How do I Choose the Best Porch Design?

When choosing the best porch design for your home, be sure to consider the two biggest factors that will affect the final product: size and cost. Ask yourself how big of a porch you can realistically afford, and how big of a porch would be functional and aesthetically pleasing in your yard. You should also decide well beforehand whether your porch will be an open-air porch, an enclosed porch, or a modular porch that can be changed from open-air to enclosed. These decisions will affect the overall porch design as well as the cost of building the structure.

Once you have decided how big your porch will be, it is time to consider a porch design that can accommodate the activities that will take place on the porch. If you have a pool, look at designs that accommodate pool activities, and materials that can handle the moisture. If you plan on having meals on the porch, think about space for a table and chairs, as well as useful features like a serving table or a grill nook. The porch design you choose should best suit you and your family's needs, so consider who is most likely to use the porch and for what purposes.

The best porch design will enable you and guests to enter and exit the porch to and from useful or pleasing parts of the yard. An elevated porch will need a stairway down to the yard, and a ground level porch may need stairs to the house. Think about where you want people to enter and exit the porch from, as well as where you want guests or family members to sit. Consider the views from your porch: you want your porch design to take advantage of the scenery in the yard, and you don't want your porch to be an obstruction of views from inside the house or other parts of the yard.

Finally, the best porch design will take safety into consideration. Sturdy railings are important, especially if children will be frequenting the porch. Supporting beams and posts should be securely fastened to concrete footings, and the porch itself should be securely fastened to the house. Be sure the porch designs you consider take safety into account first. You might consider environmentally friendly materials as well, as some porch designs will use wood treatments that are less harmful to the environment, and types of wood that have less of a negative impact.