Tag Archives: Screen Porches

Screen Porch Ideas

If you are thinking about building a screen porch, you likely wonder what will make your porch perfectly your own.

Looking for screen porch ideas? Archadeck of Kansas City has been designing and building screened in porches since 2001 throughout the Kansas City area. We have built porches of every shape, size, and orientation. We have a good grasp on what homeowners are looking for in a new screen porch design for both aesthetics and function. Check out these fantastic ideas for your new porch!

Here are some great screened in porch ideas to inspire your own porch design.

screen porch ideas

Screen porch idea 1: Beautiful outdoor fireplaces

One of the most popular options for the screened porches we build is an outdoor fireplace. Not only does an outdoor fireplace add a bit of warmth on cool days, it also provides a beautiful focal point and ambiance abound. That is why adding an outdoor fireplace is one of the most popular screen porch ideas around!

  • Outdoor porch fireplace
  • Outdoor porch fireplace

Screen porch idea 2: Radiant porch heating

Radiant heating is one of the newest screen porch ideas that is trending in the Kansas City market. While building an outdoor fireplace into your new screened porch will add a bit of warmth, including radiant heating will really warm up your porch. About 60% of our screened in porch clients choose to add heating to their porch plans, which gives them much more time spent outdoors each year.

Screen porch ideas - radiant heating

Screen porch idea 3: Finished porch ceilings

Porches in days of old might have excluded intricate porch ceilings, or even finished ceilings altogether. Today, however, clients want complete electrical installations. Not only does adding a finished tongue and groove ceiling accommodate wiring, lighting, and fans, it adds a lovely custom aesthetic to any porch design. In addition to tongue and groove porch ceiling finishes, some clients wish for exposed beams to offer a rustic or farmhouse aesthetic to their screened porch.

  • Finished porch ceiling
  • Finished porch ceiling

Screened porch idea 4: Painted ceilings and trim

One of the benefits of hiring a screened porch design firm is that we can help you achieve a cohesive aesthetic between your home’s exterior and your new porch. While some of our clients love the look of pine or cedar ceilings and trim, others like the appeal of a porch that is painted in the same color palette as their home. In addition to achieving a complementary or matching porch design, paint can bring a more contemporary flair to a porch. A painted white ceiling, like the ones you see below, will even help an otherwise dark porch appear brighter.

  • Painted porch ceiling and trim
  • Painted porch ceiling and trim

Screen porch idea 5: Mixed materials and finishes

While it’s true that screen porches can be painted for color harmony, they can also be finished to include complementary colors and finishes. The screened porch below is a great example of mixing materials and finishes. The stark white paint and fireplace are beautiful complements to the Ipe hardwood flooring, as well as the tongue and groove ceiling. These mixed-materials porches can provide a refined and rustic aesthetic together.

Screened in porch idea - mixed building materials and finishes

Screened in porch idea 6: TV walls

This is one of our clients’ favorite screen porch ideas. Often, they wish to add a fireplace to their porch, partly to accommodate an outdoor TV. However, a fireplace will add a lot of cost. Whether you prefer your new porch without a fireplace or a fireplace does not fit into your budget, a TV wall can be added instead. TV walls can be constructed on your exterior porch wall or on a more interior wall for ample protection. They can be constructed of natural wood, painted wood, drywall, or your choice of material. TV walls, like fireplaces, can become a focal point on your porch, and can additionally provide privacy to your porch.

  • Screened in porch idea - TV wall

Screen porch idea 7: Custom lighting

Screened porch lighting can come into your porch design in many ways. Many of our clients love having overhead lighting by way of recessed lights or ceiling fans, which is great for task lighting. For more ambient porch lighting solutions, clients also love choosing beautiful sconces, pendant lights, and our custom porch perimeter lighting, for which we build a special ledge around the exterior porch walls.

  • Custom porch lighting
  • Custom porch lighting
  • Screen porch idea - custom lighting
    Custom porch lighting

Screened porch idea 8: Surround sound installation

Since our screen porches are built with finished ceilings, many of our clients love adding extra electrical amenities. In addition to TVs, lighting, radiant heaters, and ceiling fans, our porch clients also love to have surround sound installed. Adding speakers to your screened porch will help you ramp up movie night or enjoy sporting events viewing without outside noise distractions.

