Every homeowner strives to have a reliable and durable roof, which, in addition to performing protection functions, gives an original architectural appearance to the house and other buildings. The production of roofs has become more technologically advanced with the advent of new technical solutions and modern materials.
Rapidly developing new construction technologies offer a variety of forms, decorative elements And color solutions for the construction of roofs. One of these original technologies is the creation of a retractable roof, which allows you to easily respond to both changes in time of day and weather changes. Despite the apparent complexity of manufacturing, a retractable roof can be erected in a fairly short terms. To do this you need to have desire, financial capabilities and a set of certain knowledge. Let's take a closer look at what a retractable roof is.
Applications
Sliding roofs are increasingly used for the following structures:
- greenhouses and conservatories;
- swimming pools;
- cafe;
- sports fields and recreation areas;
- observatories;
- parking for vehicles.
The so-called sliding roofs, based on design features can be roughly divided into:
- Removable - the roofing part, in whole or in part, can be removed from its place.
- Sliding - parts of the roof can be moved in different directions or opened.
- Movable - the entire roof can be moved to another location.
- Partially movable - only one section of the roof can move.
From the point of view of the functionality of structures using movable roofs, we can distinguish:
- Capital - are stationary structures for year-round use.
- Seasonal – used only during certain periods of the year (seasons).
- Temporary – are portable structures used as needed (various picnic tents, awnings).
In addition, in relation to structures, movable roofs are divided into:
- Built-in - cover the entire building or part of it.
- Attached - covers structures attached to the building.
- Freestanding - erected above structures that stand separately.
First of all, it is necessary to complete a project in which, in addition to detailed drawings, the opening method will be chosen: along guides, while going beyond the boundaries of the building, or by shifting dome-shaped segments. These roof manufacturing options require certain knowledge and experience in order to further exploitation there were no problems. Therefore, it will be better if you involve specialists with qualified knowledge in the field of construction and mechanics.
Among other things, the project must take into account:
- Transportation routes (various guides, tracks, etc.).
- Methods of movement (lifting, carrying, rolling).
- Direction of movement.
- Drive used (type power unit ensuring the functioning of the system; in its simplest form, it can be the homeowner's muscular strength using mechanical devices such as hoists or winches). In case of use electric drive It is necessary to provide for an emergency operation option (in case of a power outage).
- Seasonality and frequency of operation.
- Temperature requirements.
- Materials for production.
- A method to prevent unauthorized movement.
- Storage location (may be required for temporary or seasonal structures).
The complexity of manufacturing a retractable roof depends on the degree of capital and size of the structure, requirements for appearance. Almost all types of movable structures use a variety of guides, thanks to which you can move the movable segment to the desired location and back, holding it in a certain position.
Most simple designs(movable roofs over a greenhouse, swimming pool and other small buildings) can be made independently. An excellent hygienic, easy-to-clean material is suitable for this - polycarbonate, which has excellent heat and sound insulation properties.
Regardless of the design of the retractable roof, sooner or later it will require maintenance and repair. In order for your roof to serve you for a long time, you need to periodically inspect it. roofing, clean it of debris and dirt, keep it clean and periodically lubricate the guides and opening and closing mechanisms.
If serious problems occur in the roof sliding or opening mechanism, it is advisable to contact specialists. They will help diagnose the failure of guides and rollers and select the required spare parts. In addition, they will provide a guarantee for their work.
Having completed a competent retractable roof project and brought it to life, you will receive a modern, convenient solution that will proper care will serve you for a long time.
The opportunity to obtain a larger harvest in the conditions of risky farming areas is appreciated not only by professional farmers, but also by those who grow various crops on their own plot for the needs of the family. A greenhouse with a removable roof provides good conditions growing plants. Such a structure offers a lot of advantages to its owner. Additionally, structures such as a greenhouse with a folding roof can be built with my own hands with a fairly low investment of finances, time and physical effort.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of various types of structures?
Structures, figuratively speaking, with variable geometry have general advantages. At the same time positive qualities apply equally to any type of structure erected on a plot of land.
This can be either a greenhouse with a sliding roof, covered with glass as translucent panels, or a polycarbonate greenhouse with a removable roof, which in most cases is small in size and weight. The advantages include:
- the ability to create optimal conditions for growing crops earlier than weather conditions allow;
- maintaining a stable internal microclimate by the greenhouse in a limited space;
- creation of clearly standardized irrigation both in terms of the amount of water and fertilizers and the points of its entry (watering at the root, top, drip, by spraying);
- impact reduction potentially hazardous factors external environment in the form of wind, sudden changes in temperature and humidity.
