Hello everyone,
Since this is about being "outside," this seemed like the most appropriate subforum.
We have been living in the house for 3.5 years now and are currently looking into the topic of patio roofing. I have already had initial on-site discussions with two local companies. Unfortunately, these talks raised more questions than answers.
The area to be covered is about 26 sqm (280 sq ft). Width 7.30 m (24 ft) and depth 4.00 m (13 ft), with the special feature that part of the patio narrows diagonally, so the depth on the left side is not 4.00 m but 2.00 m (7 ft). This means that part of the roof and drainage must slope diagonally and be adjusted on-site; a roof of a standard size x by y meters won’t work for us.
What we originally wanted and were offered:
- Powder-coated aluminum construction
- 10 mm (0.4 inch) laminated safety glass (VSG) roofing
- LED spots integrated into the rafters
- Under-roof shading with a wireless sensor
- Both sides (left with 2.00 m (7 ft) depth and right with 4.00 m (13 ft) depth) closable with frameless glass sliding doors
This option costs 19,000 EUR. Shading on top of the roof with a weather station was even more expensive. Shading adapted to the sloping area was even pricier. The affordable under-roof shading would not cover the sloped section of about 3 sqm (32 sq ft).
What the second company proposed:
- Powder-coated aluminum construction
- White milky polycarbonate twin-wall panels roofing *
- LED spots integrated into the rafters
- No shading
- Only one side (right 4.00 m (13 ft) depth) closable with frameless glass sliding doors
This option costs "only" 8,000 EUR.
* This company specializes in polycarbonate twin-wall panels. Apparently, this roofing has many advantages. A double UV filter protects against the sun, while an integrated prism structure is said to concentrate sunlight and direct it downward, resulting in only 7% light loss. Supposedly, no shading is needed. The climate under it should always feel as if you are sitting in the shade. Polycarbonate is said to be self-cleaning.
I am mainly skeptical now. Of course, I would prefer the cheaper option, but I find it hard to fully believe all these benefits, especially the claim that no shading is necessary. Do you have any experience with this? The main argument against twin-wall panels seems to be noise during rain, but that doesn’t matter to us, so that argument is irrelevant.
Overall, it is very difficult to find a suitable company and to assess the prices. How did you solve this?
Thanks and best regards!
Since this is about being "outside," this seemed like the most appropriate subforum.
We have been living in the house for 3.5 years now and are currently looking into the topic of patio roofing. I have already had initial on-site discussions with two local companies. Unfortunately, these talks raised more questions than answers.
The area to be covered is about 26 sqm (280 sq ft). Width 7.30 m (24 ft) and depth 4.00 m (13 ft), with the special feature that part of the patio narrows diagonally, so the depth on the left side is not 4.00 m but 2.00 m (7 ft). This means that part of the roof and drainage must slope diagonally and be adjusted on-site; a roof of a standard size x by y meters won’t work for us.
What we originally wanted and were offered:
- Powder-coated aluminum construction
- 10 mm (0.4 inch) laminated safety glass (VSG) roofing
- LED spots integrated into the rafters
- Under-roof shading with a wireless sensor
- Both sides (left with 2.00 m (7 ft) depth and right with 4.00 m (13 ft) depth) closable with frameless glass sliding doors
This option costs 19,000 EUR. Shading on top of the roof with a weather station was even more expensive. Shading adapted to the sloping area was even pricier. The affordable under-roof shading would not cover the sloped section of about 3 sqm (32 sq ft).
What the second company proposed:
- Powder-coated aluminum construction
- White milky polycarbonate twin-wall panels roofing *
- LED spots integrated into the rafters
- No shading
- Only one side (right 4.00 m (13 ft) depth) closable with frameless glass sliding doors
This option costs "only" 8,000 EUR.
* This company specializes in polycarbonate twin-wall panels. Apparently, this roofing has many advantages. A double UV filter protects against the sun, while an integrated prism structure is said to concentrate sunlight and direct it downward, resulting in only 7% light loss. Supposedly, no shading is needed. The climate under it should always feel as if you are sitting in the shade. Polycarbonate is said to be self-cleaning.
I am mainly skeptical now. Of course, I would prefer the cheaper option, but I find it hard to fully believe all these benefits, especially the claim that no shading is necessary. Do you have any experience with this? The main argument against twin-wall panels seems to be noise during rain, but that doesn’t matter to us, so that argument is irrelevant.
Overall, it is very difficult to find a suitable company and to assess the prices. How did you solve this?
Thanks and best regards!
immermehr schrieb:
Hello Baumixx,
how many posts did you need?
According to the KD website, 3 posts are required for spans over 4m (13 feet).
And how was the installation done on your side? I mean the process with the foundation, backfilling, roofing, paving. We will need to backfill soon as well.
Thanks for your reply. Just to clarify, we didn’t build with KD.
For our 6m (20 feet) roof extension, we set the posts 1m (3 feet) in from the edge, so they are not corner posts. This way, we only needed 2 posts.
immermehr schrieb:
Hello BauMixx,
how many posts do you need?
