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Twinwall polycarbonate

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Twinwall polycarbonate

Postby TrimTheKing » 15 Jun 2019, 18:21

Hi chaps

I need to get something to cover over the external stairwell down to my underground room at home. There is a stainless steel frame already in place to take a covering but the previous owners didn't install anything, and we haven't got round to it. Looking now and glass and perspex are prohibitively expensive right now, but the twinwall polycarb sheets as used in greenhouses, conservatories etc are cheap enough and will do the job.

I have one question though when trying to size and buy the right bits, which way round it is used/measured? I would assume the length would be with the box cavities running vertically so any water that collected inside would run down and out, but there's nothing categoric I can find to confirm this.

I'm just wondering whether, given what I need it for, which is just to stop the bulk of the rainwater making its way into the stairwell, that using it horizontally probably wouldn't be a massive issue, but please tell me if I'm wrong.

Also, are there any kind of end caps to blocks up the box cavities that you know of that could stop the water ingress?
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Re: Twinwall polycarbonate

Postby Woodster » 15 Jun 2019, 19:31

I’ve had a couple of conservatories and they all ran with the open ends at the top and bottom covered by drip trims.

https://www.roofingpolycarbonate.co.uk/ ... -drip-trim
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Re: Twinwall polycarbonate

Postby TrimTheKing » 15 Jun 2019, 21:15

Legend, thanks.
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Re: Twinwall polycarbonate

Postby SamQ aka Ah! Q! » 15 Jun 2019, 22:05

Careful installing them. The sheets expand startlingly in the direct sun or even on warm days in shade. You need to allow for this with your fixings, or the racket will make you think you live in a shipyard full of riveters...DAMHIKT.
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Re: Twinwall polycarbonate

Postby TrimTheKing » 15 Jun 2019, 22:06

Haha, thanks Sam, I’ll take that into account.
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Re: Twinwall polycarbonate

Postby Robert » 15 Jun 2019, 22:43

And going by our old conservatory that had polycarb on the roof the end trims do not seal the cavities they just clip over. After a few years we had green stuff starting to grow inside the sheet from long term condensation. The ends of the sheets were close to a gutter so maybe that made it worse.

So I think all I'm saying is make sure it can dry out easily after it gets wet :)
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Re: Twinwall polycarbonate

Postby Woodster » 16 Jun 2019, 10:06

Robert wrote:And going by our old conservatory that had polycarb on the roof the end trims do not seal the cavities they just clip over. After a few years we had green stuff starting to grow inside the sheet from long term condensation. The ends of the sheets were close to a gutter so maybe that made it worse.

So I think all I'm saying is make sure it can dry out easily after it gets wet :)


Maybe you didn’t have breather tape fitted?

https://www.roofingpolycarbonate.co.uk/ ... ilter-tape
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Re: Twinwall polycarbonate

Postby Robert » 16 Jun 2019, 22:07

Oh so that's what the foil tape that fell off was for :)

The conservatory was built by one of those companies that change their name every 2 years and give worthless 10 year guarantees. To be fair it lasted as long as needed even if the roof turned green in places so I'm not bothered it ended up with problems. Long gone now.
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