Greenhouses of any design have all these advantages. However, if we are talking about buildings with a rigid structure, even if it provides for the possibility of ventilation internal space, it is worth noting the list of disadvantages:
- the soil inside dries out and becomes desalted, not becoming covered with snow in winter;
- the interior of the greenhouse may overheat in hot weather;
- rigid arrangement system ventilation windows or channels cannot always cope with the task and humidity parameters, other microclimate indicators go beyond safe limits for plants.
Structures with variable geometry are free from the above disadvantages. In particular, greenhouses with a retractable roof have nothing disabilities ventilation, and a greenhouse with a removable roof allows plants to develop in their natural environment.
Note! Some disadvantages of variable geometry designs are easily overcome. For example, a greenhouse with a low-clearance arched roof does not allow all the plants planted inside to develop equally if their height is high enough. The owner of the structure must think in advance at what height the roof should be located.
It is also worth considering how complex and heavy the greenhouse roof will be before construction begins. However, all the disadvantages of sliding, folding, sliding and sectional greenhouses are easily taken into account and neutralized at the design planning stage.
Creating a load-bearing base
In terms of designing the strong base of the greenhouse, which will then be sheathed with translucent materials or covered with a glazing system, the future owner of the greenhouse is not limited in any way. You can form the “skeleton” of the structure from:
- timber of various sections;
- small diameter metal pipe;
- steel profile of rectangular or square section.
When you consider the level of investment of time, effort and money - the latter option for, for example, a greenhouse with a retractable roof - looks very attractive. Today on the market you can even buy ready-made kits for assembly, which are offered by many manufacturers. And if the task is to build a greenhouse according to your own dimensions of length, width, height and with the desired roof structure - with the purchase required quantity profile and special connectors will not be difficult. After preparing the metal “blanks” of the required length, connecting them into a single structure is not difficult.
When constructing the base of a polycarbonate greenhouse with a removable roof, the choice of materials for the power frame is very wide. It could be like wooden beam, parts of which are connected with screws and simple metal corners, and thin-walled metal pipe, which is given required form by cutting and bending.
What materials are used
If we consider the subtleties of use various types roofs in greenhouses, they can be divided into three large groups:
- with sliding elements that are part of the roof and move over a limited distance;
- having removable blocks, in some cases, incomplete removal of the greenhouse roof element is provided;
- consisting of separate segment modules that move independently and have their own power frame.
One of the most complex are greenhouses with a sliding roof, which are a set of individual durable blocks that can be moved over a long distance along rails laid on the soil surface. The most common variant of this design is arched modules, with which you can form a roof and a translucent surface area.
The choice of a rounded roof is determined purely by rationality criteria. Such a roof is durable and at the same time has a low weight. In addition, relatively little material is required to build such a structure.
Advice! If a greenhouse is built with your own hands, very often a lean-to or gable roof. This option is optimal from the point of view of ease of formation and the absence of specially prepared curved elements. A wide range of translucent materials used for greenhouse cladding can also be used - from heavy glass to polycarbonate, and in some cases, polymer film.
Folding and removable roofs
The most simple options, found on personal plots - a greenhouse with a folding roof or a removable roof. It could be small greenhouse for seedlings, low height, consisting of individual modules. After the offensive optimal conditions plant growth, the greenhouse is actually removed entirely.
Comment! Higher and “large-scale” structures are based on the same principle, with the slight difference that when the warm season comes, the owner removes only the roof or its individual segments. This version of the greenhouse can have any type of roof: arched, with one or two slopes.
A more complex option, which is used in conditions of a complex, stationary structure, is removable roof blocks or folding elements. In the latter case, sections of the roof may provide for partial opening or full tilting without complete removal.
Such a greenhouse is very simple in design and is often built with your own hands. Film, polycarbonate, plastic for street work, and glass can be used as translucent materials (depending on the shape of the roof, the strength of the frame, and the financial capabilities of the owner).
Sliding roofs
The most preferred shape to give to the roof is arched. Although this will require the manufacture of complex curved elements, the benefits of such a solution cannot be underestimated. The short list is as follows:
- It is easy to make sliding polycarbonate panels manually on an arched frame;
- it will not be difficult to provide partially openable zones;
- sectors can open up different spaces when shifted.
Here are a few examples illustrating the possibilities of greenhouses with a roof or arched sectors.
In this design, the roof sectors move in the vertical direction, it is possible to create a different area open area. This can be useful if several varieties of plants are grown within the same greenhouse, one of which, for example, requires top watering, for which it is easy to use natural precipitation.
