If you’re reading this blog post, you’re probably considering adding a porch to your home. You probably have lots of ideas about what you want your new porch to include. You may envision a mounted flat screen TV, a railing that’s easy to see through and perhaps large screened areas with minimal posts for the best view of the yard. Those are all good and important considerations. Before those considerations, we need to look at how you plan to use your porch. If you plan on using your porch mostly for eating, we may suggest mounting the TV in a different area. If you want to add an outdoor fireplace to your porch, do you want that to be the focal element of the seating area or do you want to be able to enjoy the fireplace from either of two living areas such as a seating area and an eating area?
In addition to considering how you want to live in your new space, we will need to look at any architectural challenges the back of your home presents. Things like roof lines, number of stories, elevation, second story windows, and other architectural features have bearing on where and how your porch attaches to your home.
Take the porch featured to the left. Archadeck of Kansas City’s biggest challenge on this job was integrating the new deck and porch beautifully and seamlessly into a house that had three different roof lines and a second-story window that needed accommodation. The easiest path would have been to use a simple shed roof, but we wanted a design that would be harmonious with the existing gable roofs. We built a shed roof with a featured gable that increases the feeling of openness on the porch, provides good drainage, and is a great stylistic fit with the rest of the rear facade.
Another very important consideration is maintenance. Remember the days of old when annual painting just went with the territory for deck owners? Now, low-maintenance materials abound. You can have a deck that you never need to paint or stain. You can have columns or siding of high tech manufactured materials that will reduce the need for painting, repair or replacement.
Our clients at this particular home wanted to make sure that their new Kansas City open porch would be a haven of relaxation, not an source of extra household chores. We made that desire part of the design by working almost exclusively with low-maintenance building materials. The AZEK flooring requires almost no upkeep and has an industry-leading warranty. The AFCO aluminum railing is similarly easy to care for and provides little visual distraction from the yard and garden.
Day, night or in between?
Today’s porches are anything but “sun porches”. They’re great in the day but they are also wired for enjoyment in the evening and for longer months throughout the year. We build in electrical outlets, wire ceiling fans, mount TV’s, install gas fireplaces, and add all the amenities might hope for in your new space.
Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners
If you’re considering the addition of an open porch – or a deck, patio, outdoor fireplace or other outdoor living structure – to your Kansas City area home, give us a call at (913) 851-3325 for a free consultation or email us at kansascity@archadeck.net. We look forward to your call.