy over the front door of the house or carport we can use a composite sheet, also called laminated or cellular.
It is lightweight, perfectly bent in the transverse direction and gives a slightly scattering effect of the sunlight. In addition, any ceiling, awnings or canopies from polycarbonate puff is not affected by the occurrence of resonant sounds from the wind flow or rain drops. The leaves of the canopy well washed and maintained in all cases. But painting or cleaning with organic solvents brings bad. There are ways of welding and gluing of sheets of polycarbonate, which allows to obtain the illusion of a monolithic structure.
It is several times lighter than its fellow – reinforced polycarbonate. Due to the high transparency of the sheet from the monolith looks like a silicate glass, it is more difficult to process, with a thickness of more than 6mm any complex curves of the surface can be recorded only using a very durable frame.
From the point of view of external showiness and decoration canopy of reinforced material looks more presentable. Because of the rather big weight for monolithic polycarbonate panels need more sturdy frame strengthened by stiffeners. Usually panels of reinforced polycarbonate used for awnings or imitation glass panels of the big sizes in offices or shopping malls.
As the graph shows, to a large bending of the panel of the monolith is difficult. The solid polycarbonate sheets with a large surface curvature can only be obtained at the stage of formation in an industrial environment. Simple sheet monolith is increasingly used to replace glass in window openings of large dimensions.
Design and calculation of canopy from polycarbonate ↑
The design of a canopy made of polycarbonate sheet involves two basic activities that obtain maximum strength of the canopy supporting structure and at minimal cost. Knowing the area of a canopy made of polycarbonate and the thickness of the sheet, you can set the vertical load and, consequently, the minimum size of metal profile.
The estimate of the number and dimensions of the materials ↑
First – for the manufacture of a canopy made of polycarbonate with their hands to create drawings and to determine the pitch of the longitudinal and transverse power elements. The layout of load-bearing straps do according from the table and focusing on the dimensions of the shed.
The second step is the determination of the thickness of the frame elements. But, due to the insignificant weight of the polycarbonate, the calculation reduces to determining a sufficient rigidity and the excessive strength of the supports.
The most visible can serve as an example of a canopy made of polycarbonate, made with their own hands according to the given drawings and photos. Thanks to the universal scheme of using as a support the wall of the house it can be used for decorating the porch or storage of the vehicle.
On the basis of accepted sizes 5,4мх3,5m, takes about 20mTwo sheet of polycarbonate with a thickness of 4mm. the Weight of the canopy due to fasteners shall not exceed 60kg. To build a canopy you can use:
- In the transverse elements of an obreshetka of a roof – steel strip 4х40х3000мм;
- In the longitudinal beams of the roof – steel pipe in ½ or ¾ inches;
- For the vertical supports and transverse beams use a 2-inch pipe and area No. 75, 2500 and 5500мм respectively.
The construction of the supporting framework of a canopy ↑
Previously, before layout of work, prepare a platform under a canopy for the purpose of its use. The most convenient and esthetic variant will be laying decorative tiles of cement-sand mixture a mixture of sand and gravel crumbs.
Before laying the tiles will marking points where there will be a support for the canopy. For concreting the supports of the drill or a shovel, make two holes with a depth of 50cm and with a diameter not less than 20cm.
Before installing the supports for the canopy applied to pipe supports for the labels on a bookmark in the concrete so that the protruding above the surface of the pipe length had the headroom height not less than 30mm. Part of the pipe to be sealing in concrete treated with waterproofing bituminous varnish or mastic. With the support of the vertical position is carefully portrayed by two-way plumb and pour the concrete. Further work with the supports hold three days after pouring.
On the vertical wall of a house mark and hammered tube under the dowels or dowel–nuts for fastening one of the longitudinal beams. Securing one of the edges of the area or pipe, the position of the second edge is defined using a level, achieving maximum compliance horizontal.
To correctly make a canopy made of polycarbonate with their hands at drawing, reconcile all dimensions of the main support elements. Using the grinder adjusts the height of the vertical supports, laying them parallel to the second longitudinal beam along the horizon level. Having achieved the desired position, the catch elements of the points of electric welding.
Between the two beams spread and fix the transverse cuts steel strips, pre-bending them on the same pattern, achieving a deviation in the geometry of profile is not more than a couple millimeters.
Stacked sheets of polycarbonate on the support frame ↑
High-quality polycarbonate has a coating that reduces the destructive influence of solar radiation. Over the coating always bonded protective film, which is removed from the polycarbonate only after full completion of the work.
Before laying on the support frame of a canopy polycarbonate sheets cut with a chain saw. You should limit the force on the tool to prevent binding of the cutting edge of the saw blade or disk.
The length of the sheet using a drill at low speed serverlimit places on the polycarbonate sheets under the screws of the fastener. Openings have not less than 50mm from the edge of the paper, every 40-50cm. For fixing polycarbonate use specialized sets, including lining with gasket, screws with washers temperature balance and a decorative outer straps.
Laying sheets of polycarbonate on a metal strip frame is performed according to the scheme, including the presence of terminator between the ends of the sheets. Before laying the sheet on a steel strip is laid out the lining and two lines of sealant. After laying and fixing sheet screw with washer air gap between the sheets is closed by the top cover plate with gaskets. The final step is to install the canopy on decorative strips-plates covering the joints from the external environment.
The clearance between the ends of the joints of sheets selected in the range of 3-4mm per meter width of the sheet. When calculating the length of polycarbonate sheet usually consider a small departure beyond the longitudinal beams of the canopy of 100-120mm.
In a similar way you can perform free-standing carport.
Among the many options you can choose the design of the shed to the garage, to implement it in a simplified version, without profiling the surface of a polycarbonate framework.