Screened porch idea - surround sound

Screen porch idea 9: Comfortable furniture

Not every screen porch design need have run-of-the-mill outdoor furnishings. Many of our clients choose high-end indoor/outdoor furniture, which provides as much comfort as their indoor sofas and chairs. This provides a supremely luxurious aesthetic, as well.

  • Comfortable porch furnishings
  • Screen porch ideas - comfortable furniture
    Comfortable porch furnishings

Screen porch idea 10: Porch sunshades

As much as our clients love spending time outdoors, harsh sunlight can prohibit use during certain hours of the day. Therefore, they choose so to have custom sunshades installed on their porches. These shades can also help protect furniture and finishes within the porch from sun and rain.

Screened in porch idea - custom sunshades

Which of these screen porch ideas was your favorite?

If you are searching for screen porch builders in the Kansas City area, choose Archadeck. We are locally owned porch and deck contractors in the Kansas City area, who have been designing and building custom outdoor spaces since 2001!

Call to schedule your deck design consultation at (913) 851-3325 or email us at kansas-city@archadeck.net.

Also read: Is a screened in deck worth it?

Top 5 reasons to build your new Kansas City screened porch in the fall

Which month is one of the most ideal months to build a screened porch? Here are the top 5 reasons that the fall is a great month to get started on adding a screened porch, 3-season porch or sunroom to your home.

  1. Have it ready for spring
  2. Outdoor enjoyment in the colder months
  3. Minimal interruption of your landscaping
  4. Avoid new  year price increases
  5. Get started sooner

Screened porch design Overland Park KS ArchadeckHave your porch ready for spring

The weather in Kansas City is different every year. While some years it’s not hot enough really enjoy the refuge of a screened porch until spring, in other years you may be ready to begin enjoying your porch in very early spring. Building your screened porch in the fall ensures that your new screened porch is ready for enjoyment no matter when the temperatures heat up for spring.

Enjoy your porch in the colder months

Many of our customers tell us that they enjoy their screened porch well into the colder months. There are many great electric and natural gas space heaters on the market that will provide enough heat to enjoy your porch in cooler months. If you have a multi-season porch, year round enjoyment is made possible with the help of a space heater.

Be good to your landscaping

The optimal time to do landscaping is later in the fall so it’s not so hot and your new landscaping is going to take root best. Building your porch in the fall helps to ensure that you have minimal interruption of your landscaping. In the fall, the ground is firmer because of less rain resulting in less disruption to your landscaping.

New year may mean new prices

As the housing recovery accelerates which it’s doing which it’s doing around the country, prices of building materials go up. The longer you wait, the higher materials will be priced. They’re based on supply and demand on national level which is highly dependent on the housing market. Building materials manufacturers often announce their price increases at the first of the year. By building in the fall, you can take advantage of the lower prices.

Get started sooner

Everyone wants to build their new outdoor room in the spring. As you can imagine, the construction schedule for reputable builders may require project start dates that are weeks out delaying the time you can begin to enjoy your new porch. In addition to longer wait times in the spring, long bailout times are accentuated by heavy rain which is more prevalent in the spring.

Fall into spring

Another consideration is to sign up in the fall to start building early in the coming year. This allows you to get ahead of the spring rush, allows you to build while the ground is still firm, and we may be able to take advantage of the lower costs of building supplies if you sign a contract before the new year.

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

If you are considering adding a porch or covered room to your Kansas City area home, give us a call. Our consultation is completely free. Give us a call at (913) 851 – 3325 or email us at kansascity@archadeck.net. We look forward to your call.

Key considerations when deciding about an open porch or screened porch

AZEK pool deck with open porch and bench Overland Park KS

This open porch adjoins with the pool deck allowing ease of movement between the 2 living areas.

Open porches and screened porches have many similarities in that they are both roof structures, can both be attached or detached, and both provide sun protection. Here are some key differences you may want to consider if you’re determining which you want to add to your home.

