What thickness of solid polycarbonate sheet for windows?

[JuneW]

I'm thinking of using clear polycarbonate instead of glass for single glazing our timber conservatory.

It is sold in various thicknesses but not sure what is the minimum sensible thickness - I want to use polycarbonate instead of glass because it will be easier to handle and fit, and it should be cheaper than safety glass (which I would otherwise need due to the height of the dwarf wall, and to fit to the doors). Being stronger than glass means its good for safety and security.

My concern is that if it is too thin, it might flex if a strong gust of wind hit it, altho' perhaps that doesn't matter?

The largest window pane is 1510mm x 715mm. Would 2mm be too thin?

Hope someone on here has some experience of such use and can help me out.

Cheers

 

[big-all]

you seem to have a few misconceptions
whilst perspex or similar are safer from the kids point off view it scratches easily
you would need 4 or possibly 6mm to be strong enough but you need to check further as that's a large span
you can push out a 4mm sheet in if the rebate isn't big enough burglars would prefer quiet plastic over noisy glass

 

[JuneW]

Thanks very much for that info, big-all.

Glass is looking more attractive if polycarbonate is that easy to push in, as don't want to tempt anyone to break in. Was looking at polycarbonate as just had a humungous quote from a local glazier to measure up, deliver and fit glass. So will order up supply only and fit it myself to keep costs down.

Laminated will probably be best I suppose? If the glass is broken accidentally or deliberately, at least that will keep out the weather/creatures/burglars until I can get it fixed.

The rebate is 15mm and I was planning to use a dry glazing product such as the EPDM one from AWS Trading ( AWST0265: Dry glaze). [url]http://www.awstrading.co.uk/Detail.aspx?ProdID=265.[/url] Any thoughts on that?

 

[big-all]

your link just says "database error"

 

[joe-90]

What was your quote? Is it a 'proper' conservatory or just a bit of a lean to?

 

[JuneW]

your link just says "database error"

Might be because the page is a search results page? I went to the website, http://www.awstrading.co.uk, then I clicked on weather seals, then window seals, then from the list of products that came up, I chose dry seal.

 

[JuneW]

What was your quote? Is it a 'proper' conservatory or just a bit of a lean to?

It's a diy lean-to, replacing a bit of a shack-like lean-to that had rotted, so now has much more robust and attractive woodwork, plus a twin-wall polycarbonate roof, so like to think it's more 'proper' now, but it's all in the eye of the beholder, suppose.

The quote was probably not out of the way, but just more than I wanted to spend on the project as have a tight budget. Obviously anything involving labour is going to cost, but had hoped to delegate the whole measuring/handling/fixing thing. It was around £900-1000 depending on which type of glass (toughened or laminated).

 

[big-all]

another thought

you have a window that spans 5 ft does the timber above this window support the roof load??
if so what what size off timber is above the window

 

[JuneW]

1510mm x 715mm is height by width.

 

[big-all]

you would need a reasonably substantial bit off timber to support the snow loading from the roof even at 715mm
assuming your roof is around 4 ft back to front then you'll need something like 38x63 cls above the window if its say 6ft youll need somthing like 3x2[69x44mm] to stop the load bending the wood and loading up the glass/perspex underneath

 

[JuneW]

Will check the dimensions asap!

 

[JuneW]

Timber above the glass is 20x100mm, in a piece that spans from the corner to mid-way over the door frame. One of the roof rafters sits on this wood at the centre of the window and rafter is 45 x 100mm. Infill between rafters of 20x100mm to create a T shape girder effect. Rafters spaced at 700mm to support 700mm width polycarbonate twin wall sheet.

My better half (13 stone) did a pull up on the window frame - no movement. Possibly not such a good test as snow load downwards! The old conservatory that we demolished stood for 30 years that included some heavy snowfalls, with much thinner timber, and no glass breakage.

Back to the glazing method - perhaps a new thread? If not, does anyone have any views please on EPDM dry glazing in conjunction with wooden beading rather than something that sticks to the glass?

 

[big-all]

do you have a frame around the glass that the 4x1" planed is connected to or is the 4x1" the top off the window ??

 

[JuneW]

Extra wood in the form of beading - outer beading fixed to uprights and cross pieces is 40mm x 15mm. Inner beading is 30 x 15. All to be screwed in place.

 

[big-all]

how many 4x2" timbers connect to the 4x1" over the windows and what length are they?