There can be several options: with side opening sectors or with one central one, as shown in the video.
A small greenhouse may have a sliding folding roof, which partially opens when moving up. The same principle is used in more complex designs.
In the most complex version, the roof of the greenhouse is segmented. The modules can move both along guides installed on the soil surface, foundation, and on a load-bearing frame on the top of the walls.
Important! Celebrating complexity self-made curved elements, it is worth noting that on the market today there are a lot of offers from many suppliers from whom you can purchase both elements for the manufacture of roofing and complex segments of great height.
Conclusion
Before you build on your own personal plot greenhouse, it is worth carefully analyzing the possibilities. There is a wide range of offers on the market such as ready-made solutions of different sizes, as well as elements of various shapes to create a power frame. In fact, with some skill in using the simplest tools and accuracy, anyone can build a greenhouse on their own land.
When building a house and arranging local area Every owner thinks about how to make the yard more comfortable and the building original and attractive. The most an extraordinary element buildings may have a roof. All the main loads fall on it, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s covering an ordinary garage, a gazebo in the yard, a swimming pool or a residential building. Today, architectural techniques that are unusual for most people, which include a retractable roof, are becoming increasingly popular.
Sliding roof can be used to cover stops, sheds, trucks, gazebos, swimming pools.
Previously, sliding structures were used only by drivers of heavy vehicles, when there was a need to quickly and efficiently load without disassembling the car, but nowadays an increasing number of owners of personal plots are beginning to understand the advantages of such a roof for a winter garden, patio, or indoor pool.
This design allows for sunlight to flow throughout the day, while providing protection from the weather and free access to fresh air when necessary.
What is a retractable roof?
So what is a retractable roof, and how is it different from all the others? Structurally, it is metal profiles and transparent panels mounted on them, most often these are cellular polycarbonate, less often. glass. Using a special mechanism, such a roof can be assembled like a telescope and closed if necessary.
Such roofs differ from others in numerous advantages, which gradually make them leaders. The following advantages are worth noting:
- simplicity of design;
- light weight, which allows you to install such roofs almost anywhere;
- Possibility of installation in residential premises, winter garden, greenhouse, indoor and outdoor pools;
- strength, reliable protection from bad weather;
- energy savings during the daytime;
- free access to fresh air if necessary;
- attractive appearance.
The only disadvantage we can note is that such a design is rare among us; for some reason it is undeservedly considered fragile and unreliable, although this is not at all the case.
Species assortment
Such retractable roofs can be the most various types. Let's take a closer look at the design capabilities of this roof:
- completely removable structures, they allow you to remove the entire roof or its individual segments from the surface;
- moving, which slide along specially installed rollers;
- not fully movable (only one part of the roof is movable);
- sliding (the roof has the ability to move or slide apart in different directions).
Functionally similar roofs are divided into:
- Structures for permanent use that are installed above a permanent structure.
- Seasonal structures that are intended for use in certain time year (most often these are roofs for swimming pools).
- Temporary, used for various light mobile structures.
- Capital, built over part of the house or its entire surface. This option is used for garages, greenhouses, and observatories.
Sliding roof for swimming pool
The truck body consists of a cabin and a loading platform. For this reason, body repair can be divided into two independent components:
- cargo platform repair
- cabin repair
In turn, the modular design of the platform makes it possible to have various options:
- Tent platforms with a non-collapsible or collapsible frame
- Side platforms without frame and awning (open platforms)
- Platforms with hardtop and sliding curtain
- Platforms with curtains
- Onboard platforms with manipulator crane
- Flatbed (isothermal van)
- Flatbed platform (van)
Do-it-yourself sliding roof installation
No, I’m not advocating that everyone should start assembling their own retractable roof with their own hands. On the contrary, I think that professionals should always mind their own business, which means that the customer can find his own company and trust it to fulfill his plans and wishes. And, nevertheless, it is clear that if you decide to install or repair a retractable roof yourself, it will be significantly cheaper than the services of specialists. When we try to do something, especially something that we have not done before, as a rule, some fear arises. Fear of the unknown, which sets us up for failure and prevents us from concentrating. In this regard, only the first step is difficult. Start by reading the PDF documents below. Of course, to work, you must have certain knowledge and a willingness to learn new things, the ability to overcome difficulties and deal with your own mistakes, which do not always happen in technology without consequences. But to the free man there is freedom. I just want to warn you about one thing. Even if you have good knowledge in the field of truck repair, this cannot guarantee you a smooth creation process without possible difficulties.
