Roof sheets profiles not aligning

Hi everyone,
I recently had some new polycarbonate roof sheets installed. I was told by the roofer our roof was greca profile, so of course he used that profile for the new sections. The problem is the profiles don’t match. Photos here:

https://imgur.com/a/qM0AyCl

To compare the 2 , I measured between the screws that are placed every 2nd rib. If I measure between the screws on the new section, I get 145mm, but the space between the screws in the old section is around 175-180mm.
Any ideas as to what’s going on?
Thanks everyone.

Comments

  • +9

    Any ideas as to what’s going on?

    It's pretty clear your installer has put in new sheets that don't match the original, but you already knew that. What is the actual question?

    • It matches if you squint.

  • +2

    As seraphin points out,

    Any ideas as to what’s going on?

    Roofer used wrong sheets. Get him to come back with the right ones?

  • noise from the gap, water from the gap if the wind is strong enough to push them upward.

  • Your old roof profile might be 'Spandek'

    • That's what I thought straight away.

  • so he actually visited to quote?
    just asking
    .

  • Might of used a different brand, hence why it doesn't fit the profile. They also butchered the spacing of the screws.

  • Thanks everyone.
    Sorry if I wasn’t clear. I was wondering if there is a profile similar to greca, but with different dimensions, and if so, what is it called?
    Freitag, you mentioned spandek- I’ll look Into that.

    • +1

      Check out the Suntuf site they have spec sheets with all the spacing measurements for their polycarbonate sheets.

  • +9

    So the roofer actually fitted that sheet? That is ridiculous

    • My first thoughts too

  • -1

    Your zincalume is old and has a higher profile which may not align with the polycarbonate. Change it back to the original sheet.

  • Polycarbonate profiles have never matched their steel lookalikes, your "roofer" should know that. Go for a refund or report him, for a professional to leave a job like that should be held accountable.

  • Refund required. Also get a voucher for Specsavers for your roofer. That is a disgrace

  • +4

    Slap a tube of "No-Gaps" under that bad boy and you'd be laughing.

    (We'll also be laughing).

    (In fact, the roofer would also be laughing.)

  • What brand the new one? Suntuf, Laserlite or Ampelite. These three are common brands.
    And each brand has 2-3 category. Laserlite has Laserlite 2000 and 3000 (for the heat reduction), Suntuf has Solarsmart.
    Have a look there website.

    Either way, you can ask the tradie to redo it, but who is paying, tats the question

  • Is it just a verandah section? If so should have done it yourself. DIY difficulty score of about 2/10. I can guarantee you could have done a better job. Demand a refund.

    • +1

      No one could have done a better install.

      It's the wrong sheet.

      • I'm sure if op measured the profile or took photos, visited the appropriate retailer, then the outcome would have been better and cheaper.

        • I'm on the DIY choir.

  • It's nice to hear that other people agree that this is a sub-standard job and I'm not being picky. I asked the roofer about it and he said expansion in the old sheets meant the new ones don't align, which obviously is not the reason!
    @MS Paint - I would have done it myself, but one section has a 10 metre drop to the ground so I thought I'd get a professional to do it. Oh well.
    I had a look online and it looks like my roof is Spandek, not greca.
    I haven't paid the roofer yet - what do people think is a reasonable thing to expect him to do to fix it? Full re-do or should offer to cover some of the cost? I'd expect a full re-do myself, but I'd be interested to hear opinions.
    Thanks again everyone.

    • +2

      Full re-do is the only option

      Source: I have a roof on my house

    • +2

      I asked the roofer about it and he said expansion in the old sheets meant the new ones don't align…

      The man needs a lesson in thermal expansion - two way process. Also, you'd need so much thermal for it to "expand" that much you probably melt the metal first.

      I haven't paid the roofer yet - what do people think is a reasonable thing to expect him to do to fix it? Full re-do or should offer to cover some of the cost?

      Full redo.

      The service was to identify the correct sheet, supply the correct sheet and install the correct sheet. He didn't do any of those.

      PS. I have personally had a builder try to educate me on thermal expansion. You should ask the roofer, "the sheets haven't buckled so did my house grow 20% in floorspace?"

    • " expansion in the old sheets "

      Indeed. What do you think caused the San Fransico earthquake? That's why the chap told me they are selling their bridge off so cheaply…

    • If the roofer wants to leave it "as-is" then don't pay him.

      If he says "they don't make that size anymore" then he shouldn't have done the job. Don't pay him.

      A lot of tradies don't want to waste their time doing research so if you can identify the correct material for him it will make the do-over much simpler.

    • Reasonable would be the builder returns and installs the correct sheets of course.
      There should be no talk of a discount and leaving it as-is for you to fix later (which would cost you the full amount again to remove wrong sheets and install new sheets)

  • How many sheets did you change?

  • They are both greca profile but the old sheets are VERY OLD
    Expansion and contraction of the sheets and the timbers over the years maybe the cause of the mismatch.

    Or could be a case of using the wrong brand

    Id be talking to your roofer
    Pretty slack just whacking these on without working out why they mismatch

    • Someone has been going around negging at random.

      Anyway.

      It is not caused by expansion contraction. The expansion and contraction is cyclical. There isn't any net change. Also, the substructure is extremely unlikely to coincidentally share the same coefficient of expansion as the roof. If indeed expansion of the sheets is significant, it will buckle like water damaged floorboards.

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