How to Add a Porch to a Front Stoop
If your front entry is nothing more than a stoop, you may want to add a porch to make your home more inviting. While you may dream of lazing away summer days sipping lemonade and chatting with the neighbors, there are some practical considerations. A porch addition needs a building permit and multiple inspections; it must blend in seamlessly with the rest of the house; and since it will have a roof, it will take away some of the sunlight that currently comes in the front windows. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Pencil and paper
- Building permit
- Two 2- by 10-inch ledger boards
- 2-by-4s
- Measuring tape
- Stakes
- Hammer
- Post hole digger
- Shovel
- Level
- Carpenter's square
- Concrete
- Concrete piers
- Black plastic or gravel
- Circular saw
- Hack saw
- Stud finder
- Floor joists
- Joist hangers & nails
- Lag bolts
- 4-by-4 inch posts
- Decking material
- Decking nails or screws
- Columns
- Rim joist
- Scissor trusses
- Roofing nails
- Plywood
- Flashing or waterproof rubber membrane
- Roofing felt & tacks
- Shingles
- Decorative trim
- Railing
- Paint and brushes
Instructions
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Build the Porch Deck
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1
Draw up the final plans and get a building permit. Keep in mind that the porch should match the existing roof pitch and style of the home and be functional without being too big or too small.
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2
Nail up a temporary guide board where the porch will tie into the house, at the approximate correct height, which will be determined by the door entry. Set an outline board at the end away from the doorway to determine the shape of the porch. Once you've defined the corners, place a stake at each end and check that the corners are square.
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3
Dig footing holes to the depth required by the building codes in your area. These footers should be spaced at least every 8 feet, or closer, if your building codes require it. Dig the holes wider at the bottom to provide an anchor for the footer.
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4
Fill the holes with concrete and level the concrete using a 2-by-4. Embed a concrete pier in each footer, check that it's level, and finish with a hand float. Let the concrete cure for several days.
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5
Lay down black plastic or gravel to impede weed growth under the porch.
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6
Cut away the siding on the house so the ledger board can be adhered directly to the house's frame. Find the studs and mark them.
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7
Cut a ledger board to the length of the porch. Mark off every 16 inches and attach joist hangers to the board. Attach this board to the house using lag bolts at each stud location.
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8
Set a joist into the joist hanger at the far end of the porch. Set a temporary brace at the outside edge and measure the distance from the concrete pier to the bottom of the joist. Cut a post to fit. Do the same at each footer.
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9
Attach joist hangers to an outside ledger board, called a rim joist. Lay the rim joist across the posts and lay the joists into their hangers. Nail the joists into place. Nail the rim joist to the footer posts.
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10
Nail or screw the decking materials into place. Nail columns onto the decking and brace them temporarily.
Add a Roof
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11
Nail up an outside joist between the columns.
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12
Set prefabricated scissor trusses every 24 inches. Nail them to the existing roof and to the outside joist and brace them together. Be sure these trusses are long enough for the porch to have a 1- to 2-foot overhang.
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13
Nail down sheets of plywood over the trusses. Add flashing or a rubber waterproof membrane in every valley of the porch roof, and where the porch roof ties into the house roof.
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14
Cover the plywood with roofing felt and shingles that match the existing roof.
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15
Close in the porch ceiling with plywood or bead board. Trim the porch using decorative trim that matches the rest of the house.
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16
Nail porch railings in between the columns and paint the porch.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Add plants around the porch to complete the look.
References
- Photo Credit front porch image by Steve Lovegrove from Fotolia.com
