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.
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.
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.
The exterior wall of their living room had a fireplace flanked with custom built-in bookcases. Although attractive, it made the room dark and gloomy. By removing the built-in bookshelves and replacing them with doors, we could extend the size of the room to include an entire screened porch. The doors would also allow light to enter into the once darker living room.
Although extending the living space was a challenge, it was relatively easy compared to the complicated roof connection the new space required. We had to extend and match an existing hip roof, change it to a gable roof, wrap it around a chimney and custom flash it to the chimney. In the picture, you can see where the chimney protrudes from the roof. The exterior house wall previously ended there. That small protruding section of the home had a hip roof. The new screened porch would have a gable roof to add as much light as possible to the porch and the adjoining living room. We also had to ensure that the space works in conjunction with the existing house rooflines to make it look as if the space was original to the home.
Looking at the room from the inside, you’ll see a generous cathedral ceiling. The gable roof had to be high in order to match and complement their existing hip roof. To reduce height inside, we installed a drop down collar tie ceiling. This provides feeling that it’s not excessively high.
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