Category: Polycarbonate

Hurricane Storm Panels: Multiwall Polycarbonate vs. Aluminum vs. Plywood

Hurricane storm panels on a home

When it comes to protecting your home with hurricane storm panels, you have a few options: multiwall polycarbonate, aluminum, and plywood. Your decision will come down to some key considerations: strength, durability, ease of installation, budget, etc. We compare these top three materials used for hurricane protection to help you find the right protection for you.

Regardless of which materials hurricane storm panels you ultimately purchase, you want a product or system that has been tested and certified as passing one of the large missile (i.e. 9-lb 2×4 wood member striking end on at a specified impact speed) impact-resistant standards. See Local and National Standards to get more information on the various test standards and performance requirements.

Continue reading Hurricane Storm Panels: Multiwall Polycarbonate vs. Aluminum vs. Plywood

How to Install Multiwall Polycarbonate Hurricane Panels

 

A man installing hurricane panels on his home

If you’ve used plywood to protect your home from hurricanes in the past, hurricane panel installation using multiwall polycarbonate is a doable DIY. Like plywood, polycarbonate hurricane panels can be direct mounted to your home without the use of installing a framing system, but they are lighter, transparent, and can be reused. Here’s what you need to know (about tools, materials, and maintenance) and how to install hurricane panels.

Continue reading How to Install Multiwall Polycarbonate Hurricane Panels

Multiwall Polycarbonate Hurricane Panels: The Ultimate Defense Against Hurricane

 

Installation of hurricane panels

Hurricanes are the costliest weather disasters in the United States. According to the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, tropical cyclones (hurricanes) have caused over $1.3 trillion in damages from storms that occurred between the years 1980 and 2023.

Hurricane hazards, including high-velocity winds and torrential rain, are extremely destructive and pose risks to both life and property. If you live or own property in a hurricane-prone area, FEMA recommends you reinforce, strengthen, or retrofit the property to reduce the risk of damage. Having the proper protection in place to board up glass windows and doors is one essential and provides peace of mind if you need to evacuate. An effective material to help defend your home from damage is multiwall polycarbonate hurricane panels. Below, we discuss what they are and how they can help.

Continue reading Multiwall Polycarbonate Hurricane Panels: The Ultimate Defense Against Hurricane

How to Install a Pergola Using Twinwall

 

Twinwall pergola installed in a backyard

When it comes to extending the life of your pergola and enhancing its features, it’s crucial to carefully choose the quality of the materials you use to build it. Twinwall polycarbonate panels from Acme Plastics are an excellent, durable choice for your pergola roof, as they are lightweight, easy to install, and offer optimal light transmission. Twinwall polycarbonate is also thermally efficient because it traps air between the layers of its sheeting. While it offers many benefits, you need to be cautious when learning how to install a pergola roof panel properly. Below is a comprehensive guide on how to install a pergola roof with Twinwall panels from Acme Plastics.

Continue reading How to Install a Pergola Using Twinwall

How to Clean a Polycarbonate Pergola Roof

There’s nothing more relaxing than sitting in the shade on a beautiful, sunny day. One way to enjoy the outdoors without exposing yourself to the sun’s harmful rays and extreme heat is with a polycarbonate pergola roof. One of its many benefits is that the material is relatively low maintenance, so you can enjoy it for many years without wasting time on treatments or constant cleaning.

Of course, it’s important to care for your investment, and knowing how to clean your polycarbonate pergola roof will ensure it will be at your disposal for plenty of summers in the future.

How to clean your polycarbonate roof

Continue reading How to Clean a Polycarbonate Pergola Roof

Why Polycarbonate Is The Right Roofing Material For A Greenhouse

Whether you are a hobbyist or a certified horticulturist, you rely on a greenhouse for year-round gardening. If you are building a new greenhouse or replacing any panels, you need to consider a greenhouse roof material that offers light transmission and heat properties. There are a variety of roofing materials—each with its own unique physical and aesthetic properties. What you ultimately choose depends on what type of structure you are putting a roof on. While metal might be the right material for a gardening shed, you wouldn’t want to use it on a greenhouse. You want a translucent material that provides thermal insulation as well as protection. Traditional materials for a greenhouse roof include glass, fiberglass, acrylic, and polycarbonate panels. Polycarbonate roofing panels, such as  twinwall and multiwall polycarbonate sheets, can be used as roofing panels and greenhouse panels. The panels are an ideal roofing material for greenhouses due to their lightweight properties, cost-effectiveness, and insulation capabilities.

Here, we go into more details on those properties, plus a few more reasons on why polycarbonate is a great greenhouse roof material.

Continue reading Why Polycarbonate Is The Right Roofing Material For A Greenhouse

Best Practices for Choosing a Plastics Supplier

Plastic is flexible, literally, and figuratively, providing a wide range of use cases. It can used to keep us safe, such as bullet-resistant shields and eyewear lenses. It can be energy efficient, such as greenhouse panels and UV-resistant acrylic windows. It can used to provide style and function, such as acrylic furniture and retail displays. But no matter what you are using it for, you want plastic to be made from high quality materials from a reputable plastic supplier.

Acme Plastics uses the highest quality materials available to distribute, fabricate, and manufacture products. Then there’s selection, stock, shipping, service, and satisfaction to consider. At Acme Plastics, we are proud to offer all the above—and competitive pricing. Read on to learn more about these best practices that we’ve adhered to as a plastic supplier in the USA since 1943.

Continue reading Best Practices for Choosing a Plastics Supplier

How to Cut Corrugated Plastic Roofing (or PVC Roofing)

Whether you’re in the construction industry or a DIY-er in your own home, you want materials that are strong, yet easy to work with on a variety of projects. So it makes sense that corrugated plastic roofing is so popular. Made of polycarbonate thermoplastic polymer material. corrugated plastic roofing boasts an octagonal-wave shape (hence its corrugated look). The flexible, yet durable, material is weather resistant, remaining strong during strong impacts (including wind and hail) and temperatures from -40°F to +270°F. And corrugated plastic roofing won’t degrade or deteriorate over the years, making it a solid investment for any homeowner. While corrugated plastic roofing is easy to install, you will have to cut the sheets to fit your project needs. Not sure where to start? Here is a rundown on how to get the job done.

Continue reading How to Cut Corrugated Plastic Roofing (or PVC Roofing)