We built a screened in porch so as we moved in 10 years ago. There was nothing out the back door but a 2 foot drop. we added a 12 x 16 deck, used vinyl siding to match the house and came up about 40 inches on the siding. I didn't want the neighbors to have a complete view of the deck so I kind of used this concept as a privacy screen. Then screened windows the rst of the way up. Gabled roof for sure. I love how my deck looks, I don't use it as much as I thought I would...Before we got my daughter, I was always reading out there or talking on the phone etc. but seems like that went by the wayside years ago. this summer though I redid the porch and got new furniture and have really enjoyed it this summer! My neighbors did a screened in porch after I did mine and then ran the screens floor to ceiling and I just personally didn't care for this look and they also made their porch bigger which again I didn't care for. Lot of wasted dead space and it lost the cozy feeling...

We had a screened in porch at our old house (pre-Katrina) and we loved it. Spent so much time there, from morning to night, alone in the mornings as we drank coffee and read the paper, and together with neighbors at night, sharing a glass of wine and news of the day. Ours was originally a patio, so the floor was stained stamped concrete. So easy to maintain, especially since rain would blow in from time to time. It looked like a cobblestone brick and we received lots of compliments.

Thanks for your helpful advice. Our porch will be pretty large at 16x22. This is the size of the current deck. I wannted it big enough to have a large table so we could eat out there and also have a nice conversation area near the fireplace.

We will have a knee wall that is about 18 inches tall as we have a Yorkie and don't want him jumping on and destroying the screen. The porch will be raised about 12 inches off the ground which is how our deck is now so that you come straight out of the family room without stepping down steps. I don't know what kind of floor to do......wood, stone looking tile, composite decking like Timbertech. They all have their pros and cons. I just wondered your experiences and recommendations.

Anyone have pics of their porches? :)
Thanks again!

Here is a link to a really good thread over on the Building forum - tons of photos. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Porch Thread

We did something very similar to what twg is planning. Took down a deck and built a large screened-in porch in its place. During the planning, the porch upgraded itself into a well-insulated room with its own heating (a gas-fired woodstove) so we enjoy it year round. We also wanted a kneewall rather than floor-to-ceiling window screens, and it seemed to work better ($$$) to have walls made up of double-hung windows.

Our floor is porcelain tile, chosen b/c for its toughness, particularly in regards to weather. The porch floor is at the same level as the adjoining hall/mudroom, which is one step down from the kitchen. Our home had only a 42" table in the living area, and the new porch enabled us to have a big beautiful outdoor-feeling dining area with lots of comfortable seats for dining or hanging out.

To accommodate the bulkhead door to the basement, we actually built part of the porch OVER the bulkhead, and that area is a loft bed. It's extremely popular with kids, and makes for a really lovely guest bed. Our porch is connected to the house through a door to the mudroom/hall, as well as a huge window that swings open above the kitchen sink to connect the porch with the kitchen. We re-did the kitchen ceiling when we added the porch, so that the two ceilings and light fixtures look similar and the rooms feel more connected. Hope this helps!

We built one a few years ago. A couple tips:

1) Do not use fiberglass screening - use metal. I learned this the hard way when my fiberglass screens started developing holes in them - small ones, and a couple big rips. I couldn't figure out what was doing it until one day I was on the porch and a bird flew right into the screen, leaving another rip. We ended up spending almost $1000 to have the porch rescreened with metal screening because the fiberglass was shredded within a year.

2) If I could do it over again, I would not do a wood floor. It was going to be much more expensive to do a concrete/stone floor, so we chose tongue & groove wooden porch flooring. But it is a maintenance hassle and I hate having to powerwash and restain it every 2 years.

3) I wish I would have paid more attention to how the porch was going to look from the outside of the house. We thought only of interior dimensions, wanting enough space for a table, a swing, and a sitting area. From the outside, though, the porch looks kind of squatty because it's a little too wide - I wish we would have made it 12 ft wide instead of 14. I could tell the proportions were off as soon as they set the posts, but my husband and contractor talked me into keeping it that way because we'd have more room inside. Turns out we really don't need those extra 2 feet - there's plenty of room inside. And I still have regrets 5 years later - the porch still looks off, and every time I have to stain the floor (see point 2), I have those extra 2 feet to stain, LOL!

Here's mine!
With some of the details....we love it.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Porch

Mine isn't screened in yet but we still love it. We went with stamped concrete. They used a color added into the concrete and then as they stamped it, they covered it with a color powder so it one color and darker in the grooves. I love it and get tons of compliments on it. And best thing about it is it's maintanence free.

We had a screen porch when we moved in, one of the reasons for buying the house. I wish I had been able to spend a few days in the house before buying it for that reason, as it did increase the cost of the house compared to our neighbors, since it was "extra living space." We had a screen porch at the house we were leaving, so wanted one in our next house.

Not all screen porches are created equally and be sure you have adequate circulation. The way our house was built/porch addition, the air was trapped and it was always hot. We used two floor fans and 2 ceiling fans and it was still hot and muggy (in the south).

I had no idea there was that big difference in the location of porches and we ended up never using it, plus it blocked light to the interior which we so needed.

