Rear Porch Roof - Glass or Polycarbonate ?

[V8RX7]

I'm building my rear porch (effectively infilling between two extensions) 2mx2m only for coats and temporary wet dog storage.

I want a clear roof to let light into the hallway.

I can't see that it matters really although if polycarbonate still has issues with condensation / dirt that would annoy me - sellers tell me modern breather tapes have solved the problem.

So is there a good reason to pick one over the other ?

If I go for glass presumably it needs to be toughened / laminated ?

16mm triplewall poly single piece £100
6mm Toughened / laminated 2 pieces £140 (any need for double glazing?)

Edited by V8RX7 on Wednesday 6th July 11:21

[vxsmithers]

Polycarbonate is noisy if it rains, glass less so. Therefore I'd choose glass.

If its an enclosed space I'd also go for double glazed because taking your coat off in a cold room in winter is no fun! may also help with damp issues in clothing but will this be heated space?

[DocJock]

Agree re glass.

Between houses we rented a place with a polycarbonate-roofed conservatory.

If the rain was heavy we had to double the volume on the tv to hear it. Rain on polycarb = LOUD.

[S11Steve]

And another vote for noise - the house we moved into has a PC roof conservatory, and it is annoyingly loud in normal rain, but is truly deafening in heavy rain. Our bedroom window is above the roof and at night it can be heard through double glazing.

We looked at changing it when we had some windows replaced, but the hardwood conservatory is around 20 years old and only has a few years life left in it as it is.

[Rosscow]

As above, go for the glass.

[V8RX7]

I hadn't thought about noise above it too.

I'm not intending to heat it.

[wack]

V8RX7 said:

I'm not intending to heat it.

if it's glass you won't need to , you'll be running through it screaming in the summer so you don't get heat stroke

a friend had a glass roof put on his conservatory against advice, it's that hot they can't sit in it plus his wife has him up there every week cleaning it , self cleaning glass my arse

[Rosscow]

wack said:

V8RX7 said:

I'm not intending to heat it.

if it's glass you won't need to , you'll be running through it screaming in the summer so you don't get heat stroke

a friend had a glass roof put on his conservatory against advice, it's that hot they can't sit in it plus his wife has him up there every week cleaning it , self cleaning glass my arse

Sounds like a poor spec of glass, to me.

For a conservatory you really need to spec a good solar control double glazed insulated unit. And self cleaning glass is a bit crap - it needs to have a significant fall on it to work at all.

We fit many high quality bespoke timber conservatories, and we wouldn't use anything but glass.

Having said that, any conservatory is going to get pretty warm in strong summer sunlight, what do you expect a building predominantly made of glass to do?

We have seen a rise in people going for more orangery style extensions with skylights for exactly this reason - it makes it more usable year round.

Edited by Rosscow on Wednesday 6th July 17:14

[V8RX7]

wack said:

if it's glass you won't need to , you'll be running through it screaming in the summer so you don't get heat stroke

a friend had a glass roof put on his conservatory against advice, it's that hot they can't sit in it plus his wife has him up there every week cleaning it , self cleaning glass my arse

I have an older (5mm ?) double glazed conservatory and with the windows & roof vents open it's fine in summer - south facing too.

[Craikeybaby]

I'm looking at replacing the glass on my veranda roof with polycarbonate, mainly as it is lighter, but also to try to keep the heat down under there. Is there an alternative type of glass that I should be looking at?


Lawn by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

[roofer]

As a side note, polycarbonate is st. If you get 3 years from it, you've done well .

[V8RX7]

roofer said:

As a side note, polycarbonate is st. If you get 3 years from it, you've done well .

I had it on my shed to form roof lights for 8 years - still going strong.

However my local glass man came up with 6mm laminate for £110 so I went with that.

[Evoluzione]

Polycarbonate: Council.