Trellis Deck Cover

Scott Young

i need yall's help. i have been asked to build a trellis that will offer shade but let the light through. here is the kicker...it has to shed water. back in the ninetys, i worked with a guy that did the very thing that i need to do. he used lexan to cover the trellis. this allowed the light to come through, but it kept everything dry underneath. it seemed to work like a charm and the customer was tickled to death. we used lexan cause it was impact resistant and the carpenter felt it was better than plexiglass.

now, my dilema is lexan is through the roof and i need to cover roughly 20' x 14'.

do yall have any suggestions? i am hoping to come up with some options so when i talk to the customer i won't be empty handed.

thank yall for all your help and input.

RobertCDF

I know this looks cheasy but its cheaper (I think) but you know the green plastic roofing you know the stuff with the ridges? They have that stuff in a clear version as well and I think they come in 3'x12' sheets just overlap the ends to make it watertight.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

Scott Young

robert, i have thought of that, and your right is does look cheesy sorta like an afterthought. i you think of anymore please post them cheesy or not. i hope to make something work. by the way, is there a product like lexan that is a flat sheet that will not go brittle like plexiglass from the uv. plexiglass may have improved its product over the years and have a uv resistant product out. if you come across anything please remember me. thanks again.

Scott Young

robert i have been looking at the frp panels you mentioned. i think i can make that work somehow. i have been search the internet through out the evening and into the morning. i am looking at the flat clear panels. i will keep yall posted.

Bone Saw

If the job requires lexan and/or your customer requested it, than bid it with lexan and let the customer do their own shopping. Not trying to be sarcastic in any way, your down time is better spent investigating and refining your product knowledge and cost's so you can present every new customer with a competitive bid, doing the customers shopping on a lead by lead basis for free will eventually drain you.

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Custom Decks & Carpentry LLC.
Chester County Custom Decks
Custom Deckbuilder Mainline
Philadelphia Deck Builder
Custom Decks & Carpentry on Facebook

Scott Young

i know its lame to keep posting to your own thread, but i learned a new word.

pergola - trellis deck cover

it is like when a "carpenter" that i hired to help kept saying crosshatch when he was refering to lattice.

now, i am building a pergola that has a water shedding skin on top. i hope that helps define what i need as far as a clear flat sheet that can be hidden on top easily.

Scott Young

chris, thanks for the input and you are right. it is very draining. i plan on bidding the job as requested. the thing that i am looking at is the customer is going to stroke at the cost. when i hit him with the cost of replacing the deck ~9,000 he decided it wasn't as bad as he originally thought and decided to keep it.

i am not the best there there is i score about an 8 out of 10 on most things due to lack of creativity. most of my work is repair or addition to an existing structure. so my artistic bent has been stunted to making it look original and not like hey i am a new install. when i do build a deck or fence it tends to be for folks that are very cost conscious. i would love to build a deck out of composite, redwood, cedar, but alas i get stuck using treated on everthing if you know what i mean.

i find my self doing a lot of shopping for alternatives for customers just to try and keep them.

Bone Saw

You're in biz to make money, not to keep "customers" around who can't afford what they want.

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Custom Decks & Carpentry LLC.
Chester County Custom Decks
Custom Deckbuilder Mainline
Philadelphia Deck Builder
Custom Decks & Carpentry on Facebook

CanCritter

lost all my work pics somehow and thier not in the recycle bin....system restore dosnt seem to work either...any other way to recover a folder?

Winchester

Suntuf (polycarbonate) is relatively inexpensive and comes in two clear shades, and UV resistant.

they come in 2x12 and 2x8 sheets

I've done a couple of jobs with it and it's decent.

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Ryan

John Hyatt

You may as well try lexann > www.sundancesupply.com the two part chanell makes the install go pretty fast.

Welcome Back Chris !!!!! J.

deckman22

HD or Lowes makes a polycarbinate sheet that comes in 3 or 4 shades. Not as nice as the flat panels, but it will work for the cheap customers & doesn't look bad. My supplier put it over the display decks on the front of his store, it actually looks pretty good & is a fast easy install.

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Deckman
www.alscustomdecks.com

BuiltByMAC

OP's from '06...

Mac

Winchester

sheesh

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Ryan