According to the KD website, 3 posts are required for spans of 4 m (13 feet) or more.
And how was it installed for you? I mean the process with the foundation, backfilling, roofing, paving. We need to backfill soon as well.
Thanks for your answer. Sorry, I’m rarely here these days. We only have two posts and a reinforced beam. Three posts are only necessary without the beam.
I
immermehr29 Aug 2021 11:47Hello everyone,
I placed an order with KD. It will be installed in about 3 weeks.
I ordered 3 gates: 3.5m x 6m (11.5 ft x 19.7 ft).
The advisor from KD (Göpingen) visited me. He is very competent and friendly. Let’s see how it goes.
I had a bad experience with "He.. & Ha..". I have never met an advisor like that before.
I placed an order with KD. It will be installed in about 3 weeks.
I ordered 3 gates: 3.5m x 6m (11.5 ft x 19.7 ft).
The advisor from KD (Göpingen) visited me. He is very competent and friendly. Let’s see how it goes.
I had a bad experience with "He.. & Ha..". I have never met an advisor like that before.
immermehr schrieb:
Hello everyone,
I ordered from KD. Installation is scheduled in about 3 weeks.
I chose 3 support posts: 3.5m x 6m (11.5 ft x 19.7 ft).
The consultant from KD (Göppingen) came to see me. He was very knowledgeable and friendly. Let’s see how it goes.
I had a bad experience with "He.. & Ha..". Never met a consultant like that before. We had the one from Göppingen as well. He was very friendly and delivered exactly what we ordered. I would just suggest being present during installation and confirming the date with them ahead of time to ensure they bring everything. During a repair, they said they would also bring the ordered side awning, but they completely forgot it.
Otherwise, they were good. They speak almost no German, so just use gestures to communicate. If needed, call your sales representative to translate.
Make sure to clearly show them where they are allowed to drill and where not, due to possible external electrical cables or ones running inside the ceiling. We unfortunately hit the jackpot with one inside the ceiling. In the end, it was mostly a combination of unfortunate circumstances. KD wasn’t really to blame. They just wanted to drill 5 cm (2 inches) away without my permission. That’s why I recommend being there.
If cable extensions are needed, either do it yourself or have your electrician do it. They are pretty careless and even tried to strip cables using duct tape!!!!
If you have multiple drives, make sure they use the same radio standard or that you get a suitable Somfy multi remote control.
Think carefully about where you want the lights. Discuss this in detail with them on the installation day, especially if you want to control them with a remote control as well. There are solutions where a Somfy radio module is installed, allowing everything to be controlled with a single remote. That’s what we did.
Depending on the size of your canopy: 6 lights were actually enough for our 5 x 3.5 m (16.4 ft x 11.5 ft) structure. Luckily, since we had 12 in total, we had them wired to switch separately.
Just a few tips from experience—pitfalls that are easily avoided once someone has stumbled over them.
In the end, though, we are really happy and satisfied.
I
immermehr29 Aug 2021 21:22BauMixx schrieb:
We also used the one from Göppingen. They were very friendly and delivered exactly as ordered. I would just recommend being present during installation and confirming the appointment in advance to make sure they bring everything. In our case, during a repair, they said they would also bring the ordered side awning but completely forgot it.
Otherwise, they were good. They barely speak any German, so just communicate with gestures. If needed, call the seller and they will translate.
Show them exactly where they can drill and where not, because of possible external electrical cables or ones running inside the ceiling. Unfortunately, we hit a jackpot with one: not an external but a cable inside the ceiling. In the end, it was more due to a combination of unfortunate circumstances. Customer service wasn’t really at fault. They just wanted to drill 5cm (2 inches) next to the first hole again if I hadn’t stopped them.
So that’s why I recommend being there.
If cables need to be extended, do it yourself or have your electrician handle it. They are very unprofessional and even wanted to strip cables with packing tape!!!
If you have multiple drives, make sure they use the same radio standard or get a compatible multi remote control from Somfy.
Think carefully about where you want the lights. You need to discuss this in detail with them on installation day, especially if you want to control them by remote control as well. There are solutions to put a Somfy radio module before and control everything with one remote. That’s what we did.
Depending on the size of your canopy: 6 lights were already sufficient for our 5 x 3.5m (16 x 11.5 ft) area. Luckily, since we had 12 lights total, we had them wired to switch separately.
Just a few tips from experience—pitfalls we had so only one person needed to stumble over them.
In the end, we are really happy and satisfied now. Thank you for the valuable experiences.
Now I’m a bit nervous. I’ll definitely be there during the installation.
Drilling: I hope the installers know where the ceiling is.
I have two 5-core cables (one with a switch, one always powered) right in the middle. I’m only getting 6 LEDs plus 1 sunshade. I will connect the LEDs myself.
Luckily, I signed the contract at the end of July (for about 7,000) but now customer service has raised the price.
Where did you build your house? I’m in Weinsberg (Heilbronner Fußweg).
Similar topics