The Four Major Steps for Adding a Porch to Your House

You’ve come to that time in your life where you love your home, but now it’s time for a renovation. You want to make the best of your space so it can seem larger, and now is the time to do it!

Instead of renovating your entire house, you’ve chosen to start with a smaller project – a brand new porch. A porch, by definition, is a covered shelter projecting in front of the entrance of a building. If you have a back door, you can use that area, too, as back yards typically afford more privacy.

Hire Professionals

It’s important to look into hiring a licensed contractor for the job, especially one that specializes in building porches. They can add electric wiring to the area for lighting and additional outlets.

They will also know to use a type of construction crane mat. The composite mats make the ground’s surface durable enough for heavy equipment. After all, you don’t want them to ruin your yard with deep ruts.

Measure Everything

Your porch’s design should be an enhancement to your home. For example, it should be wooden with log pillars and timber railings if you live in a log cabin. So you want to consider the materials and the final look before you make a commitment to a style. 

Choose the size of your new porch. First, check the local building codes since the government may have some rules and your homeowners association, if you have one. Second, check your budget and adjust the size to match.  After all, you don’t have to create a large, sprawling porch, if you can create a compressed one to hold everything you’d like to showcase on it.

Design Your Porch

Will you have porch chairs, a swing, or a picnic bench on your porch? How about plant life? Measure those out and plan where they will be once the porch is finished so you can plan for the foot traffic in and out of the house and throughout the length of the porch. Just make sure to recheck the building codes and homeowner’s association if your plans have changed.

Choose your porch floor material. That can be anything from traditional wood flooring to concrete and wood composite to metal. Find out the longevity and upkeep of each type.  Also, check into any environmental concerns about the material as it ages.

If you’d like porch railings, you’ll need to choose which material will work best with not only your porch but the entire esthetic of your house. These days you can choose a synthetic material as well as the traditional wooden or metal railings. 

Timing It Right

Late fall and wintertime is a great time to start planning your new porch, finding a contractor, and applying for approvals and permits. You’ll need to find out if the porch will affect water runoff and include some drainage plans.  If you time your project for the first warm days in spring, you should have fewer weather-related delays.

In short, doing home renovation work is incredibly obtainable by following all the steps needed from beginning to end.