# Forum Home Renovation Roofing  Repair hole in poly-carbonate roof

## kefa

Hi all, 
Just wondering if anyone has ideas on how to repair a small hole in a polycarbonate roof?  
I've attached a link with a photo:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw...3h1MEtwUHY3dlk 
Cheers,
Kefa

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## Uncle Bob

Silicon.
BTW, please use this sites image uploader function in the future.

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## Ozcar

How old are those sheets? 
 I repaired a hole about that size using a small piece I managed to cut off a corner of one of the sheets. Not long after there was a hail storm, not really bad, but all the sheets had holes like that all over. On investigating, the sheets had become very brittle. 
 When getting some replacement sheets, I noticed that they say that they have a "Lifetime Warranty". However, when you read the fine print it says: "10 years against HAIL DAMAGE" (what's with the shouting, and what happened to the "lifetime"?), and also only for hailstones up to 19mm diameter. Then if you read the even finer print, the amount you can claim for hail damage starts to decrease after only three years (so yes, what happened to the 10 years?). Perhaps they mean the typical lifetime of a fruit fly.

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## kefa

The sheets are 10 years old. Probably going to have to replace them sooner or later just trying to get a bit more life out of them.

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## FrodoOne

I would recommend using an epoxy resin - such as Bote Cote (Bote-Cote Reliable Marine Epoxy)
You could start with the "Sample Kit".  
With the size of that hole, you may only need to support it underneath with sellotape or masking tape while the mixed product sets. 
However, it may be necessary to use fiberglass "mesh" to hold the resin on the corrugations.
 (Using the standard hardener, the resin takes 24 hours to set.  However, when set, if mixed in the correct proportions, it is "rock hard".) 
While the resin and fiberglass may add up to a few dollars, once you have them in your "kit" you may find other uses for them in the future - I know that I do !

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## phild01

I would go with silicone and try and find a small polycarbonate patch for it. I didn't think resins would work well with polycarbonate but I may be wrong!

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## Marc

Polycarbonate will adhere with epoxy no problem, in fact it is easy to glue with many adhesives including super glue. Find a bit to patch the hole up and glue it with two parts epoxy. Do you know how the hole came to be?

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## Ozcar

When I repaired the hole I mentioned above, I saw that makers of polycarbonate sheets seem to recommend co-polymer sealants. I used Fuller Ultra Clear.  
Having said that, some years before I used silicone on some smaller holes in another polycarbonate roof (installer somehow stuffed up and one sheet had fixing holes in the wrong position), and now, around five years later, it still appears to be just fine.

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## cyclic

> I would recommend using an epoxy resin - such as Bote Cote (Bote-Cote Reliable Marine Epoxy)
> You could start with the "Sample Kit".  
> With the size of that hole, you may only need to support it underneath with sellotape or masking tape while the mixed product sets. 
> However, it may be necessary to use fiberglass "mesh" to hold the resin on the corrugations.
>  (Using the standard hardener, the resin takes 24 hours to set.  However, when set, if mixed in the correct proportions, it is "rock hard".) 
> While the resin and fiberglass may add up to a few dollars, once you have them in your "kit" you may find other uses for them in the future - I know that I do !

  Partially correct.
Use any tape underneath (if necessary for the size of the hole, sometimes not needed) then plumbers and roofers clear silicone over the top about 3mm thick.
Smooth it out across the sheet with your finger.
Remove the tape next day and the silicone will stay there.
Mesh not required, and clear silicone is cheapest fix.
Get a couple of silicone tube nozzles for the future, and screw a screw into the nozzle you use so the silicone doesn't go off for future use.

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## FrodoOne

> Get a couple of silicone tube nozzles for the future, and screw a screw into the nozzle you use so the silicone doesn't go off for future use.

   You can obtain nozzles with screw-on caps which do (to a large extent) stop the silicone setting in the nozzle.

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## Marc

> You can obtain nozzles with screw-on caps which do (to a large extent) stop the silicone setting in the nozzle.

  You could also buy a new sheet, probably less hassle and less of an eye sore  :Smilie:

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## UseByDate

> You could also buy a new sheet, probably less hassle and less of an eye sore

  Certainly less hassle than an eye sore. :Yikes2:  
 Eye sore is an open infection of the eye.
 Eyesore is something that is very ugly and offensive.

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## kefa

> Polycarbonate will adhere with epoxy no problem, in fact it is easy to glue with many adhesives including super glue. Find a bit to patch the hole up and glue it with two parts epoxy. Do you know how the hole came to be?

  Not 100% sure. Either from hail or a falling branch from our gumtree.

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## phild01

Maybe the sheet was installed upside down and is now brittle.

