colorbond Vs polycarbonate pergola roofing

This is a timely discussion because today I got and accepted a quote for a wood framed pergola (about 6 m X 5 m). Our intended use is primarily in the seasons other than summer. Because neither of us can take much heat (I am 75 and have put up with excessive heat for a lot of my life) we will be inside with the airconditioner on during the worst of summer.

The polycarbonate sheet normally used by this builder is Ampelite Solarsafe and he gave us a chart of light and heat transmission numbers. Clear lets in 90% and 85% respectively whilst Dark Tint has 25% and 30% respectively, with a range in between The pergola will be fully open on the north side, partially open on the east and south sides, and against the house on the west, so the glasshouse effect will be considerably mitigated. The height of the roof has a bearing on this, of course, and this one will be about 2.3 under the barge.

A consideration for many will be how much light will be blocked by having solid roofing material over windows that normally admit light to the house. In our case a solid roof would excessively shadow the 2.6 M wide kitchen window.

It's horses for courses. The advantages and disadvantages of both solid and translucent roofing have to be weighed up and a decision made accordingly.

No worries barry ...

It people like you and your wealth of knowledge that make this forum so great , and look what are disagreement has done for this thread ....:)

""The problem is when companies sell a product they only tell you the good things about their product. It is the unsuspecting that have to find out the faults with it after living with it. "

how right you are .....

saying that what is the colour life on colourbond as the darker colours seem to fade in direct sunlight after some time ,

Also what would you say is the major factor in the transferrance of heat . i think the only reason i find that i do not feel the heat under the patio is that the lowest piont is about 2.6m high and the patio is open on three sides so that the air flow is quite good ,and the fact that domes tend to have a lower pitch than gables may help ...? would there be any truth what so ever in that statement ?

rob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barry_White

The problem is when they start to add reflective elements to the product it cuts down on the light transmission.

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What is the problem? You don't want light transmission (LT) you go colorbond and have a low shading co-efficient (SC).

But sometimes people may want to have a some LT and can live with the subsequent medium to low SC. As has been said before the clear stuff deservedly had a bad rap but the new translucent shouldn't be written off.

I just specified it on a pergola (where the light was needed) only to have some old self opinionated builder talk my client out of it...no it wasn't Barry:D Maybe one of his old Lysart mates though:p' Just kidding Barry.

Here are some figure's for some of the XPT range

<table x:str="" style="border-collapse: collapse; 455pt;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="606"><col style=" 23pt;" width="31"> <col style=" 56pt;" width="75"> <col style=" 19pt;" width="25"> <col style=" 59pt;" width="79"> <col style=" 19pt;" width="25"> <col style=" 50pt;" width="67"> <col style=" 23pt;" width="31"> <col style=" 56pt;" width="74"> <col style=" 23pt;" width="30"> <col style=" 54pt;" width="72"> <col style=" 18pt;" width="24"> <col style=" 55pt;" width="73"> <tbody><tr style=" 12.75pt;" height="17"> <td style=" 12.75pt; 23pt;" height="17" width="31">
</td> <td class="xl25" style=" 56pt;" width="75">Colours</td> <td class="xl25" style=" 19pt;" width="25">
</td> <td class="xl25" colspan="2" style=" 78pt;" width="104">Satin Cream</td> <td class="xl25" style=" 50pt;" width="67">Ivory</td> <td class="xl25" style=" 23pt;" width="31">
</td> <td class="xl25" colspan="2" style=" 79pt;" width="104">Satin Sage</td> <td class="xl25" colspan="2" style=" 72pt;" width="96">Eucalyptus</td> <td class="xl25" style=" 55pt;" width="73">Apple Blue</td> </tr> <tr style=" 12.75pt;" height="17"> <td style=" 12.75pt;" height="17">
</td> <td class="xl26">SC</td> <td class="xl24">
</td> <td class="xl27" x:num="">0.33</td> <td class="xl27">
</td> <td class="xl27" x:num="">0.35</td> <td class="xl27">
</td> <td class="xl27" x:num="">0.34</td> <td class="xl27">
</td> <td class="xl27" x:num="">0.34</td> <td class="xl27">
</td> <td class="xl27" x:num="">0.37</td> </tr> <tr style=" 12.75pt;" height="17"> <td style=" 12.75pt;" height="17">
</td> <td class="xl25">LT</td> <td>
</td> <td class="xl28" x:num="0.51">51%</td> <td class="xl28">
</td> <td class="xl28" x:num="0.35">35%</td> <td class="xl28">
</td> <td class="xl28" x:num="0.28">28%</td> <td class="xl28">
</td> <td class="xl28" x:num="0.19">19%</td> <td class="xl28">
</td> <td class="xl28" x:num="0.16">16%</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
So if you chose Satin Cream you would have about twice as much light as colorbond but you have only about 1 third of the heat transfer than if you were using clear polycarbonate (not really a fair comparison, I know)

Sorry I don't know what colorbond custom orb's SC rating is' and its probably irrelevantly. I would like to get radiant heat transfer data on both products to compare apples with apples...but that would be too easy.:((

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jags

No worries barry ...

