pearl2007- We are 90% finished with a porch built with door inserts that have removable screens and single pane storms. A local company, Vintage Doors, built them out of poplar and we painted them. Our contractor (who is not a high end house builder, but a remodel guy) said they were a breeze to install, and they are beautiful and of good quality. Not cheap, but we try to focus on value, not cost, and the ease of installation (they came with everything; trim, screens, storms, clips, furring strips, etc.) was worth it, cuz I'll take a fixed price for a product over a guesstimate from a contractor anytime. Two carpenters installed 16 units plus a door with transom and sidelights built by them in 2 days. We were pleased with their customer service and design help, tho we designed them and sketched them out, they computed the angles (if you look at the pics you see an arc in there) and put it on the CAD. I highly recommend them for the quality of workmanship and service. Sorry if these pics are big, Photobucket is giving me fits. sandyponder Interior shots: Exterior shots (PA bluestone steps being installed next week, no more construction steps): Here is a link that might be useful: Vintage Doors website

Lennox offers a beautiful stainless steel model fireplace that is specifically designed for outdoor use. It is a zero clearance unit that you would have to build framework for out of standard 2x4 construction materials and then face it with whatever material you desired such as cultured stone brick or natural rock. I know that if you take an "indoor" appliance such as a stove and place it in a screened back porch setting the manufactuer will more than likely void the warranty I had a customer that wanted to do this and vermont castings said no way. But there are options out there. Just have to find them. Hope this helps you out a bit

Well I have a screen porch about 14x16 with an A shape roof with tongue and groove ceiling that follows the eves if that makes sense. It is 18 yrs old - the T&G is pine with a basically natural marine varnish - it is aged and is beautiful with the light gleaming on it at night - especially candles. It has on,y been revarnished once and it didn’t really need it but the painters were here and had the scaffolding. I used for 15+ yrs an 1865 oak table with a old oak church pew bench and 2 chairs my grandfather made. These were finished with shellac and were kept basically french polished and stayed fine even though they were in the front corner and most exposed. The polish made the difference - or you can use orange oil but you can also clean well and coat with a satin Helmsman marine varnish but orange oil on regular wood finish works great but you have to keep it up every few months. Do not use pledge - it doesn’t protect and silicones make refinishing difficult without sanding into the patina. I also have an oak fodder chopper from the 1800s with a big black iron wheel - it was also on the front portion and didn’t get the french polish mix (I ran out) for the past 5-6 yrs and I couldn’t move it due to it’s weight to get the back side. It now needs a cleaning and will get a marine varnish. The only thing that has happened where the shellac and polish was exposed to more rain mist and the sun - is it greyed. I have a southwest exposure with no trees so sun is an issue on the things on the front of the porch. Everything is still out there except the big table which is back inside doing duty. and looks like they just came from inside. They are polished now with orange oil to keep them water resistant. The cedar lamps I use out there were made by my grandfather and had shellac finish. The shellac he used was old flake type you mixed yourself not the junk in the big box stores. He used mostly orange but sometimes ruby. As far as the rain exposure - it mostly comes in about 18-24” on whatever side it is blowing if a storm. Hurricanes etc everything is grouped closer to the center and covered. Other than that such as for regular non windy showers, the floor doesn’t get wet but I have about 18” eves on the two sides but no overhang on the front portion. I have a ceiling fan that was used in the house for years (a cheap fan from lowe’s) that we put out until I could find an exterior fan I liked and could afford. That was 18 yrs ago and it still works..it was already about 7-8 yrs old mind you. So the rain and moisture has only affected the ball chain but if I wipe it off with wd40 paper towel it cleans it up and holds it for another couple yrs. I do have GFCI outlets 3 on the inside of the porch and 2 on the outside of the porch with a breaker in the box that turns the back and front porch outlets on and off if needed. I use regular household lamps table and floor lamps- for the same reason someone else mentioned - the exterior lamps I have seen I don’t like - just too modern for my taste or too spanish, etc. And way too expensive as in $600-700+ for anything I kinda could use. They are plugged into the GFCI outlets and I would recommend these for anything plugged into a “wet” environment. I am getting ready to put out a pair of marble lamps and I would suggest to try and find lamps that are of stone, or iron. If wood - just polish and clean with orange oil. The nice thing with old wood is it might be old oak or walnut or mahogany - that do better with weather. Windows that lasted 100+ yrs and even longer in Europe and can be refinished last a another 100 yrs - were made of old growth mahogany, walnut and oak. Mahogany is terrific for furniture too - heavy. I’m thinking of rewiring my lamps due to age and will use exterior wire and fittings from an electrical supply house - they are all mostly 60+ yrs old and the ones on the porch have had 18 yrs of damp so probably time. On the shades - the ones from walmart, target will give you at least 6-8+ yrs yrs provided you brush them off and put them away when winter or bad storms hit. You can buy the shades that you cover in fabric yourself - there is the frame and a “shade” that you remove the film to expose the sticky surface that you attach your fabric too. I like these as I can coordinate it with my fabric on the walnut settee cushions but I don’t find these last as long. If you have old lamp forms, it really isn’t hard to remove shabby fabric and install/sew on new fabric - any will work but if you find a sunbrella fabric that is really helpful. It is just lately - I haven’t like their patterns. Like I say, you can use old shades - if silk and in good shape - wouldn’t use those as they are too valuable. Even paper will work - but spray the inside and outside with exterior water based clear varnish or whatever they call it. There are ones made to use on paper. Also spraying the metal frames before recovering will help with rust. Everything on my porch from Jan through pollen is orange oiled, pulled to the center and covered with cotton sheets and then tarps with the tarps pulled under the legs to secure. By Jan 1, it is too cold to be out there and I always have the iron table and chairs and bench that is on the connecting deck to sit and enjoy nice days. Hope this information helps both with lamps and furniture.

I just ordered from Top Blinds through Amazon. They have tons of sizes, in small increments, and the quality seems good. I ordered samples through their website first and then placed the order through Amazon. I haven't put it up yet so I can say much about the mechanism, but the construction seems fine.