A tornado one brisk spring did a great deal of damage to our porch, garden, roof, cars, etc. We decided when they tore the screen porch down, that we would not have a screen porch again at this house. I do love them when they work, but ours did not, so just make sure that all your weep holes and venting holes are not directed at you when you are outside, and that you have good air circulation.

We added a pergola over what was our screen porch, left the concrete intact. We are able to have all-weather furniture and two swings and use it as often or more often than the cold screen porch in fall/winter, the hot screen porch in spring/summer.

I do love screen porches but not all houses are located so that they work well. Just make sure of that before building.

Having said all that,we built a small screen porch near our shop which is part of our house and we get great air circulation there and although it is not very large, only accommodates 4-5 people and the dog, we do enjoy it.

I am saying, Just make sure the location of any screen porch has good air circulation and is not getting all the hot air from your attic in summer and cold air in winter.

Our old screened porch was fairly small and with 4 doors leading onto it, it was difficult to position furniture ... but we managed.

The new porch still isn't finished, but it's more than twice the size of the old one. We'll have room for a table & chairs, the swing, 4 rockers, and a couple end tables. Our house is about 2 feet off the ground. We chose Ipe for the flooring. No knee wall. We did add spindles from the floor up a couple feet to help reinforce the screening where kitties sometimes like to lunge.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and advice. I appreciate you taking the time to help. We have always wanted a screened porch, so we are very excited about it.

Kellyleeann, I love your porch. Are you happy with your Timbertech flooring? We were originally going to get that, but now we are reading about the black mold spots that some people are getting on their Timbertech, so we are afraid to put it down.

We live in our screened porch as much as possible. Our one regret is that we did not give a lot of thought to lighting. It would be nice to have lighting over the dining table, and light appropriate for reading. Currently, we have a ceiling fan (a must) with a light and a couple of outdoor sconces. Recessed lighting might have been a better alternative.

Margib, you can find outdoor lamps for reasonable prices at Lowes, Home Depot, and elsewhere.

If the link doesn't work, key in "outdoor lamps" in the search engine.

Here is a link that might be useful: outdoor lamps

patricia43 is so correct, make sure the location is in the path of the breezes to take advantage of them. Ours faces East, but it is too hot to use in the summer. In the Winter, Spring and Fall it is wonderful. In the Winter I will use it but DH doesn't like the cold so he doesn't, but if you are putting in a stone fireplace then that will be much better. I wish we had one. Also make sure about the weep holes - as you can see for ours below, the bottom half is wood and there really does need to be a place for the rain water to drain out even with large overhangs. There also needs to be adequate support for the length and width of the screening material. Our screen is not metal and we only have one small hole and no rips. We bought the house used but I think the screen room has been here for many years. Be sure to install plenty of electrical outlets and install enough lighting for the area too.

Our screen room which is 12 by 40 feet was built over an existing concrete patio. When we moved here, the room was a disaster. The concrete was ugly and stained, the ceiling fans were rusty and the walls were chalky white - very unappealing. I painted the walls a gray/green color and then the room started to look much better, then we replaced the fans - then it was really looking up. But the floor was still very drab and worn. We decided to paint the concrete with concrete paint as faux tile. Here are a couple of photos of the transformation. Now that we have it all decorated and have furniture out there it is a nice place to relax. After photo shows only half of the screen room, the area is huge, probably too large, but we have what we have.

Hope this helps.

BEFORE:
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DURING:
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AFTER:
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I really haven't learned how to post pictures yet, but we have had a screened in porch in 3 houses. We live in northern New England, so sad to say we only get to use it for 3 - 4 months. In this new house we are building which has the 3rd porch, my DH came up with a really smart idea to extend our porch time. We have always had a wall 1/3 of the way up with screens on top all the way around, this time he build the screen opening almost from top to bottom, the exact size of the stationary glass door that is part of sliding door unit. He just popped them in and added some trim so they would not come out, and in the spring will add the full size screen unit. We bought them at HD. They look great.

My screen porch is a similar size and shape to springville's above. We put in a limestone floor. Everyone said "oh, you'll live out there." Well that is and isn't true.

I think what you do with the space depends on the climate and the house. We heated ours and put in 13 windows, 2 big fixed picture windows for the views and the remainder windows that open. So we can open them and use the room as a screen porch, or use it as a room during the winter.

Half of it functions as the dining room. There's no table or seating in the kitchen. So we have the views when we eat and its wonderful.

The other half of the room has a wicker sofa and 2 rocking chairs and a table. I use it in the morning when it's sunny. We sit out there when friends come over during the day.

The wonderful thing about having such a room is that it can be whatever you want it to be and the house needs.

twg7590:
I love our choice in the timberteck. It looks nice and feels great, I dont have any concerns about the mold since this is pretty much a living space not just your typical screened in porch. The elements like rain are not a factor the screens keep out much of the rain even at a direct angle, the most we get is a fine mist in the room. The porch is off the ground and has been screened underneith to keep critters from coming up so there is alot of ventilation. I feel as long as you have those factors in and its not just soaking in water...mold should not be a problem. I know that there has been alot of discussion on this type of material on the porch forum...but given its use in the screened in area, I think it will do just fine.