Polycarbonate terraces and verandas: pros and cons

One of the main advantages of private houses is the possibility of creating additional comfort for residents. This can be achieved in different ways: by adding an attic and a garage, building a garden gazebo, building a bath. And, of course, rare owners of suburban real estate will refuse to have a terrace or veranda - it is these architectural elements that make a suburban vacation complete, and also participate in the formation of the exterior of the house, endowing it with individual features and expressiveness.

For the construction of such buildings, along with traditional materials - wood, brick, stone and glass, transparent and colored honeycomb or monolithic polycarbonate is used. This modern building material has high performance properties and allows you to create aesthetic, reliable and functional translucent structures - stationary, sliding, closed and open. Our article will discuss the possibilities of polycarbonate and options for arranging verandas and terraces with it.

One-story or two-story country houses can have only a veranda or a terrace, or provide for both options for these buildings. Let's immediately find out the fundamental difference between them.

The terrace is an open area with a monolithic or raised pile foundation. The external design of the terraces is largely determined by the local climatic conditions. In the southern regions, a completely open version with plant fences instead of traditional railings is justified, while in the central European part of Russia with a temperate continental climate, terraces are characterized by the presence of an awning or roof. The veranda can be called a closed terrace. In most cases, this indoor space is not heated and forms a single unit with the main building thanks to a common wall or corridor as a connecting link.

For a long time, translucent structures - greenhouse pavilions, greenhouses, gazebos, awnings and all kinds of decor - were created from a widespread traditional light-transmitting material - silicate glass. But its high cost, combined with fragility, did not suit everyone.

This building material happens:

• monolithic, with an external resemblance to silicate glass due to a flat, smooth surface and transparency;
• stovy in the form of hollow plates with a cellular structure. In shape, the cells formed by multilayer plastic can be rectangular or triangular.

Strengths.

• Lightweight. Compared to glass, monolithic sheets weigh half as much, while for cellular, this figure can be multiplied by 6.
• High strength properties. Polycarbonate, due to its increased bearing capacity, withstands intense snow, wind and weight loads.
• Translucent qualities. Monolithic sheets transmit light in a larger volume than silicate glass structures. Honeycomb sheets transmit visible radiation by 85-88%.

• High sound absorption and thermal insulation characteristics.
• Safe. In the event of damage to the sheets, fragments are formed without sharp edges that can injure.
• Undemanding in service.Caring for polycarbonate is reduced to washing with soapy water. It is forbidden to use ammonia as a cleaning agent, under the influence of which the structure of the plastic is destroyed.

The disadvantages of the material include:

• low abrasion resistance;
• destruction under conditions of intense exposure to UV radiation;
• high rates of thermal expansion;
• high reflectivity and absolute transparency.

Provided a competent approach to installation, these shortcomings can be corrected without problems.

The main value of suburban housing is the ability to relax in the bosom of nature. The presence of a terrace or veranda contributes to the realization of this desire in full and guarantees the most comfortable pastime outside the walls of the house. At the same time, the independent preparation of the project of these buildings has a number of features.

When designing a terrace, you need to take into account some points.

• It is important to calculate the height of the building so that the structure does not get wet.
• Residents of the middle lane are recommended to orient the building to the south. When the terrace is planned to be used mainly in the afternoon, it is logical to place it on the west side.
• The ideal location of the annex implies a good view of the designer beauty on the site against the backdrop of the surrounding landscapes.

In addition to building a standard open area, several options can be considered.

• Combining the attic and the terrace by creating a separate exit to the open area. This will create an ideal place for relaxation, where it is convenient to drink tea in the mornings or evenings, admire the picturesque views and enjoy the unhurried flow of country life.
• Erection of a columnar foundation for a terrace. In this case, a roof is made at the building and, in fact, they get a spacious and comfortable open veranda.

If residents of warm countries usually have a rest on verandas, then in our climate, these rooms have a wider range of applications and are classified according to several criteria.

• Location and type of foundation. The veranda can be an independent structure or a built-in room attached to the main building and, accordingly, have a separate base or common with the main building.

• The type of operation is year-round or seasonal. Premises used only during warm seasons are usually unheated and with light-shielding curtains, blinds, shutters, screens instead of glazing. Buildings with heating and double-glazed windows are suitable for full use in the winter season.

Due to the frame assembly system and the ease of attaching polycarbonate plastic, which also has a low weight, you can build a veranda on your own without involving outside specialists.

Polycarbonate construction technology is identical to the process of erecting verandas or terraces from any other materials and takes place in several stages.

• a project for the future structure is being developed;
• formwork is installed, after which the foundation is poured (tape, columnar, monolithic);
• support posts are mounted (instead of a metal profile, a bar can be used) and floors;
• rafters made of wood or metal are installed;
• the walls and roof are sheathed with polycarbonate plastic sheets.

Regardless of the type of future building - a terrace or a veranda, it is important to choose the right thickness of polycarbonate, calculating the wind and snow load, taking into account the specific operating conditions. Craftsmen do not recommend revealing external structures with honeycomb polymer with a minimum sheet thickness.

