Conservatory polycarb roof panels "walked"

[Colin M]

The builders of my house added a BAC upvc conservatory when it was constructed in 1998. As the temperature changes the thing creaks and bangs and I have noticed that the rubber seals between the polycarb roof panels and the main upvc rafters tend to walk a little and need pushing back in from time to time.

In the heavy rain last week, the room flooded and over the weekend I took a closer look and found the two roof glazing sections nearest the house seem to have moved towards the house so much that there is now a 1/4" gap exposed at the roof apex between glazing and rafter. This extends down a couple of feet on one side of the rafter before it tapers back into place.

I have tried to reach BAC but they stopped making conservatories (went bust) in 1990 and it seems their new company BAC Windows have gone the same way. I found a firm in Romford who have recently bought the name and they have offered a "service" at "cost price" as they build up their customer base, but I am a little cynical this may be an excuse for air through teeth sucking noises and the sale of a "new roof guv".

What is the easiest way to work on the roof panel? It is too large to reach from a ladder against the conservatory guttering and I certainly don't want to go climbing on the plastic roof sections strong though polycarb might be,

Thanks in advance to the group for any comments, help etc.

Colin M

[Tim Mitchell]

In article , Colin M writes

Exactly this happens to my conservatory roof. I can't quite work out the configuration of your roof relative to the house, but on mine I can knock the panel back up from the bottom using a lump hammer with a piece of wood over the end of the panel. Every few knocks you have to run round the rubber seals with a blunt knife to keep the seals correctly placed. Is this a triangular piece of panel, is that why it's come out down the side?

I then cut a piece of plywood which bridges the gutter and braces the roof sheet to the adjacent house wall, stopping it from moving downward. The problem has not come back since I did this.

I have stood on the PVC glazing bars when I have needed to go on the roof. A conservatory manufacturer said this was OK but it didn't feel too safe.

It must be possible to remove the glazing bars to refit the panel, but I can't work out how you do it.

[Colin M]

Tim

Thanks for the suggestion. I took a couple of pics to show the layout. A standard apex roof running perpendicular to the back wall of the house.

First pic looking up, then closer view of the gap that has opened up (more so in panel with blind retracted).

white gap you see is daylight!

My guess is the rafter joinig the house is different from the others and has no restriction on the polycarbonate sliding into it so a case of pulling seals and resetting. The house side has flashing tapped down over the conservatory roof so that will need lifting to pull the rubber out.

I may be able to get to it through the open window in the roof if I undo the opener and fold the hatch back far enough.

Colin

[Tim Mitchell]

In article , Colin M writes

So it's crept sideways then? Mine always creep downwards leaving a gap across the top. It looks like maybe the polycarbonate sheet has been cut too small. If the "end" rafter really doesn't have any stop in it, you could always put something in there to prevent a re-occurrence. I can't think of a way to shift the sheet sideways other than getting the glazing bars out, if you work out how to do that, let me know!