This adorable home in the Windsor Park neighborhood of Northeast Austin just got three times more adorable after Archadeck of Austin completed our work there. The scope of our project was to extend a patio, cover it with a roof and enclose most of it as a screened porch. It sounds simple enough, but there were a few surprises along the way.
Step 1: Covering the Patio
The existing patio occupied a courtyard area surrounded on three sides by the home. The homeowners’ goal for this project was to enlarge the patio a bit and convert most of it to a screened porch. Austin patio builder and porch builder Archadeck of Austin was the perfect outdoor living contractor for the job. We design and build all styles of patios, screened porches and covered porches in and around Austin, TX.
— Before Archadeck of Austin began the transformation.
We worked on the roof tie-in to start by removing the existing overhangs where the roof edges extended over the patio by a few inches all the way around. With the roof edges exposed, we were able to install an aluminum and wood patio cover over the open area and tie it in to the roof on three sides. We applied a waterproof membrane and finished the patio cover with shingles so it blends with the existing roof.
Step 2: Removing the Existing Patio and Pouring New Concrete
When a homeowner wants a larger patio, and we’re working with concrete, we get better results if we remove the existing concrete patio and pour a new one. In this case when we removed the old concrete we found that it extended 7” down, which was unexpected, and consisted of more than one layer. We were actually dealing with the foundation of an old room addition, and the concrete patio had been covered by an old wooden deck!
Step 3: Extending the Walls Upward
To bring the walls up to code, we had to increase their height to cover the exposed portion where the roof overhang had been removed. This actually increased the height of the walls by about 8”. How do you increase the height of a wall? Isn’t a wall already as tall as it’s going to be? We have our ways! We installed wood framing at the top of the wall along the three sides. Voila, extended wall height achieved.
Step 4: Completing the Interior Finish Work
On the interior of the porch, we primed the walls and installed the screens to make it a screened-in porch. We added 1×4” trimmers of wood along the ceiling to soften the aluminum roof and to hide the seams of the patio cover installation. It turned out great! The trimmers running the length of the porch ceiling make the porch feel longer than it is.
Step 5: Finishing the Concrete Floor
When the work above and around the porch floor had been completed, we stained and scored the concrete floor. You can see part of the finished floor around the edges of the homeowners’ rug.
It’s a Wrap!
Once again satisfied clients of Archadeck of Austin are enjoying their new outdoor living area. Since these homeowners converted an open patio into a screened porch, they are now enjoying a space that’s protected from sun, rain and pesky insects. That additional protection gave them the freedom to add stylish, comfortable furniture in their outdoor living space, too.
Also, the new screened porch/patio design includes a portion of the patio that is outside the screened porch enclosure. So the homeowners always have the option of enjoying their patio in full sunlight when they choose.
Do you have the patio or porch of your dreams all planned out in your mind? To talk about building your new outdoor living space, call Archadeck of Austin today at (512) 886-8367 to schedule a free design consultation.
Jim Schallon, Lead Designer at Archadeck of Austin.