If you sheathe a building with thin plastic, then under the influence of an aggressive external environment, the material will quickly lose its safety margin, starting to deform and crack. The optimal material thickness for canopies is considered to be 4 mm, and it is better to make canopies from 6 millimeter sheets.

An open veranda with a pitched roof is suitable for a summer residence. This roof option looks good on summer terraces, gazebos or small country houses. This coating provides a sufficient level of natural light, making the structure look light and airy.

On the front part, you can install roller blinds as a windscreen, and from the ends, you can already close the structure with polycarbonate sheets. An alternative to a transparent roof can be the installation of a canopy lined with metal tiles.

The light transmittance of monolithic polycarbonate is no worse than that of silicate glass. Therefore, arched closed structures with a semicircular plastic transparent roof, due to which the internal insolation multiplies many times over, can serve as greenhouses or greenhouses with the onset of winter.

Round structures are easy to build, with the exception of the only inconvenience in the form of a bulging outer wall, which is compensated by the increased internal space of such a building.

The construction of a two-storey terrace, attached to the main house, allows you to use the upper deck for sunbathing, and on the lower deck, due to the shady canopy, to relax comfortably. The upper platform is fenced with a railing on a metal frame lined with monolithic polycarbonate.

The popularity of arched modules that combine the roof with the walls is due to the possibility of creating multifunctional sliding verandas with a manually adjustable glazing area. Moreover, outwardly, such designs look aesthetically pleasing and stylish due to smooth and graceful lines.

The construction of a terrace or veranda allows you to connect the closed space of the dwelling and nature into a single whole and opens up wide possibilities for the design of these buildings.

• Fencing. They can be made protective or decorative, for example, in the form of a low, graceful fence or pergolas - canopies from several arches, decorated with loaches or potted compositions of bright ampelous plants. It is good to decorate the perimeter with ornamental shrubs and flowers.

• Instead of a standard roof, you can use a removable awning, retractable awnings, a portable umbrella.
• When a terrace or veranda is not attached to the house, but is located separately in the yard, then a path is used as a connecting link between the buildings. To decorate the path, spotlights built into the niches of the ground covering, or LED lighting plus one or more openwork arches to create the effect of a luminous tunnel, are suitable.

For a summer veranda or an open terrace, it is advisable to choose plastic of muted dark colors - smoky, tobacco shade, bottle glass color with a grayish or bluish undertone. Being on the veranda in red, blue or bright green can be irritating.

When the frame is made of wood, after antiseptic treatment and varnishing, the wood acquires a reddish color. In this case, brownish or orange polycarbonate is selected for the roof. These tones create a relaxing atmosphere and raise the color temperature of the veranda interior.

Recommendations of masters for working with polycarbonate plastic.

• To protect the structure in the cold season from the formation of ice and prevent the avalanche-like convergence of snow, gutters and snow catchers are installed.
• It is better not to risk and not use arched modules, since it is extremely difficult to mount the domed veranda yourself. Due to minimal errors, the design begins to "lead".
• Avoid overlapping sheets, which leads to accelerated depressurization of the structure and, as a result, leaks. For this purpose, connecting profiles are necessarily used.

• Correct fastening of the connecting profiles implies at least 1.5 cm depth of entry into the profile body, and the profiles themselves must be exclusively made of aluminum.
• It is advisable to install the roof at an inclination of 25-40 °, so water, dust and foliage will not linger on the surface, forming puddles and heaps of debris.
• It is strictly forbidden to use PVC profiles. Polyvinyl chloride is sensitive to UF rays and is chemically incompatible with polycarbonate plastic.
• To protect the cellular polycarbonate from damage, the sheets are sealed with a special tape, and ends are put on the corners. The protective film is removed upon completion of all installation operations.

Polycarbonate goes well with a wide variety of building materials; in this regard, it is considered universal. Structures made of this material look great against the background of houses lined with PVC siding, harmoniously complement brick buildings and do not enter into dissonance with wooden buildings. We propose to verify this with examples in the photo gallery.

Among the design solutions of polycarbonate verandas, structures with sliding side walls and a roof are considered to be one of the most practical and interesting in terms of design.

Panoramic glazing is beneficial in all respects: it multiplies the natural illumination of the room and makes it more illusory volume. Outwardly, such verandas look very presentable and stylish.

Arched polycarbonate verandas are beautiful in their own right and add visual appeal to the home. True, to implement such a project requires a professional approach, but the end result is worth the time and money spent.

The interior of the veranda is just as important as the exterior. Wicker furnishings are considered classic furnishings for verandas and terraces. Ecodesign accepts solid wood ensembles.

Open verandas with a pitched roof made of polycarbonate plastic provide excellent visibility and reliably protect from bad weather. Despite the extremely simple design, such designs look fresh and elegant.

For information on how to install a veranda made of cellular polycarbonate, see the next video.