Roof above the balcony: arrangement options

Many balconies have a roof initially. The roof is the floor of the upper balcony. But the owners of apartments on the top floors often have to deal with the arrangement of a reliable roof on their own. In addition, a roof is needed for a balcony in a private house. Let’s talk about its arrangement.

All balcony roofs are divided into two main types:

1. Independent designs. The easiest option, both in terms of installation and cost. In this case, the roof is attached to load-bearing trusses, triangular consoles. Traditionally, they are metal corners. I have already written about this arrangement of the roof over the balcony;
2. Dependent constructs. In this case, the roof has more supports, it is attached not only to the wall of the house, but also to the base. Such roofs are called support-cantilever.

Both roof designs over the balcony have their pros and cons:

1. An independent roof is cheaper and easier to install. However, it only sticks to the wall, so lightweight roofing materials should be used. In addition, the snow load must be taken into account. Independent roofs are often made on narrow balconies, because the wider the width of the roof, the more seriously it needs support;
2. Dependent structures are more reliable, but more expensive and more difficult to arrange. But they can be used on balconies of very different widths.

Usually, dependent structures are erected if the balcony is planned to be completely glazed, insulated, turned into an extension of the living space. In this case, it will be convenient to attach glazing profiles to the support posts. And an independent roof is often used simply as a canopy over an open balcony..

The most popular roofing materials for balcony roofs are:

1. Decking, galvanizing and other sheet steel derivatives. Such roofs are durable, but lightweight and inexpensive. True, the rain will drum heavily on the metal, soundproofing materials will be required, for example, isolon, bitumen-based tapes can be used;
2. Soft roofs. Ondulin, soft tiles, roll materials. Plus – they are light and noise due to rain is excluded. Minus – a rigid frame is needed, since the materials themselves are unstable to mechanical stress. As a result, such a roof is more expensive than a metal one;
3. Polycarbonate and special durable tempered glass insulating glass units, allowing to make a transparent roof. The latter option is the most expensive, but the balcony turns into a completely transparent winter garden.

In the process of building a roof over a balcony, it is important to maintain the correct slope so that the water can safely flow down. In addition, the visor should protrude above the balcony of the lower floor, if we are talking about an apartment building.