With the advent of polycarbonate in construction, the development of the design of protective porch canopies and canopies very quickly turned from a semi-handicraft of the same type into an entire industry with its own style and artistic solutions. The popularity of polycarbonate porch canopies today is breaking all records. Following offices and shops, residents of panel houses and old Khrushchev-era apartment buildings began to get rid of the primitive tin canopies of the Soviet era. Polycarbonate canopies over the porch of a private house have become something of a business card, instead of a carved front garden with roosters and a wrought-iron gate.
Rules for the use of raw materials
There are rules for handling polycarbonate sheets established by experience:
- You should not store the material in the light; you should consider the way they are stored in the warehouse;
- the material should not crack from twisting;
- The protective film can be removed only after finishing work with the sheets;
- work on installing the flooring should be carried out quickly;
- The slabs must be laid with the UV-resistant side facing outwards, as indicated on the surface of the protective film.
Leaving cellular polycarbonate in the film in the open light will cause it to stick tightly to the plate, that is, a photochemical reaction, causing the material to become unusable.
Types of polycarbonate
Cell phone. When thin plates are connected by overlaps. The polycarbonate sheet is divided into cells containing air, which provides good thermal insulation.
Monolithic. This is a solid sheet of material with no cells or voids. It transmits light perfectly and can be analogous to ordinary glass.
Currently, polycarbonate structures - canopies - are widely used. They protect swimming pools, car parking lots, pavilions, balconies, etc. well.
There are quite a few positive aspects to the material.
Advantages and nuances of construction
The photo of polycarbonate canopies shows universal outdoor structures that perfectly transmit natural light and have a wide range of colors.
The raw material is quite light, transparent and has a variety of convenient thickness formats, this helps to create any type of structure: from simple to curved parts. In addition, they easily and harmoniously fit into any interior and landscape of a personal plot.
Polycarbonate canopies are divided into the following types:
- separate, self-standing ones are most often acceptable for swimming pools, gazebos, greenhouses, carports in parking lots and over outbuildings;
- the mobile type quickly moves to any selected point of the perimeter: barbecue roof, compact gazebo;
- as an extension to a garage, bathhouse, veranda, porch canopy.
These structures can be rectangular, curved, or two-story. They are also divided into open and closed models, for which the walls on the sides are usually covered with glass, gratings, lining, or thick textiles.
The building includes pillars for vertical support and the roof itself. To make frames, wood, metal beams, concrete, brick, and stone are used.
Manufacturing
Performers with basic knowledge and skills in the field of forging and welding have the opportunity to create a visor themselves.
There is a separate section on our website that allows you to understand how to make a visor with your own hands. Videos from experienced craftsmen will allow you to choose the optimal design project and bring it to life.
Beginners in the field of metal processing should learn the basics - forging operations, purchase equipment and tools. Having basic skills and knowledge, as well as the necessary range of equipment, will allow you to start working.
Home craftsmen who intend to increase the volume of production or who want to create products of the highest class should learn blacksmithing in an educational institution, independently, in master classes.
Particular attention should be paid to painting forgings. Street structures should be treated with special (forge) paints that provide reliable protection from all harmful influences.
Wooden canopy
The easiest to install and relatively cheap way to create a universal street roof is a polycarbonate canopy with a wooden support.
This work does not require professional equipment or special skills at all; an ordinary set of tools, which almost any owner has, will do.
You will need glued and profiled timber, rounded logs, and wooden posts. To build a rafter system, you will need edged boards.
Please note that the design has quite significant disadvantages:
- does not retain moisture well;
- susceptible to rotting and fungal diseases;
- quickly loses strength, reliability and aesthetic appearance, which leads to product failure.
To avoid these factors, it is recommended to treat the canopy and canopy with a fire-resistant composition, antiseptics and protective layers of oil and varnish.
Visor functionality
Various types of canopies can be installed above the front door. To make them, various materials, shapes and decorative elements are used. The visor performs not only a decorative function. Let's determine why it is needed.
First of all, it allows you to calmly close the door, hide your keys and open your umbrella when leaving the house in bad weather.
In addition, it will also protect from precipitation when entering the house.
The visor covers the front door, so it will last much longer.
Metal construction
Before making a metal canopy in the yard, you need to take into account the following parameters of the structure:
- A forged base will be the most elegant and attractive, but it will require significant expenses. If funds allow, it is better to make an exclusive product to order.
- The most common and relevant building is a canopy made of round or profile pipes. The size of the pipe directly depends on the size of the building.
- Prefabricated finished model made of aluminum.
The main advantage of an iron canopy is its durability, but despite this fact, it is easily susceptible to corrosion.
To avoid such a nuisance, it is recommended to first clean the product with a stiff brush from possible rusting and scale, then treat the entire surface with abrasive and wipe with a solvent. The next step is coating with primer or paint.
Please note that the railings of a porch or gazebo should be made of wood, since metal quickly heats up from the sun and cools down from frost!
- Lawn laying
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Self-installation of the visor
Initially, this process may seem quite complicated. However, this is not at all true. No special construction skills are required to install the canopy.
First of all, you need to determine the dimensions, then make a drawing of the planned canopy. Next, you need to calculate the amount of all materials needed for installation.
It is worth considering some nuances:
- It is recommended to make the canopy 1.5 times wider than the front door;
- The length should be at least a meter greater than the width of the door;
- It is better not to make straight visors. The angle of inclination of the slopes should be greater than 20 so that snow can slide off the canopy and not accumulate on it;
- The visor should not prevent the door from fully opening.
You can determine the size of the canopy based on the width of the porch. It is worth making the canopy so that it protrudes 30 cm on the sides. To choose the height, you should take into account the overall design of the house and the angle of inclination.
Having decided on the dimensions and acquired all the necessary materials, struts, beams, slopes and rafters are made from metal or wood.
It is imperative that the last two elements have the same length. The wooden frame is connected with self-tapping screws, and the metal canopy is connected by welding.
After connecting the parts, the beam is attached to the wall using stainless steel screws, and the struts are attached using anchors. The sheathing is fixed to the rafters, on which the selected coating is subsequently laid.
A gutter or drainpipe is fixed to the slope.
The finished canopy over the porch can be installed even on a multi-layer coating. To do this you will need to use stainless steel shoes. Be sure to carefully seal all joints to prevent moisture from leaking through them.
Photos of canopies over the porch amaze with the variety of designs, colors and materials used. They are a wonderful and functional home decoration.
The chosen version of the visor, if desired, is quite easy to install yourself, even without special construction skills.
Stone and brick as a base
All types of polycarbonate roofing with a stone, brick and concrete base look very luxurious, rich, but at the same time do not lose their lightness, which is ensured by a transparent canopy. Such supports are easy to maintain, resistant to fire, cope well with natural precipitation and are resistant to mechanical damage.
However, their installation will require significantly more time, effort and financial costs. Moreover, this building is being built for a long time, since it cannot be dismantled, that is, moved to another place on the territory.
Wooden frame
The supporting beams are attached to the wall of the building. Next, the vertical supports are mounted on a specific section from the room where the beams were previously installed.
Then the Mauerlat is installed so that it is parallel to the first board and lower, at a slope. The next step is to fix the battens and attach the roofing material to the frame.