Sliding roof CurtainSlider-UL / HD
The CurtainSider - UL/HD Heavy Duty Curtain Roof was designed specifically for heavy-duty applications. The new CurtainSider - UL/HD is the flagship of sliding roofs, "HD" means "Heavy Duty" and for good reason! Steel-reinforced hybrid design greatly expands application range modern systems movable roof.Repair of the sliding roof of the VP Profi semi-trailer
There are many varieties of retractable roof systems. And among all this diversity there is a sliding roof system and VP Profi curtains. The basis is a simple, but high-quality and lightweight steel linear guide. This system was developed by the German company Edscha Trailer Systems.VP UltraLine sliding mechanism
Every truck driver wants to have a sliding roof that is easy to open, easy to close, trouble-free, reliable in operation and will serve its purpose well. All this can be achieved by performing timely and high-quality maintenance.Installation of SESAM sliding roof
The instructions are intended for those who know the truck well in general and have extensive repair experience in particular, but do not know well how to install the sliding mechanism. Questions that may arise during installation are completely resolved with the help of pictures.SESAM sliding roof mechanism
Aluminum linear guides LARGE, MEDIUM, SMALL of the sliding roof mechanism make it possible to choose the best price/quality option for your truck.Versus Omega sliding roof
The special roof design for the semi-trailer provides minimal bending under maximum loads. Versus offers optimal systems roofs for all types of freight transport.Tent structure (frame+sliding roof)
By using modular design modern framework can realistically transform an open platform into all the options described above.It has been used by man since ancient times.
Thus, the world-famous architectural monument of the Colosseum, built at the beginning of our era in Ancient Rome, had a retractable roof - in case of unfavorable weather and to protect spectators from the scorching rays of the sun.
Nowadays, such designs are quite widespread abroad. And we are not talking about a convertible top for a passenger car or awnings for heavy-duty trucks, but specifically for various buildings and structures.
In Russia, movable roofs are rarely seen, although in recent years there has been an increase in interest in them.
The obstacle, oddly enough, is not weather conditions or not good enough technical specifications materials, but the conservatism of domestic architects.
There is an opinion that the roof will not withstand snow and wind loads, however, the use of modern quality materials in the same Toronto (Canada) with heavy snowfalls allows you to build huge public buildings with a roof like that.
Where can you see
A retractable upper structure is usually an attribute of such structures as water parks, sports grounds, cultural and shopping centers.
Stadiums can be highlighted separately - the giant retractable roofs of Reliant Stadium, Cowboys Stadium in Texas, Astana Arena in Astana, Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw have become a serious test for civil engineers.
Closable roof extends use time open terraces cafes and restaurants.
In private buildings, this option may become great solution for a pool or greenhouse, canopy or, veranda or observatory, greenhouse or: the original element has several important advantages in front of a traditional roof and definitely attracts attention.
Design advantages:
- provides natural light;
- helps save energy;
- provides the opportunity to gain access to fresh air at any time of the year and day;
- reliably protects from bad weather;
- looks great.
Roof types:
- sliding – parts “move apart” in different directions;
- mobile - the roof moves completely from one place to another on special rollers. Has several limit positions, opens 50 or 100 percent;
- removable – the entire roof is completely removed;
- partially sliding - one or more roof segments are closed and folded, another part is fixed in a stationary state.
Similar structures are erected over structures that differ in purpose and functionality.
There are practically no restrictions - the shape can be any, as well as the size. It is also possible to cover either a separate part of a building or the entire structure: detached or attached to another building.
Main types of structures:
- seasonal - used only at certain times of the year, like a cafe terrace or a swimming pool;
- temporary – for mobile structures. The best example there will be a tent tent;
- capital - for permanent use, a solid system is installed that allows you to close and open the roof regardless of the time of year.
Installation of a movable roof structure
Each segment of the mobile roof has the ability to move along its own guides.
Parts of the roof or the entire roof can be tilted upward, but best option– folding or telescopic system. In the working position, this design does everything protective functions, when folded, it takes up minimal space.
More complex shapes and it is better to entrust the covering of capital buildings to professionals, who also provide a guarantee for the work performed.
Sliding roofs are not required financial investments into service. The opening-closing mechanism may require lubrication, rollers and must be cleared of all kinds of debris, for example, fallen branches.
Although such structures are unusual for us, this is a promising direction in construction. The rooms, saturated with light and air, will be reliably sheltered from bad weather on cold and rainy days. And the unusualness can be turned into a benefit: the attendance of an establishment with an interesting movable roof element will increase significantly.
