Perhaps we can add a roof to your Kansas City area deck. Read about what’s involved in making that determination.

We are often asked if we can add a roofed structure to an existing deck. The answer is… it depends. It depends on the structure of the deck. If your deck was well built from the beginning, it is possible that the deck could support the additional weight of a roof without making any changes to your deck. However, it is more likely that even if your deck substructure was very well built, it will at least need some reinforcement to support the additional weight of a roof. There are strict building code requirements about holding up a roof so we need to ensure those will be met.

Archadeck is a choice deck builder in Kansas City, who can help you decide if adding a roof to your deck is possible. We are one of the only deck contractors, who builds gable roofs to boot!

We recently finished a job in Shawnee KS where the homeowners did have a well built deck that only needed some reinforcements to be able to support their new porch roof. The original deck had a strong beam but the beam was away from the edge of the deck. For a roof, the structural support needs to be right up at the edge. We added new columns and new footings to make sure the rim of deck was strong enough to bear the weight of the roof. We installed all new posts at the rim of the deck while leaving other recessed posts and beams in place. There wasn’t any reason to take the old posts and beams out so we left them in place. However, some decks are so poorly built that it might be more cost effective to tear the entire deck home and rebuild it from scratch.

The next step in adding any sort of new outdoor living space to a home is making sure it fits well with the architecture and aesthetics of the outside of the house. Our goal, as yours, is to make your outdoor living addition look as original to your home as possible. With this porch, we utilized a shed roof style to match the home.

We also designed and installed a new BBQ grill deck landing area and new steps for the area. This particular porch is about 7′ in the air so creating an adjoining grilling space at the same height allows the grill chef to interact with others enjoying the porch.

Can we add a roof to your Kansas City area deck? Yes, most likely. We will evaluate your existing structure and let you know for sure and let you know any additions or changes to make it happen.

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

If you’re considering the addition of a deck, porch, patio or other outdoor living structure – to your Kansas City area home, don’t wait. 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.

Also read: Can I have a gable roof on my covered deck?

Many people ask us how many months throughout the year they’ll be able to use their Kansas-City area screened-in porch. It would be difficult to provide precise information since every winter is different. We want to share some porch heating options along to provide more insight in answering this question.

A porch outdoor fireplace adds warmth and ambiance to a screened-in porch

There are multiple options for controlling temperature in your screened porch and they each have different costs and levels of effectiveness

Are windows a good option for the colder months?

When in the planning stages, the first thing our clients often ask is whether they should have a room with movable or removable windows. There are different types of movable windows including glass or plastic, to name a couple.

Movable or removable windows have some substantial pros and cons. If you want to simply stop wind and that’s your only objective, windows are a possible option. But in the summer months, almost every kind of window will make the porch hotter which is generally not desirable as you likely look to your porch to enjoy a cool breeze and to escape baking in the sun. Completely removable windows sound attractive on the surface but have their own set of peculiar drawbacks. They are large, bulky, hard to handle, hard to store and can be quite heavy. For these reasons, and because they add heat to the porch in the warmer months, windows are not a very popular option.

How about sliding windows?

If you’re looking at sliding windows of some type, they all increase your cost and usually block 50% of the air flow even when they’re open. Just like windows in your house block airflow, so do sliding windows on your porch. Consequently, with windows of any kind, you’re sacrificing some cooling in the summer to gain more weather control in the colder months and you’re also increasing costs. While we generally don’t advocate using windows for your screened porch, there are great heating options available.

Here are some great heating options.

For heating your porch, there are multiple choices. One option is electric radiant heating using outdoor weather-resistant radiant heaters. These heaters are usually permanently mounted and wired. They work really well but they do have a drawback. Because of the amount of power they use, they generally require their own circuit wired to your main panel which can be inconvenient and costly.

A less expensive option that is quite flexible is propane or natural gas floor-mounted heaters which are portable and come in serval sizes and configurations. They are portable and are not too expensive. They have the advantage that they can be moved around to suit different furniture configurations or moved completely if desired.

The last heating option is an outdoor fireplace which goes far above and beyond because it has aesthetic benefits as well as functional benefits. A gas fireplace puts out a considerable amount of heat and adds ambiance to the porch.

Also read: Can I have a fireplace on my deck?

There are also some portable floor-mounted electric heaters that are inexpensive but most are low power, don’t put out a lot of heat and will be less than desirable other than to heat just one small corner of the porch if that’s the goal. They will do a limited amount of heating but they won’t heat up much more than one person in a chair.

As you read above, there are some great ways to achieve a little warmth on your porch allowing you to enjoy it more months out of the year. If you are looking for a Kansas City porch builder, give us a call for a free consultation at (913) 851-3325, drop us an email at kansascity@archadeck.net or visit our website to view more pictures and contact us online.

Also Read: Enhanced Outdoor Living with an Archadeck Design

Here are some additional links you may enjoy:

Read about outdoor porch fireplaces
Read about screened in porch ideas
Enjoy our screened porch photo gallery
View our gallery of outdoor fireplaces

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

When these Overland Park homeowners called us, they had an aging small cedar deck.

We didn’t simply replace their wooden deck with a low maintenance deck.  They also wanted a screened porch. The new porch was designed to fit where they old deck was – connecting to the house at the logical connection. We mention logical connection for a reason. A porch is an extension to your home. It’s a great place for overflow and a great place to extend the living your do in a high use room in your house. Often the best place to connect to your home is from the kitchen or common living room such as the den. This porch is attached outside the family’s breakfast area.

