Screened Porches
source: Flickr – drothamel
A screened porch is a great place to relax and enjoy the view. Whether you’re looking to screen in an existing porch or you’re thinking of building one from scratch, with the help of a professional carpenter you’ll be able to enjoy the cool air and pleasant breeze from outside, while protecting yourself from bugs and rain. Carpenters in New Orleans, Louisiana and other warm cities across the country say a screened porch is great for enjoying quiet evenings; and in colder climates as well, it’s a wonderful bug-free way to spend summer days either alone or with your family.
What’s Involved?
Building a screened porch is a complex task, much like adding on a new room to your home. It will need a foundation, a floor, posts, beams and a complete roof. In addition, you’ll probably want molding and trimming to cover up the screened panels. While most screens will protect you from mild rain, severe rain will probably enter the porch, as well as moisture during cold, humid months. Therefore, your porch’s floor will need to be made with either pressure-treated wood or some other waterproof material such as stone.
How Big Should it Be?
If you’re having a screened porch built from scratch, it’s important to select the right size. Many people make the mistake of underestimating their needs because an open space looks larger than a closed-in one. Therefore, professional carpenters recommend placing tables and chairs in the area where you’re planning on building the porch, and seeing how much space you’ll need around them. This will give you a realistic idea of the size of a functional screened porch for your home.
Screens
There are many types of screens available, including aluminum, fiberglass and steel. Aluminum is rustproof, and one of the most popular screen materials around. Fiberglass is inexpensive, rustproof, and also very popular; though it can tear easily. Steel screens are also very popular and are strong and durable, but they’re relatively expensive.
Removable Screens
Whether you’re having a new porch constructed or you’re just looking to install screening on an existing porch, it’s usually possible to put in custom-built, removable screens. These are screens in frames that can be attached to your porch’s horizontal beams and vertical posts, and removed when not needed. The benefit of these is that you can take down the screening and have a perfect view when there are no bugs around, or you can replace the screens with plastic windows during the winter, making your porch fit for all seasons.
Tips
You can have an electrician install an overhead fan for those hot months, as well as lighting for reading and dining in your screened porch. In colder areas, people like to install fireplaces in screened porches, both to make it usable for more seasons, as well as to create a more cozy and inviting feeling.
If the porch is being built in front of a wall with a window, make sure the porch wall opposite your home wall also has a window so that the view from indoors is not obstructed. Lastly, make sure to hire a licensed professional who has experience in building screened porches and knows the zoning codes of the area.
Mark Stevens is a writer from New Jersey who has written over 100 home improvement articles. Want to ask Mark something? Send him a message.