It people like you and your wealth of knowledge that make this forum so great , and look what are disagreement has done for this thread ....:)

""The problem is when companies sell a product they only tell you the good things about their product. It is the unsuspecting that have to find out the faults with it after living with it. "

how right you are .....

saying that what is the colour life on colourbond as the darker colours seem to fade in direct sunlight after some time ,

Also what would you say is the major factor in the transferrance of heat . i think the only reason i find that i do not feel the heat under the patio is that the lowest piont is about 2.6m high and the patio is open on three sides so that the air flow is quite good ,and the fact that domes tend to have a lower pitch than gables may help ...? would there be any truth what so ever in that statement ?

rob

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Rob

The interesting thing is that Bluescope does not warrant the Colorbond against fading although some colours are worse than others for fading. As you say the darker colours tend to fade more than the lighter ones although the lighter ones do fade. Even the gloss which is 25% gloss on Colorbond Surfmist which is the white colour fades too.
Here is a link to their warranty http://www.bluescopesteel.com.au/ind...EE00C04FCF6B8F

There are several factors that affect fading, the type or brand of paint, whether it has been wet whilst in storage in the pack, if it has been rolled using lubrication which some companies have done and sometimes the paint is just faulty. Usually the Colorbond paint will remain in good condition for at least 15 years.

Given that when any of these scenarios happen BlueScope should be contacted. Believe it or not their technical chemists can tell what has caused it and if the paint is faulty they will either replace it or repair it.

But if it is caused by some things they will reject the claim.

On one job that I inspected the paint was peeling after about eleven years and they accepted the claim and because it was a colour that had been discontinued they replaced the whole roof, all the flashings and cappings, the gutter and the downpipes and they paid for the removal and fixing of the whole lot no questions asked.

Certainly the type of structure can have a bearing on the amount of heat transfered and as Bleedin says and I can concede that some of the newer products can have better solar radiation figures.

Thank you everyone for all your feedback, and certainly an enlightening discussion!

Our structure will be 8.2 x 4.9m with a gable roof being 2.6m high at it's lowest point.
The east side (long) is enclosed, with north partially enclosed, and south up against the house, and just over half of the west side available to catch the southwesterly breezes. We are having a ceiling fan installed, but unfortunately do not have much (make that any) shading available in the summer.

The polycarbonate colour we're looking at is silver mist which has, to use Bleedin's terminology, a LT of 20% and SC of 22%. There is a 'twin wall' product available but it will add about another $4-5K. And yes, it would be good to get the radiant heat details of both ... Hmmm, it's looking like maybe a combination of colorbond with a few polycarbonate panels for light perhaps.

Didn't know about the colorbond fading though. This may be a stupid question, but just on the outside you mean?

Thanks again

Ozzierog

Oz
Lysaght's used to make a version of Colourbond with aluminium foil stuck to the underside.
expensive, but it was brilliant at stopping heat transfer
when I worked in the bush, we build a 40 x 10 x 8m workshop in Tibboburra clad with the stuff.
The only ventilation was a series of vents along the ridge line.
It was cooler in the building than under a tree outside


ian

'Ozzi
And yes, it would be good to get the radiant heat details of both ... Hmmm, it's looking like maybe a combination of colorbond with a few polycarbonate panels for light perhaps.'

Hi All,
Just been reading on the post and finding heaps of helpful thoughts re what material to use for my up and coming DIY extension. Just wondering if Ozzi did go ahead with a mix of polycarb and colorbond in the end and how it turned out?
I have spoken with Stratco and they advised me that colourbond was the way to go as I am looking at putting in either of the above materials on an existing structure (5.3 X 2.5)in the back of the house which originally had shade cloths.
Could the Polycarb be rivitted to the colourbond or would there be a different installation requirements? :?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by icetea20007

'Ozzi
And yes, it would be good to get the radiant heat details of both ... Hmmm, it's looking like maybe a combination of colorbond with a few polycarbonate panels for light perhaps.'