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## cyclic

> Maybe the sheet was installed upside down and is now brittle.

  No Phil, it is not upside down, and yes Phil, it is brittle due to age, which is why if it were mine, I would seal the hole from underneath with clear silicone.

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## Marc

Falling branch seems likely, hail would have done more than one hole. 
Since it seems to be on the upside and will not let any rain in when it decides to rain, Why don't you screw a cross member from one rafter to the other right under the hole and hang a pot plant under it to cover the hole? You can always say that the hole is to water the plant  :Smilie:

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## Marc

> Certainly less hassle than an eye sore. 
>  Eye sore is an open infection of the eye.
>  Eyesore is something that is very ugly and offensive.

  Mm ... you are stretching your luck there. Eye sore or Eyesore is the same thing. A sore eye, is certainly something different.

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## phild01

> No Phil, it is not upside down, and yes Phil, it is brittle due to age

  How can you tell it is the correct way up!!?
I have seen properly installed polycarbonate over 25 years old and not brittle in the least.

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## UseByDate

> Mm ... you are stretching your luck there. Eye sore or Eyesore is the same thing. A sore eye, is certainly something different.

  Not at all. Eye sore is used to describe a sore on the eye just as the term leg sore is used to describe a sore on the leg. The word you looking for is eyesore which means something that is very ugly and offensive. If you google eye sore (two words) you will be offered a page of eyesore (one word) references.

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## cyclic

> How can you tell it is the correct way up!!?
> I have seen properly installed polycarbonate over 25 years old and not brittle in the least.

  Yea, yer probably right, wrong way up. Looks the same both ways. My bad.
But eyesore this post before u.

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## UseByDate

> Yea, yer probably right, wrong way up. Looks the same both ways. My bad.
> But eyesore this post before u.

  Nice one. :Wave:  :Wave:

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## phild01

> But eyesore this post before u.

  Actually #6 vs #9, and a cursory glance in moderation  :Smilie:

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## Marc

> Not at all. “Eye sore” is used to describe a sore on the eye just as the term “leg sore” is used to describe a sore on the leg. The word you looking for is eyesore which means “something that is very ugly and offensive”. If you google “eye sore” (two words) you will be offered a page of “eyesore” (one word) references.

  Sure, I get it. However there is no use of the words eye-sore as in a painful eye used that way and on the other side eyesore and eye sore have the same symbolic origin. Something so ugly that is painful to watch. I doubt that by separating the words you achieve a different meaning. 
.

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## UseByDate

> Sure, I get it. However there is no use of the words eye-sore as in a painful eye used that way and on the other side eyesore and eye sore have the same symbolic origin. Something so ugly that is painful to watch. I doubt that by separating the words you achieve a different meaning. 
> .

  Spaces can redefine meaning.
 A loud speaker is someone who speaks loudly.
 A loudspeaker is a transducer for converting electrical wave forms into sound.
 Obviously they have a related origin but not many people would confuse their meanings.

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## Marc

Yes, UBD I get it and you are right. A sore is an ulcer, a raw point that is infected, so a sore on your leg may be called a leg sore, however I have never heard of an infected eye or eyelid called an eye sore and eyesore and eye sore unless someone is particularly punctilious has exactly the same meaning of something unsightly so bad that it hurts your eye just by looking at it ... like the toaster next to the opera house for example ...  :Smilie: .  
Now a question ... if a particularly challenging mountain trail makes your legs ache at the sole thought of it, is that trail a legsore trail?

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## UseByDate

> Yes, UBD I get it and you are right. A sore is an ulcer, a raw point that is infected, so a sore on your leg may be called a leg sore, however I have never heard of an infected eye or eyelid called an eye sore and eyesore and eye sore unless someone is particularly punctilious has exactly the same meaning of something unsightly so bad that it hurts your eye just by looking at it ... like the toaster next to the opera house for example ... .  
> Now a question ... if a particularly challenging mountain trail makes your legs ache at the sole thought of it, is that trail a legsore trail?

  I would have thought the obvious question would have been. If a sore on the leg is a leg sore and a sore on the eye is an eye sore, where is the sore when one refers to a bed sore?  
 Conveying ideas can be fraught with danger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZArCpYeo8

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## cyclic

> I would have thought the obvious question would have been. If a sore on the leg is a leg sore and a sore on the eye is an eye sore, where is the sore when one refers to a bed sore?

  Hopefully not the same place as a sore point. 
And while on the subject, let us not forget sore peter. 
Business across the country is bad, everyone is robbing peter to pay paul, peter is getting sore about it and no one wants to do business with a sore peter.

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## UseByDate

> Hopefully not the same place as a sore point.

  Sore point or special spot? :Blush7:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6a7qNl1Fug

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