Acrylic negatives. Everything has it flows and weaknesses. Check out acrylic sheets first. Think about your home. The place where you live now. Seriously, just stop for a second and think about your dream house. Think about your future bedroom, other rooms, living area. Think about the doors, furniture, clothes, curtains, carpets, TV, fancy equipment, wardrobe, cables, your car, your bed, your blanket, your computers.
What do they have all in common with the acrylic sheet? They are flammable. 90% of things that surrounds you in your house are. Yes. If you are not Bruce Wayne living in a cave during daytime (and fighting criminals at night time) than the odds are that 90% of the things that surround you now … are flammable.
Unfortunately, in case of residential houses the question is not the idea of if it burns or not. The problem is: do you have enough time to get out of the house? Don’t hate me here. You know I’m right. In normal family houses the idea is the time frame that you have to get out of the house (not the flames themselves). Read the article about how we “solved” disasters and fire.
Solutions. I’m going wild here. One layer of regular glass, near the acrylic sheets will help a lot. If we simplify it to the extremes you can “glue” a layer of glass to the acrylic sheets so it’s weight will be hold by the sheets not by the frame. Don’t jump on me here …it was just an overly simplified example about the main idea. This will not prevent the problem itself, but it might give you some minutes. In case of residential buildings that is plenty of time. Yes, I do realize that that is a strange thing to say. You will have plenty of time to get out of the house. As mentioned before, the real solution to prevent fire and disasters is here.
UV and the sun. Use the www.alibaba.com advanced search tool. Write a 3,4 line description about exactly what you want (the engineer will help you). Send them the dimensions and the quality requirements specified by the engineer. Ask them about the price of the sheets and the shipping. Factories will appear “out of the blue” with their price offers.
Some sheets yellow in time. You have to make sure that you will get their warranty related to this! You have to specify that you will use it outside.(get a really-really good engineer). Only work with the factory’s that will have the highest reputation, and those who are on the market for many years. Even the best acrylic sheets will discolour in tens of years. Keep in mind that the overall price is a lot smaller than normal glass and that big windows may look really good. These sheets will harness the power of the sun to heat up your house. Basically it’s a “free” heating “equipment”. Read about the thermal mass. Two in one. Unfortunately it will not resist thousands of years like the structure or the insulation. Normal glass has its problems related to aging and colours as well.
Architects and engineers. Most of the architects and engineers are not familiar with this material and will try to convince you not to use it (and they will make up various reasons). This way they protect themselves about some actual errors and responsibility. They fear that they might end up in jail in case of an error or disaster. They might convince you that this is the most “stupid” idea. They will want to stick with the normal mineral glass with huge frames. Read this about the price of simplifying things. Ignore these engineers. Find the good ones. And pay them well. It will be hard to find them but it will be worth the money and effort. Find those who know what they are doing. Or just call us.
Scratching. It scratches easily however it can be repaired with ease. In family homes I don’t see this as a negative. I will be concerned in case of heavy traffic places where people can scratch it with sharp objects several times a day.
