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[poppy33]

We are just on the final journey of constructing our walk in run thanks to the inspiration and help received from everyone on this lovely forum. I have another question I am afraid it concerns th choic of roof to use, should I go for plastic corregated of something I hav seen which I think was called ploycarbonate panels and also should the wire run across the top ( its weld mesh we have bought) or will they be safe enough with just the plastic. Oooh just thought of another question... how far into the ground did all you walk in run builders bury the wire and was that straight down or forming a skirt like the Eglu run. Many thanks if I could have some advice

[Redwing]

Hi Poppy

 

My run has wire mesh over the top and I have corrugated panels to go on top of that but plenty of people do not mesh the ceiling. If you don't mesh the ceiling just ensure that the plastic is nailed down really tight

 

If your run is on slabs or concrete you don't need to bury the wire, if its on soil you can either bury the wire or have a skirt around, it doesnt really matter

[poppy33]

Thanks Redwing for your reply, have you found that the corregated roof becomes brittle in the sun and cracks, that was what someone at work said otherwise I would not have thought twice about corregated roofing, the other smooth poly carb panels are so much more expensive x

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Here's my roof. The worry I would have if you didn't put mesh down, would be the weight of any snowfall. Not had mine long enough (and don't get enough sun ) to know if it gets brittle. I hope not . I suppose if it did, it wouldn't be too expensive to lay another layer on top?

 

[rabbitfluff]

I think the corrugated roof has a ten year guarantee (from Wickes at least) so you should be ok. It's what I used on my new run as it was a lot cheaper. I did use the polycarbonate sheets on my old (non walk-in) run to keep it dry but it ended up with water between the layers which condensed and made it go opaque, which was a tad irritating! That was probably down to my laziness not sealing the edges properly though!

 

No mesh on the roof but I do have snow saggage concerns for winter.

[poppy33]

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies as usual Thats a very valid point about the snow, I certainly had not thought about that one I am going to go with meshing the roof and the corrugated roof, we have a Wicks reasonably close to us so I will purchase it from them. I will post some pic's of the finished run soon...

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Another thought I had, do make sure you slope it or the water will just collect and may seep through the gaps. We used 4 battens so the plastic was screwed on as much as possible. My guttering works really well (we've had 2 or 3 bucket loads of rainwater this week alone .) Am planning on getting a slim water butt .

[poppy33]

Thanks, yes we have built the roof with an incline, wow thats alot of water collected. The expense goes on...I think I will need a slim line water butt makes sense not to waste the water

[BarbaraJ]

Another thought I had, do make sure you slope it or the water will just collect and may seep through the gaps. We used 4 battens so the plastic was screwed on as much as possible. My guttering works really well (we've had 2 or 3 bucket loads of rainwater this week alone .) Am planning on getting a slim water butt .

if you find one let us know as i'd like 2

 

i started with corrugated plastic roofing hubby screwed on flat!! didn't work snow buckled it and water froze on it which made it sag too as hubby hadn't made the batons accross the run very well. The frame is excellent so after taking down roof and using a tarp which wasn't great i got what i originally wanted (don't we always! ) which was a roof frame with sloping plastic panels laid on the framework . works great now just need guttering up

 

reminds me need to put pics on the run thread !

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I bought a water butt this very afternoon . I will go and put it in place and take a photo forthwith .

 

EDIT:

 

Took me a while, I had to saw a bit of a branch off to fit it in .

 

Well, it's in place but I can't for the life of me see how I'm going to attach it to the guttering . I'll have to give it some thought .

 

I've got to get something to go from the downpipe which you can just see, to the hole (still to be cut out) which you can also just see on the right side of the butt . Any ideas?

[atsw]

I bought a water butt this very afternoon. It's in place but I can't for the life of me see how I'm going to attach it to the guttering . I'll have to give it some thought .

 

I've got to get something to go from the downpipe which you can just see, to the hole (still to be cut out) which you can also just see on the right side of the butt . Any ideas?

You have two options. If you want to utilise the small hole on the side, then you also have to invest in a downpipe diverter. These divert water from the downpipe to the water butt until such time as the butt is full. Then any excess continues down the pipe to the drain or floor. Here's the one I have on our utility room wall.

 

 

Alternatively, use a cutter to make a hole in the lid of the water butt and using a couple of 112degree bends, drop the downpipe straight into the water butt. Here's the one that goes from my garage roof to a full-size water butt.

 

 

Hope that helps. P.S Like the new avatar!.

 

Andrew

[Redwing]

I need about three or four waterbutts for various guttering around my garden and have sdecided to use green dustbins - at £10 a pop they are a lot cheaper

 

Edited to remove many hunger induced typos!

Edited April 30, 2009 by Guest

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Thanks Andrew, I knew you've have a solution . I can't use a diverter as any excess water would just pour into the run but I did wonder about making a hole in the lid. What could I use to cut it (bearing in mind I don't have a toolbox worth mentioning )?

 

Tasha, I thought about a bin but it's a really narrow space and only this would fit .

[atsw]

Thanks Andrew, I knew you've have a solution . I did wonder about making a hole in the lid. What could I use to cut it (bearing in mind I don't have a toolbox worth mentioning )?

To do the job neatly you'd need a special hole-cutter that attaches to an electric drill (examples here). It is possible to do this with a Sharpe Stanley knife, but the hole cutter is better. You'll need some sort of 'overflow' protection if you do things this way. In the second photo I posted above, you can see that water floods out the top of the water butt once it's full. Not a problem in my case, as the butt is situated in a flower bed. More of a problem for you, as you might end up with a pool of water around the WIR.

 

I can't use a diverter as any excess water would just pour into the run.

With regard to the down-pipe, you can always angle the end of the pipe into a flowerbed, to avoid flooding the chooks.

 

Andrew

[Jules.]

I bought a water butt this very afternoon . I will go and put it in place and take a photo forthwith .

 

EDIT:

 

Took me a while, I had to saw a bit of a branch off to fit it in .

 

Well, it's in place but I can't for the life of me see how I'm going to attach it to the guttering . I'll have to give it some thought .

 

I've got to get something to go from the downpipe which you can just see, to the hole (still to be cut out) which you can also just see on the right side of the butt . Any ideas?

 

your saw comes in handy!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Ta da . (Sorry for hijacking your thread, Poppy .)