One consideration is bug protection. An open porch, sometimes called a covered patio, will not provide bug protection without the addition of a bug protection device such as mosquito curtains. Depending on your yard and the elevation of the porch, mosquitoes and other bugs may or may not be a problem. If your open porch will be at the second-story level or above, bugs may not be an issue. They tend to stay lower to the ground.

Lenexa Open porch trimmed columns Timbertech floor Westbury Aluminum rail

This open porch in Lenexa provides a great view of the back yard.

Another consideration is that an open porch feels different. Without the screens there’s slightly more visibility and less privacy. But, if the porch is adjoining to a deck or patio, you may not want a screen wall obstructing easy communication or access between both living areas. Another reason you may not want to restrict access if you are entertaining in both spaces. The ambiance is different if the 2 spaces are separated by screens.

On an open porch, you have more trim work and column options. Posts can be trimmed to have a more finished look. They can also be farther apart allowing for different spacing between the posts. Columns become an option when you do not need to attach screens.

Lenexa KS open porch TimberTech

This TimberTech open porch in Lenexa KS has a very stately open feel and the design integrates into the style of the existing home.

If you are considering addition a porch to your home, give us a call for a free consultation. We enjoy working with homeowners to provide information that will help in making decisions. Give us a ring at (913) 851 – 3325 or send us an email at kansascity@archadeck.net. We look forward to your call.

Take a look at more pictures in our open porch photo gallery or screened porch photo gallery on the Archadeck of Kansas City website.

 

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

Bonnie and Dan Hall, Archadeck of Kansas City Owners

TOP 10 Reasons To Build a Screened Porch

Frequently we field questions from clients about their roof options on a deck,  and the decision to leave a deck open or to go for a full screened porch option.  The following are the major reasons our clients build a screen porches.

1.   The shade provided by the roof and screens makes the harsh summer sun easier to live with.   When you combine a roof, screens,  and a ceiling fan summer temperatures are much more controllable.

2.   Screen porches are much more private, especially when neighbors views look right at your backyard or deck area.   The combination of roof and screens partially blocks the view.  Additionally optional heavy-duty screening is available that provides even more privacy from neighbors.

3.  I love to sit outside in the summer rain!  Multiple people have told us they really enjoy being outside in the rain during the summer.   There is a feeling of connection with nature, without being wet.

4.  We can dine outdoors without the bugs and flies.   Obviously in this part of the country bugs, flies and mosquitoes are common.  These annoying pests can really diminish enjoymentof an outdoor dinner, but the screened porch allows you to minimize them.

5.  I have  a place for my kids to play, but not be in the house and under foot.   The porch allows a sheltered play area, protected from the weather.

6.  I don’t have to worry about my furniture getting wet.  Many people would like to use a better grade of furniture or cushion, with more style, and the porch allows this.

7.  It’s a great area for entertainment!  Most guests love the outdoors.

8.  I can have lights and a TV outside, without worrying about damage.

9.  My cat and dog love the porch!  Many pets really enjoy sitting outside on a porch.

10. ” It’s the best room in my house!” For all the above reasons and more we have had many clients exclaim this when we were all done.

Porches Kansas City

Kansas City Porches

I was at a customer’s home this week and they wanted to build a new porch on the back of their Kansas City home. Their house was on a pie shaped lot that became narrower as it went back and came to a point in the very back. When I measured the distance from the corner of the new porch to the rear property line it was only 12 feet from that point. I checked with the city the project was in and they indicated that it was too close and could not be built.

This reminded me of several other projects that were complicated by setbacks and utility easements. A setback is the distance that a completed project must be from your property line. Side setbacks can be anywhere from zero feet in some older sections of town to as much as 15 feet in others. Rear setbacks can be even more diverse. Some cities do not require setbacks for low level decks but can be as much as 30 feet for porches or sunrooms in other cases. In addition, some cities require a percentage of the total lot length not to exceed a certain amount of feet.

These setbacks can also vary within the same city. Some subdivisions require greater setbacks than others.  Villas and town homes generally have different setback requirements than single family homes. In most cases the city planner is the person to check with on regulations regarding your property. There may be a variance process in place where you can get permission to build your porch if the setback is an issue. In most cases a recent survey will be required.