Low maintenance deck and screen porch in Overland Park KS

There are many other factors to consider when it comes to designing how a new roofed structure is attached to your home.

For example, roof connection is another factor. There may be a limited number of places a roof connection can be made with your existing home. There may also be constraints further dictating the roof shape and how/where it is attached. This particular home had a very steep sloped gable roof. The family was concerned about the amount of runoff from the steep slope. We designed a roof that would ensure smooth continuous water flow from the house roof in order to achieve the best drainage.

Screen porch interior in Overland Park KS

To add visual appeal to this porch, we added an inset gable. Take a look at how beautiful and visually appealing the inset gable is. The ceiling was finished with beadboard that the homeowners painted off white. The homeowners wanted an extra large fan that required special wiring which we designed and installed the circuitry for. The flooring for the porch is AZEK low-maintenance decking. The attached deck and stairs also use this AZEK decking.

Also read: Is it cheaper to repair or replace a deck?

The attached deck has attractive black aluminum railing. This color is a nice contrast to the lighter decking color. It also provides nice visibility from the deck out to the backyard. In addition, the deck has lighting for evening enjoyment.

Paying continued attention to traffic flow, the deck has two sets of stairs. One descends toward of the front of the home and a steeper stair set descends to the backyard. There is yet another steep stair set descending from the far end of the screened porch out to another area of the yard. You can see how the yard’s asymmetrical elevation is managed with the elevated porch and stair sets with appropriate grades out to the yard.

Also Read: Enhanced Outdoor Living with an Archadeck Design

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

If you are considering adding a porch or deck to your Overland Park or Kansas City area home,  drop us an email or give us a ring at (913) 851 – 3325. We look forward to working with you to design your new outdoor addition.

Regardless of whether you’re thinking of adding a porch or a sunroom, it’s going to need a roof. The choice of roof is incredibly important, not just because it will have a big impact on the overall appearance of your space both inside and out, but because it also has an impact on the cost of your project.

The big five considerations are: cost, room size, placement of existing windows, existing roof(s), and light.

This screened porch has an open gable roof with a screened in gable.

The most commonly chosen type of roof for a screened or open porch is the gable roof. Gable roofs can be constructed with an open, closed, glassed or screened gable at the end. This gives you maximum flexibility in terms of how much light and ventilation you can enjoy inside the space. The most frequent reason for not using a gable roof is that the window layout of the existing home won’t allow it.

A hip roof that is attached to the house has a closed gable end. It is typically 3-sided but can have varying configurations. Hip roofs are very aesthetically appealing and they integrate beautifully into a home that already has a hip roof on another portion of the home. The downside? Hip roofs tend to require the most custom carpentry and are therefore the most expensive to build.

This screened porch has a shed roof with a built in gable.

A shed roof slopes in one direction away from the house. Shed roofs work especially well in situations where the porch is either very wide or very narrow because you don’t have to worry about the slope of the roof being too flat or peaked. They are also less expensive to construct. A shed roof also works well when there are many architectural elements on the second story that would be obstructed by a different roof style.

We would be happy to discuss various roof design options in order to achieve your optimal balance of aesthetics, light, and cost. Perhaps you’d like to explore more unique options like a custom blended roof design that marries two different roof types.

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

If you’re considering adding a sunroom, or screened porch or other roofed structure to your home, give us a ring. Our consultation is free. We can discuss options, provide design ideas and of course give you a price quote to consider. Give us a call or send us an email. Call (913) 851 – 3325, drop us an email at  kansascity@archadeck.net or visit our website at kansas-city.archadeck.com.

We recently completed a project for a family in Leawood KS. These homeowners had an old cedar deck and wanted to redesign the space to include a new deck and also a new screened porch. The old deck did not have the strength to support a new porch or roof so we had to tear down the old deck completely.

These homeowners wanted to have as many low maintenance materials as possible. One of the key low-maintenance components we used was AZEK synthetic decking in Sedona for the flooring of both the porch and the deck. We also used black aluminum low maintenance aluminum railing for both the porch and deck.

The new porch has an open gable roof that compliments the gable roof of the existing home. The connecting deck provides ample room for grilling or sitting outside. The flooring and step color nicely complement the color of the bricks on the exposed fireplace and chimney on the back of the home. Lattice skirting extends from the deck area all the way across to underneath the porch. It provides similar visual continuity across the back of the property. We painted the outside to match the rest of the exterior of the home. This home looks as if it was designed with this deck and porch from the start.

The porch interior has a white, bright and airy look which was another of the homeowners’ key objectives. The posts are white and the ceiling is finished in white beadboard. The finished ceiling also includes can lights and a ceiling fan. Notice how well you can see the backyard through the screening, through the open screened gable and also through the railing area. Slender black railing pickets are becoming more and more popular as they really draw your eye past the pickets and out into the yard beyond.

Take a look at some of our other Kansas City decks and screened porches we’ve designed and built. You will see that there is never just one way to build a project. That is the main reason why it’s key to choose a builder who will listen to your design preferences, consider your lifestyle, and factor in how the living space will be used on a daily basis. It will make all the difference in the look and feel of your new home addition.

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

If you’re considering the addition of an outdoor fireplace – or a deck, porch, patio or other outdoor living structure – to your Kansas City area home, don’t wait. 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.