When is the sweet spot here in Birmingham for adding a new porch to your home? At Archadeck of Birmingham, we believe the best time to plan a covered porch, screened porch or 3-season porch is right now. You may be wishing you had lined up this project for summer so you could already be enjoying the porch by now. That’s alright! As the days get cooler, don’t think you’ve missed porch season altogether. Far from it!
2 Advantages of Planning Your Porch During the Autumn Months
The two things you gain by planning and scheduling your porch build now are money and porch time. Who doesn’t want more money and more porch time?
Money – You can save on the cost of materials for your new porch if you contact us to get your design and contract signed within the next month or so. That’s because we still have time to design your new porch and lock in on materials before the end of the year. Manufacturers and suppliers are known for raising prices of building materials in the first quarter of each new year. If you already know you want to add a porch before spring, why wait? We recommend moving forward now to lock in your costs before the 2022 price increases.
Porch time – If saving time is your thing, you’ll definitely want Archadeck to build your new porch this winter. In the spring and summer, our construction calendar is packed and clients encounter longer wait times. That’s why fall is our “sweet spot” for planning and scheduling our outdoor living projects. If you’re thinking that by the time your new porch is ready, the weather will be too cold for you to enjoy it, you’d be surprised! You’ve got plenty of porch time ahead …
2 Ways You Can Enjoy Your Porch During the Colder Months
If you love spending time on a porch, you’ll love our suggestions for enjoying your porch during late fall – and even winter. We are not asking you to sit out in the cold, blowing on your hands for warmth and wondering how long you can stand it. Oh, no. If you take either one – or both – of these suggestions, you will be in porch ecstasy long before spring comes around. We’re talking about heaters and the Eze Breeze system of porch windows.
Heaters for cold-weather porch comfort – We recommend adding safe and energy-efficient outdoor heaters for all of our Birmingham porch clients. Unlike the old space heaters, there are now heaters which are safe to use, and they are just as effective on open porches as enclosed porches. They have also become more affordable even as they’ve become more popular. These include portable patio heaters and infrared heaters. With infrared heaters, these are mounted near the ceiling, and they warm you (safely!) as their invisible infrared rays travel through the air.
Eze Breeze 3-Season Porch – An excellent way to keep the chill out of your porch is to make it a custom-built 3-season porch. With the Eze Breeze system of windows and screens, you can slide the windows closed when it’s cold and open again when it’s warmer outside. Read about this Eze Breeze project in Hoover in our article: Hoover AL 3-Season Room with Eze-Breeze Window System.
So, you see, Birmingham- area homeowners have plenty of porch time to enjoy in the months before spring’s arrival! You just need the right equipment. In fact, if you wait until spring to get started, you’ll be wasting lots of valuable porch time.
3 Types of Porches – Which is Right for Your Birmingham Home?
Do you automatically think of screened porches when you hear the word “porch”? Many people do, and screened porches are extremely popular because they provide shade while keeping insects away. But screened porches are not the only option. Open porches, also called covered porches, provide reliable shade, too. Like a screened porch, an open porch gives you a place to install a ceiling fan so you can enjoy cooling breezes all summer long. Open porches are especially popular in poolside settings. On the other hand, many homeowners prefer the third type, a 3-season room or 3-season porch, for its versatility. Add infrared heaters for warmth and there will be very few “too cold” days for enjoying your new porch this winter.
Your Archadeck design consultant can help you determine which type of porch best fits the way you want to enjoy your outdoor living space. This article is a good place to start: Will A Porch Add Value To My Home.
You may even have a porch right now that doesn’t meet your needs. We can help with that, too! It may be time for a porch upgrade at your home. If that’s the case, let’s talk about turning your open porch into a screened porch or 3-season porch. You can read more in our story A Stunning Porch To Screened Porch Conversion In Hoover, AL.
Fall is here and the days are cool and crisp. If you already had that new porch you’ve been thinking about … well, it’s not too late to get started now! Be ready to enjoy the first warm day on your porch this spring.
Whether you want to add a covered porch, screened porch or 3-season porch, we would love to design and build your project. Why wait? Contact Archadeck of Birmingham today to schedule a design consultation for your new or expanded outdoor living space.
Derek & Carissa Crews, owners Archadeck of Birmingham.
