What time of year is the best time to add a new porch to your home? In truth, there’s isn’t a bad time. You will enjoy your porch in the warmer months because of the sun protection it provides. You will also enjoy your porch in the transition months because it allows you to spend a little more time outside with the protection of screens or walls. Don’t forget those warm but rainy days. That’s another great time to enjoy your porch while listening to the sound of the rain.
There are quite a few options and considerations when deciding on a porch configuration that works best for you. Ask your porch builder to help you with functional and design features that work best for you. Here are some.
The first thing to know is that your porch is not just a room addition. It’s a place to do a whole lot more living at your home. It will provide living opportunities that you just don’t have inside your home. It’s that perfect transitional room. If you want to eat outside with protection from bugs, your screened porch is the perfect place. If you want to enjoy a quick afternoon nap to recharge before dinner, a screened porch can be the perfect place. If you want a quiet room that’s away from the distractions of inside the home, your new room can be the perfect place. It’s your room and it’s custom designed for you.
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We will design your porch for how you and your family want to live outside. Here are some important considerations for tailoring your room to fit the activities you envision in your new room. Are you looking for a room with a tremendous amount of natural light? Are you looking for an area that provides sun protection in a yard that otherwise has no or little sun protection? Are you looking for a place to spend a little more time outside before the cold forces you inside? Let’s explore these.
Let there be light
One of the things homeowners ask for is a room with large window openings, vaulted ceilings, and skylights to allow as much light into a room as possible. This is a great place to start when coming up with your porch design. Is your yard heavily shaded with lots of trees? What direction will your porch face? That determines how much sun your room will receive at the time(s) of day you most want to use your room. We can utilize high ceilings, open gables, transom windows or many other techniques to make your room light and bright.
What do you want to keep out, or in?
A porch is a great place to enjoy some outdoor living while keeping some things out. We mentioned rain protection above. A porch will also keep bugs out and, with the help of some special windows, can provide some temperature protection also. There is a screen alternative in vinyl windows. If you want to have a window system that can open and close to alternate from screened windows to durable vinyl windows, let your porch builder know. A vinyl window system provides flexibility in the number of months throughout the year you can enjoy your porch. Vinyl windows have the added benefit of providing allergen control preventing dust and pollen from frequenting your porch.
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Design options
There are so many design options, we cannot list them all here. These include roof style. Will a gable roof work well with your home? Perhaps a hip roof shed roof, or flat roof is best. How about the flooring? If you have an attached deck, you might want to continue the flooring you are using for your deck. There are quite a few flooring options that include natural hardwood flooring, composite floorings such as TimberTech, or even tile flooring. Amenity options are also aplenty. Most people add ceiling fans but we can add anything from a porch fireplace to simple privacy walls to lighting or custom electric options.
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Work with a professional design company
As you read above, there are quite a few options and considerations. A professional design company will help walk you through those options. That company will also take care of all the permitting and inspections required by your local agencies. Give us a call for a free consultation at (877) 362-5802 or drop us an email to schedule a free consultation.
