# Forum Home Renovation The Garden Shed  Which plastic for windows?

## Tigglez

Hello, decided to put up a small shed to store my bench tools such as band saw, drill press etc in as I have no room for a workshop so do everything in the backyard but the old lady isn't happy with me currently keep all the machinery in the spare room of the house. 
Anyway to cut costs, for some natural lighting I figured just cutting some smallish holes and sealing some plastic over them would be good enough so i'm just wondering which would be best suited Acrylic or Polycarbonate?

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## joynz

> Hello, decided to put up a small shed to store my bench tools such as band saw, drill press etc in as I have no room for a workshop so do everything in the backyard but the old lady isn't happy with me currently keep all the machinery in the spare room of the house. 
> Anyway to cut costs, for some natural lighting I figured just cutting some smallish holes and sealing some plastic over them would be good enough so i'm just wondering which would be best suited Acrylic or Polycarbonate?

  I couldn't get past the term 'old lady'.  Do you mean your wife or grandmother? 
Sheds often have the option of having a clear or opaque (I.e. cooler) roof panel or sheet to let light in.  If you haven't already bought the shed then get one either with a window or opaque roof sheet. 
Summary of differences from UK site https://www.cutplasticsheeting.co.uk...polycarbonate/

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## METRIX

Can't you just go for glass ?, it will be cheaper than the other two, and won;t yellow or scratch like the others will. 
I take bets the Old Lady is the Wife, they do tend to put a dampener on ones hobbies and interests  :Smilie:

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## r3nov8or

My Old Lady is my mother. Isn't 'she' everyone's?  :Smilie:

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## Whitey66

Try picking up some cheap proper glass windows on Gumtree. Quite often people give them away or sell them for next to nothing.
You'll also have the option of being able top open the windows for some airflow.
Clear roof sheeting is great for letting in light, but unfortunately it also lets in lots of heat.

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## joynz

If you go with Opal or similar which is white not clear it really helps keep the heat out.

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## METRIX

> If you go with Opal or similar which is white not clear it really helps keep the heat out.

  Agree, 
I have the cream here, it got smashed in a hail storm it will be replacing with white, the cream is one of the best for high light penetration with very good heat rejection, .
I hate cream, the next best one for heat rejection which allowed lots of light in was the white with almost as good heat rejection so white it is.

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## Tigglez

> Do you mean your wife or grandmother?/

  The old lady is the wife.   

> Can't you just go for glass ?,

   I could but it was cutting costs because my mate can get me small  (large enough for a shed this size) off-cuts of plastic for nothing,  just wants to know what type I want. Acrylic and Polycarbonate seemed  the most suitable but looking at the differences I couldn't determine if  one was more suitable over the other for this purpose.   

> they do tend to put a dampener on ones hobbies and interests

  It's perfectly fine to have shoes and fabric all over the place though  :Annoyed:    

> If you go with Opal or similar which is white not clear it really helps keep the heat out.

  Not sure if he can get something like that, pretty sure he can get colour tinted and frosted though.

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## joynz

Opal was if you were to get a polycarb.roof sheet to let light in.

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## Moondog55

You can always whitewash/ toss some shadecloth over  in summer

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