Porch or outdoor seating area on a budget. Some now, more later?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

We just bought an end-unit townhome on a ridge overlooking downtown skyline. We own the space between us and the building next door. It's on quite an incline, and right now is just grass.

The view is outstanding, and we'd like to add a better outdoor space. I'm thinking of perhaps a covered area like a porch, maybe enclosed or able to be enclosed one day for year-round outdoor seating. Also thinking of carving into the hillside beside us a bit to create a retainer wall area to sit and maybe little pathway up the yard to the street.

I'm told what I just described is SUPER expensive. I've no experience whatsoever in this. We can do some now and some later I suppose. The house needs a lot of small things and 1 bathroom reno and maybe the kitchen, so right now I'm trying to keep the outside at under $10k. Any ideas?

All that between the 2 yellow lines is our property. It's a fairly steep hill from street to where you see the concrete slab, where it levels out a bit, then is steep again down below (goes way down to more trees/weeds and to the edge of a street that are off-view here).

We are also talking about removing those 2 walls with siding on either side of the main patio area you see with the blue chairs and umbrella, and instead just put in a new railing all the way around. Right now it looks old and feels claustrophobic, and as the neighbors have a wall there we can open ours and still have privacy (there's no HOA). But current question is about the yard - which currently just has that tiny concrete slab... and whether to try to create a covered or fully enclosed porch ... extend out to yard beside the house and do some landscaping / seating area... or what?

Here's the view!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

cecily 7A
2 years ago
It seems to me that you need to allocate space for a storage shed as well.
User thanked cecily 7A
Sigrid
2 years ago
It's very tough to give any advice without knowing the slope. I'd expect you could create a patio area like your neighbors', except wider. I'd plant some shrubs to the left for a start.

I had a townhouse with a narrow backyard. I had a narrow garden and used my little yard to sit and eat at all the time. My neighbors didn't use theirs, so it felt private. So, my advice would be to make inviting spaces and to concentrate on access and flowers. I'd be tempted to put in a circular patio with a path from the door and shrubs and perennials behind.

It looks like Pgh, so my bet is the hill is very steep. However, you can see what other people have done. If nothing else, go to the Station Square parking lot with binoculars and see if anyone has managed to use their slope better.
User thanked Sigrid
Related Discussions
Future home of the outdoor porch
Q
Comments (25)
Today the "porch without a house" or maybe I should just call it a garden "Folly", was built. Right off the bat, there was miscommunication about how the floor boards should run. I had told him to lay them the long way, he bought boards to lay across. I caught the error just as he got his saw set up and was about to cut. He had to leave and go get the proper boards. Even tho I stood down there and supervised and was able to redirect some decisions he made on his own, there are some things I would have done differently - like wider boards around the top, but let it go. Plus he said he wasn't able to find the weathered gray boards like I had hoped. I'm think I might be able to replace them in the future. And like anything new, I'll have to get used to it. I'll try to take some pics tomorrow.
...See More
Looking for Some Creative Ideas for 'Temporary' Screen Porch
Q
Comments (8)
Why not a shade sail with a gauzy fabric that would be rolled up most of the time but could be unrolled and tied down when you will be out? In my experience, the problem with temporary gazebos is that they fall apart in the wind. You would have a secondary issue that the shade sail is not engineered to hold the weight of the screen plus the wind the screen walls catch, so it would have to be a light fabric whatever you use (and again, I would suggest something you can roll up). I am going to be adding some cheesecloth-like fabric (not sure what I will use yet, maybe even old lace curtains, thinking "shabby chic") to my victorian kitchen porch so we can sit on it-it will add shade and bug protection. But I will do it so that I can roll it up into the roof if the wind is bad. We had one of those $300 gazebos (I think it was 10x10 or 12x12 when we lived in Illinois and it barely lasted the season before the wind sheared it. I think it was aluminum. Also, have you looked into solar fan options?
...See More
second part of deck now or later?
Q
Comments (3)
I believe expansion of a deck is fairly common. In your case, since you know your objective, take some time to plan the enlargement. Presuming that everything will be at the same level, and section "A" decking runs parallel to the house, have some short pieces of decking along the side of "A" that abuts "B" that you can remove to nest the boards into a common floor. Call this your "hooks" so an expansion will not be as apparent. All of the decking boards will run the same direction for both sections. The option of mitering or doing herringbone corners for your "L" shape is lost with a multiple segment build. If bug free in the screened portion is your goal, remember to install some screening below the decking for that section. The only problem I foresee is the decking lumber itself. It shrinks after installation. Because the new lumber will be "unshrunk", poitiioning them to be uniform will necessitate your measuring rather than merely spacing for their placement. Hope this helps. Good luck.
...See More
Budget Issues - Please help us make some tough decisions.
Q
Comments (52)
Angie DIY - the pricing IS closer together and we could make it closer still by reusing the dishwasher. It was over $6000 difference. Now it's a little over $3200 difference (in part due to floor model hood) and if we resuse the dishwasher it's more like $2200. It's all about how the packaging pricing works. We can't reuse the dishwasher in the Thermador option as it's part of the package although we would get a new dishwasher for less than half the price of the one we would get with the Wolf/ SZ package price. We are not buying these items seperately. There are promotions and discounts based on which pieces you buy. We can't just mix and match as you suggest. youngdeb, thanks for your post! great to know you are happy with the Thermador. We are waiting to get a Thermador quote from the same appliance store today. If they come in significantly below our existing Thermador quote we will probably stick with Thermador - the question is at what price difference we would flip over to the Wolf/SZ? I guess at over $6000 difference in package pricing we were definitely ready to go with the Thermador package. At $2200 difference it is much less cut and dry. We have to decide what our cut off point is and that is tough!
...See More
fnmroberts
2 years ago
My initial thought is privacy and shade.

Adjacent to your neighbors patio, perhaps a small garden with shrubbery or arbovitae as a separation. Then create a larger patio working from the corner into the yard. Such will minimize any need for extensive retaining wall. Some water diversion likely required. Finally, a pergola for shade - either use for dining or lounging.

While our surroundings differ, following is a video of our patio and lawn to offer ideas.

https://youtu.be/yh0ZL-PwsMQ
User thanked fnmroberts
User
Original Author
2 years ago
@Sigrid It is PGH, you obviously know the city well. Super advice to take some binoculars and take a look... it is steep, but it's been graded to be mostly level for about a 10ft depth where that concrete slab is and out to the side. Above and below is quite steeep.

@fnmroberts - WOW. Your patio and lawn are spectacular! Thanks for sharing.
fnmroberts
2 years ago
@Amy L - Hope the video provided you with some helpful ideas.

We enjoy the geography in your area. Being FLW affectionaos brings us to Fallingwater too.

Porch or outdoor seating area on a budget. Some now, more later?

Comments (5)

cecily 7A

Sigrid

Related Discussions

fnmroberts

User
Original Author

fnmroberts

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Porch or outdoor seating area on a budget. Some now, more later?

Comments (5)

cecily 7A

Sigrid

Related Discussions

fnmroberts

UserOriginal Author

fnmroberts

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

User
Original Author