Residents of the middle floors of high-rise buildings are not familiar with the problem called the roof on the balcony. Residents of the upper floors and old houses, where the roof was not provided constructively, are well aware of it. However, for a good half of the year such a balcony is not suitable for use due to snow, ice and other adverse weather conditions. Consider how you can build or repair a balcony roof correctly.
Types of balcony roofs
Structurally, balcony roofs are divided into the following types:
- dependent structure. It is used in combination with a system of aluminum frames, on which it relies. On the other hand, the roof is fixed on the wall of the building.
This design is simple and reliable, the cost of its construction is minimal. However, there are also disadvantages.
On wide balconies and loggias, such a system becomes structurally unreliable; only light types, such as corrugated sheet, can be used as roofing material. It is quite difficult to insulate such a balcony by 100%.
- Independent design. Such a balcony roof is different in that it can exist without the main balcony glazing, since it does not rely on it.
The frame of such a roof consists of load-bearing trusses, usually from a metal corner, on which the crate and the actual coating are attached.
Such a roof can be arbitrarily long, use any type of coating. Any profiles of the glazing system are mounted to it, it is convenient to insulate it.
Balcony Roof Materials
Since the entire variety of materials produced by manufacturers of building materials is used for balcony roofs, it will not be possible to list all of them.
What is the roof over the balcony? Consider the most popular materials:
- Various types of steel sheet - galvanized, corrugated board, corrugated sheet, etc. - with all their modifications (lamination, etc.) This is perhaps the most common type of coating, so how to choose corrugated roofing, and since it is attached to both dependent and independent roofs of balconies, it can be used as a reinforcement of an existing roof canopy, the most advantageous option in terms of price / quality ratio. It has sufficient structural rigidity to withstand a decent load of snow and wind without the risk of deformation.
Such a balcony with a roof has the disadvantages only of a high level of noise when it rains or a strong wind blows.However, this problem is solved by mounting an additional layer of sound insulator, which can be picked up at a hardware store.
a metal roof in this embodiment is not advised to use.
- Soft materials for roofing. It's basically ondulin.
Such a coating requires a more rigid body frame of the balcony roof, it is more expensive than a metal sheet, it is not an impact-resistant material, but it is an excellent sound insulator. So how to fix corrugated board on the roof will be on a solid construction, and the sound insulation will be poor.
- Transparent coating. Such a roof for a balcony looks very impressive.
Two materials are used for this purpose - cellular polycarbonate or double-glazed windows.
Polycarbonate is used for warm glazing. It has a very high impact resistance and is 15 times lighter than glass. It has such a valuable characteristic as resistance to ultraviolet radiation, which prevents its destruction and loss of transparency. Operating temperature range from -45 to 80 degrees.
Double-glazed windows for the roof are made using tempered glass or triplex (auto glass).
This coating is the most expensive of all, but it looks very beautiful.
Balcony roof construction
Let's look at how to make a roof on the balcony with your own hands. And as an example, let's take the construction of an independent roof from a profiled sheet.
- We need a steel corner. It is better to take a 60-70 mm corner for a guaranteed margin of safety. We manufacture supporting trusses (see pic) at the rate of at least one truss through each meter of the roof.
You can weld the corner by welding, you can make the connection with bolts. Who is more comfortable. We fasten to the truss wall with anchor bolts with a depth of entry into the wall of at least 80 mm.
- To make a roof on the balcony, we attach a wooden crate to the farms. A 40x40 timber or more will do. Wooden structures must be covered with a protective material to prevent rotting. Any antiseptic will do.
We mount profile sheets on the crate using special screws with waterproofing gaskets. The gaps that form between the wall and the profile must be carefully sealed from the inside with foam, from the outside with sealant and cement mortar.
Tip: do not use a grinder to cut a sheet. This area will quickly fall into disrepair. Take scissors, a jigsaw or a hacksaw with a fine tooth.
- Now you can mount the glazing frame. It is recommended to install a beam between the frame and the roof, to which the frame itself should be fixed. The cracks must also be blown out with foam, and the outer side of the joint must be waterproofed.
- It is recommended to equip balcony roofs with an air vent if the balcony is airtight. Otherwise, the access of oxygen to the apartment will be difficult.
Surprisingly, this recommendation is often neglected, and if the rooms of the apartment are not structurally equipped with a ventilation system, then it is assumed that oxygen comes from the cracks in the frames of windows and balconies.
This is how the roof of the balcony is made with your own hands.
Tip: be sure to invite an experienced friend to help you with the installation of large-sized sheets and insure at a height.
If you want to use the balcony as part of the housing, then you will have to perform three additional types of work:
- Immediately under the profile sheets we lay a waterproofing membrane.
- Under it we mount a heat insulator.
- Under the heat insulator we apply a layer of vapor barrier, although this is not necessary for balcony structures.
We select all insulating materials, as they say, "to taste", because. there are a lot of them being made now.
A consultant from a decent hardware store will tell you in detail and let you touch different options for insulators.
Tip: do not forget to tightly join the edges of the insulators. For solid materials, this is polyurethane foam, and for roll materials, adhesive tape.
As you can see, do-it-yourself roofing on a balcony is quite simple. And yet, if you have little experience, it is better to entrust this responsible event to professionals, especially when it comes to work at height.
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