Category Archives: Outdoor TV

Top 5 porch trends we saw in 2013

Over the last year, we continued to see trends in outdoor living spaces. Below we note the top 5 porch trends we’ve seen in 2013.

  1. Outdoor fireplaces
  2. Low maintenance
  3. Accessories
  4. Outdoor TV
  5. Separate outdoor cooking or grilling area

Outdoor fireplaces (gas or wood)

Kansas City porch with outdoor fireplaceThis has been the year of the outdoor fireplace. We’ve built several outdoor fireplaces for our clients here in the Kansas City market.  Homeowners now view their porch as an outdoor living room. They want the whole experience where they can enjoy the ambiance of indoors in an outdoor living space such as a screened porch or open porch. In addition to elevating the ambiance of a porch, the outdoor fireplace serves an additional benefit of moderating the temperature allowing homeowners to spend more months during the year on their porch.

Low maintenance

Many of our clients want to use some low maintenance materials on their new outdoor structures. What does this mean? It generally means that those components are easier to clean and last longer than other materials. As it relates to porches, our customers are looking for low maintenance, permanent flooring. They want low upkeep in all kinds of weather.

Accessories

As noted above, homeowners are not only moving outside by building outdoor living spaces but they also want to do more living in those spaces and want some of the creature comforts they have indoors. On their porches, homeowners are asking for things like custom lighting and wiring for various amenities such as outdoor sound systems. They are also looking for more outlets in different Lenexa KS TV mounted in porchplaces to plug in the types of amenities that are often used inside such as lamps, laptops, deck lamps, etc.

Outdoor TV

Homeowners want outdoor televisions. They want to watch the game, pop in a good movie, or turn on educational shows for the kids. And, homeowners are mounting their TV’s on the wall to get the most out of the living space.

Separate outdoor cooking or grilling area

Overland Park screen porch AZEK deck Fortress Rail

The deck to the left of this screened porch is small but just the right size for a grill and some space to enjoy grilling.

Homeowners are now looking to have their outdoor cooking area off their porch. They want it close but not in the porch where it would interfere with other things going on. Grill decks have become popular. These are small decks attached to an exterior porch door designed to hold the grill and grilling apparatus.

Reading the above, you can tell that today’s porches are a good bit different than they were even a few years ago. Today’s outdoor rooms area designed to enjoy the outdoors while not giving up on the great creature comforts of indoors.

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

If you are considering adding a low-maintenance roof structure to your backyard, give us a call for a free consultation. We will walk you through all the various materials and considerations to help craft the best custom porch for how you want to live outdoors.

Give us a call: (913) 851 – 3325
Drop us an email: kansascity@archadeck.net
Visit our website at kansas-city.archadeck.com

Can I include a TV in my screened porch?

Lenexa screened porch with TVAdding large screen TV’s to porches is becoming more and more popular here in the Kansas City metro market. Homeowners want to get a lot more use out of their screened porch than they can get out of other outdoor living areas such as their deck. The addition of creature comforts such as outdoor TV’s and outdoor fireplaces is one way to have outdoor living with some of the interior amenities we’re used to. The whole outdoor living trend encourages people to do more indoor activities outside.

What are the logistics of having a TV on your screened porch?

Lenexa KS TV mounted in porchThe first item to consider is a power source. You will need electrical run to the area where the TV is mounted.

The next consideration is placement. You will want to mount the TV away from the screened area. It shouldn’t be in an area where water may blow in. There are outdoor rated TV’s but at this point, they are still very expensive. They can be several times more expensive than indoor TV’s. There are other options. Some of our clients tell us they take their TV’s in for the winter but others tell us they leave them out year round.

The final consideration is installation. For our clients, we help with running the wire, installing the brackets, and installing the TV.

This Lenexa screened porch and deck combination

Lenexa AZEK deck screen porch with TVAt this particular home in Lenexa KS, the homeowners wanted both a deck and a screened porch. They had an old deck that was beaten up and really wanted an enclosed space as well as a new deck. They wanted low maintenance floors and railing to reduce the overall maintenance required for both the deck and the porch.

We tore down everything they had because they wanted to change the layout, size, and shape of the space. We created a new space, added a new gable roof, and then built a new deck attached to the porch. The deck is all made with AZEK low-maintenance PVC decking. This deck has black aluminum railing by Westbury. The dark colored and slender profile pickets allow excellent visibility beyond the deck.

Lenexa screened porch and AZEK deck

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

If you are considering adding a new outdoor living space, give us a call for a free consultation. We look forward to hearing how you want to live in your outdoor space and in working with you to design your ultimate outdoor living space.

(913) 851 – 3325
kansascity@archadeck.net

Visit our website: kansas-city.archadeck.com