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What kind of porch would you put on this house?

16 years ago

Hello. I'm a newbie. I posted this over on the Porch & Decks but haven't had any luck. We are thinking about putting a porch on the front of our house, but are not sure what would look best. It looks like there used to be a little roof over the door at one time. I'm thinking a little roof with pillars and a bigger cement pad/steps would look the best, although I would love to make a bigger porch incorporating the space where the flower bed is, but I can't seem to picture what that would look like. That space is about five feet deep and about seven feet wide. We definitely need to do something different with the front steps. Now, we have to step down a step in order to open the door, which is a pain. And going out the door isn't much better. lol So, what would you do? Give me some ideas please. :)

Thanks.

Here is a link that might be useful:

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Comments (5)

oruboris
16 years ago
First, want to say I REALLY like your house: an honest, charming, happy, all american kind of place...

For me, the tough part is the roof line: the roof above the front door seems to drain right at a very shallow angle, 2-12 or less. A covered porch will basically have to drain 'forward'-- to wards the veiwer in the above photo.

The good part of that is you can run it all the way accross this front section if you like, the downside is that you could end up loosing a lot of light.
jamesk
16 years ago
Gosh, you don't have much room to work with, plus the added complications of the roof valley ending practically right above the door, and the two sconces. A very tight squeeze!

Have you considered some type of simple canvas awning? An awning matching the shutters might be a good looking solution.

Look in the Yellow Pages under "Awnings & Canopies". A commercial awning maker should be able to make up something for you in the exact dimensions needed, then install it for you.
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eal51
16 years ago
I'm not sure about adding a roof that will work because of your present roof line.

However, using wood deck materials, you can build right over your present concrete steps. This would also allow you to expand your front entrance to the right side of the house. It will also allow you to design steps that are wider and safer. A wood porch will be more attractive than concrete and you can do it yourself.

Enjoy the journey.

eal51 in western CT
chisue
16 years ago
I would want to change the gable -- enlarge it to peak farther to the right and to cover the door area. I'd carry that gable as far forward as you want the porch to go. You could put a skylight in one gable angle to keep your interior from being dark.

Another possibility would be to create a "swoop" roof line starting from the gable peak and swooping in a curve to cover the door area. Then carry that all forward to form the porch roof.

Even if you don't do a porch, I'd like to see you make your nice windowboxes the same width as the windows.
karabella
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks so much for your ideas. It is a tight space and I never thought of the awning idea. That might be something to look into. I figured maybe the roof would be difficult to work with. I like chisues's idea about the swooping gable over the door. That might look cool. Yeah, the window boxes were too big to do one under each window, so I just centered them. I do want to find something bigger someday and maybe even paint them white or green. Thanks everyone for your ideas!

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