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should there be exterior light on my front porch

4 years ago

I will have the two wooden support wrapped in stone. Do I need to add two lights like my inspiration pic? The front door is approx 30 ft away from the side walk. Any factors I should consider or is it merely for decorative purposes when I add these lights? Tia!!

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Mark Bischak, Architect

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Yes. A light at entry doors makes a lot of sense and most likely required by code.

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Comments (7)

WestCoast Hopeful
4 years ago
If your question is do you need an overhead light and two lights then I would say no it’s a small area. But you need at least a light in your entry
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I see a porch on the front of your home and a deck on the side. A porch is a covered shelter in front of an entrance. A deck is an open wooden extension to a house. I was wondering if you wanted to add a deck to the front of your home, or redo the porch and railing. The posts for your porch are load-bearing as far as I can see. They cannot be cut off and capped. But perhaps you want to extend your porch out from under the overhang, in which case that part would be a deck, and you could cap those posts. Because decks are exposed to rain there is a gap left between deck boards so rain can drip through. Most means of hiding the area beneath a deck is therefore open to allow moisture to dissipate and prevent rots. The photo below shows an open horizontal board enclosure and also uses cable railing. You could, though, use the same rock as is on the front of your garage to close in the under deck area as long as sufficient venting is provided. I added this to your existing porch below. This would give visual continuity to the design as well.
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A
4 years ago
I'm confused because it looks like you already have 2 round junction boxes on either side of the door opening. Are you considering adding additional lights on the stone columns? Your inspiration pic shows 2 wall sconces on the columns but also some other kind of light under the entry roof that illuminates the entire entry and really draws the eye/visitors to the entryway. Perhaps it's some kind of ceiling light, or strip lighting; I'm not sure. Plus, it looks like the front door in the inspiration photo is full glass (which is not practical in my opinion) and they photographed the house with all of the interior lights turned on, so it's creating a different look than usually seen on homes with solid doors. I'm not sure how it would look with 4 wall sconces and no ceiling light, but I don't think it would achieve the look in your inspiration pic. You could use walkway lights to illuminate the walkway up to the front door.
happypanda25
Original Author
4 years ago
Sorry, I wasn’t clear, I have a 42” door with 12 inch side lights. The two round junction boxes on either sides have been removed due to the side lights. I do have a 4 inch” ceiling light under the entry roof. So yes, I am considering adding scones to the stone columns.
WestCoast Hopeful
4 years ago
I don’t like the ppl of lights on the stone. I would simply use one overhead.
Jazz Easy
4 years ago
You need the one overhead so you can see who is at your door at night. If you put a light on each stone column, that will be for lighting the walkway/entrance to your home and for decorative purposes. I think if you look at most homes in your area that have columns, you will find that they have a light on each one (just like the pictures of inspiration houses you posted). Just an overhead light with dark columns may functionally work, but will look less welcoming if you view your house in the evening and early parts of the night (most people turn them off when they go to bed).
happypanda25
Original Author
4 years ago
That’s what I was thinking. The light under the over hang would be turned on only when someone is at the door so I could see.

Side question. Adding the scones to each stone column was something I thought of after the fact. Can the electrician T off the light under the over hang?

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