How much Laserlite?

[petemck]

Hi Guys,
I've just completed a carport frame which will require 8 sheets of roofing,
Our smallish bathroom window will be under the carport, so I'm thinking of making some of the sheets clear so the bathroom isn't too dark during the day; my question is how many sheets of clear stuff should I use?

The carport is on the East side of the house, which only gets sun in the morning.

Any help appreciated.
Cheers,
Pete McK

[macca2]

I have just built a patio 10.1m x 2.6m attached to the house and covering 2 large sliding doors and 1 kitchen window. I was going to fit 1 sheet of opaque at each door and window.On the advice of a patio supplier I did not fit any clear sheets, as he says they let through heat as well as light. The amount of light getting into the house is fine and the unbroken look of the colourbond roof is great. Very pleased with the end result.
Cheers Macca

[petemck]

Hi Macca,

Yeah, I was worried about that too, have tried a clear sheet on a verandah before & it got way too hot in summer; also the car's a dark colour, so will a heat up quickly;....well it gives me an excuse to save a few bucks...

Thanks for your response,
Pete McK

[Sir Stinkalot]

If you do go down the road of Lazerlight the BCA suggests secondary lighting as 10% of the floor area.

Therefore your area of lazerlight should be roughly 10% of the bathroom floor area.

[julianx]

I did one similar recently and put short opaque sheets (about 1 third the length of the colourbond sheets) just above the windows looks and works fine.
May be you could do the whole thing in colourbond, then If it's too dark just cut a section out and retrofit the poly carbonite. You could even lay all the sheets out without screwing them and then slide a couple of them down till you get the required amount of light.

[DanP]

Laserlite does not only let through heat, it increases or magnifies it. If you leave a stack of sheets out in the sun for a bit the third sheet down will buckle from the heat generated by the first two.

If you must have some light, put one sheet in over the window and the rest colourbond.

Dan

[kva]

Some tinted Lasertite colours might me able to match the color of the colorbond. I designed a roof with an internal courtyard with tinted laserlite and you cant notice it straightaway because the colours are similar. The tint doesnt let as much heat through

Kane

[petemck]

The guys who put up the frame for me, who does these for a living, thinks heat won't be a prob, 'cause the roof will be about 3M above the ground.

I like julianx's idea of retrofitting if it's too dark, (even have a couple of sheets which would do) but this type of construction depends on the roof sheet going the whole length of the roof for strength... maybe if I add some discrete cross bracing???

not concerned about looks, it's at the side of the house, no-one will see the roof;
I'll work out the 10% of floor area in terms of sheets, a guesstimate would be one sheet.

Thanks for the responses guys.
Pete McK

[DanP]

Mines 3M above ground and only covers an area of 3M X 6M and the temp diff on a hot day is about 3° - 4° warmer under the pergola than 6 ft from it. Oh, almost forgot, mine is tinted.

Dan