Hi All,
Just been reading on the post and finding heaps of helpful thoughts re what material to use for my up and coming DIY extension. Just wondering if Ozzi did go ahead with a mix of polycarb and colorbond in the end and how it turned out?
I have spoken with Stratco and they advised me that colourbond was the way to go as I am looking at putting in either of the above materials on an existing structure (5.3 X 2.5)in the back of the house which originally had shade cloths.
Could the Polycarb be rivitted to the colourbond or would there be a different installation requirements? :?

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Icetea

When fixing Polycarbonate it should be overlapped each side onto the Colorbond but should be fixed with special screws with a very large plastic type washer because you have to drill a 10mm hole to allow for contraction and expansion otherwise the screw will tear the polycarbonate.

So you can't rivet the poly to the Colorbond.

Just remember Polycarbonate will transfer a fair amount of heat.

Hi IceTea

Would you believe we are having our pergola installed tomorrow! After much deliberation and conflicting advice, as our pergola runs north south, we have decided along the eastern side to install polycarbonate (in grey mist) to catch the morning sun, and colorbond along the western side for the afternoon sun. In winter, with the height of the pergola, the afternoon sun will becoming in under the pergola anyway. This way we're hoping to get the best of both worlds with heat reduction in summer and light in winter.

Even though our record heatwave has finished I'm sure there'll be more on the way before winter is upon us, so I'll be sure to keep you posted as to whether we're happy with the result or not!

Cheers

Ozzi :)

Hi ya fellas,
Thanks for the advise and yes, please keep me posted. I can't wait to see your end result with the pagola.

CHeers,
:U

Hi Guys,

I've been trying to figure our what to roof the owner builder home I'm planning and was gravitating towards something I saw in "Natural Home Builder" magazine - flat panels which were referred to as 'refrigerator panels' which were colorbond on the outside then 100 mm of insulating foam sandwich (maybe polystyrene?), then colorbond again on the inside. One of the attractive features was an unsupported span of over 5000 mm.

Would this be the same stuff mentioned in Barry's post below?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barry_White

David

The insulated roofs are great the only thing you have to be careful about is some of the companies making have had problems of delaminating with the glue holding the foam to the roof material failing from the contraction and expansion with the heat and the cold.

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I'm also having no luck getting pricing out of Bluescope despite three online requests for a price guide.

I plan to harvest rainwater from this roof and wonder if anyone has suggestions regarding this.

Cheers

Ingolby

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ingolby

Hi Guys,

I've been trying to figure our what to roof the owner builder home I'm planning and was gravitating towards something I saw in "Natural Home Builder" magazine - flat panels which were referred to as 'refrigerator panels' which were colorbond on the outside then 100 mm of insulating foam sandwich (maybe polystyrene?), then colorbond again on the inside. One of the attractive features was an unsupported span of over 5000 mm.

Would this be the same stuff mentioned in Barry's post below?




I'm also having no luck getting pricing out of Bluescope despite three online requests for a price guide.

I plan to harvest rainwater from this roof and wonder if anyone has suggestions regarding this.

Cheers

Ingolby

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Ingolby

Bluescope don't manufacture that type of roofing.

Here is what you want. http://www.paneltech.com.au/roofing.htm

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barry_White

Ingolby

Bluescope don't manufacture that type of roofing.

Here is what you want. http://www.paneltech.com.au/roofing.htm

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Cheers for the link Barry.

I think that must be the stuff.

I got confused by the use of the term colorbond which I understood to be a Bluescope proprietory product name.

I will look for their warranty regarding delamination.

Thanks again

Ingolby

Ingoldby, we used the sandwich cool room panels, 4" foam etc, as a roof on our houseboat. Great stuff, spanned the whole width, and best benefit of all, it mad ean excellent sunroof.

Only thing you have to watch out for is water leaking through the t&g joins between the sheets, but if done properly with stacks of Sikaflex then there is no problem. We didn't have any leaks over all the years we had the boat.

Had to go out and buy an air operated caulking gun, after 2 or 3 cartridges my hands were killing me!

Thanks for that Big Shed,

I've just got a price on those panels

50mm..maximum ceiling span 3000..1200wide.$ 32.50/ sqm + GST
75mm..maximum ceiling span 4500..1200wide.$ 34.00 sqm + GST

Thats a shade over $ 200 bucks each for the larger panels which come in at 5.4 sqm.

Seems really cheap.. I could create a great kitchen / dining / living room flowing onto a covered deck with say 16 panels (8 on either side of the roof) for less than three and a half grand.

I guess they'd be best supported on a light steel frame or maybe with featured bush poles out at the deck end.

Thanks for your help guys.. really appreciate it!