Porch addition- opinions and advice please!

USNrider

We are considering adding a porch on the front of our house and I'm fairly confident I can tackle it with some help from a few friends that are also the DIY type.



The addition would be approximately 20 wide and 7 feet deep. We will effectively pull the gable above the front door and living room window out 7 feet and pour a concrete slab. Not in that order obviously.

Question, is adding the roof section as simple as removing the current siding to the framing then building off of that? I'm thinking glue/screw a new roof gable to the existing one, then just building out. The roof would be supported by 4x4 posts on the concrete slab(3 or 4), with a support across the front and one along each side connecting to the house. The only thing I haven't figured out in my brain is the tie in to the siding where the white aluminum clad trim is. Since I dont have a brake I'll probably have to find someone to do the work, but its such a smal amount I hope I can find someone willing to do it without charging an arm and a leg.

I've already received one quote for this job and while its close to what I expected it to be it is higher than I want to pay. Labor isn't cheap.

tylernt

Sounds like a good project that will enhance the looks and value of your home! You should have your architect spec out all those engineering details in your plans, as your AHJ will want to see a copy of those anyway when you apply for your permit.

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joecaption

One big issue your going to be dealing with is with the homes roofing having such a low slope is trying to get enough slope on the porch roof to be able to use shingles on it.
Sure looks like from here you would have to run the new roof all the way to the peak of the old roof.

GBrackins

joe,

I think he's planning on running the existing gable (on left side) out the 7'

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Gary

"You get what you pay for, and sometimes free costs more!"

USNrider

Yep, planning on extening the existing gable with the same slope and all so it looks seamless and like its been there since the house was built.

GBrackins

USN,

some things you may want to find out and/or consider:

1. check with your building department to determine if you have a minimum depth of foundation/footing. if you have a minimum frost depth then the support for the columns would have to meet that depth. A slab may not be sufficient for compliance. Also check and see if you are required to file for a building permit.

2. I foresee (2) 7' beams that run from the existing dwelling to your proposed columns. The beam must be capable of supporting not only the weight of the roof (live & dead loads) but the connection should be able to resist any lateral loads from wind. Check with your building department to determine what your live load requirement is. Dead load is based upon the actual weight of the materials. Probably a two-ply 2x8 or 2x10 would work, the building department may be able to help with this determination.

3. the beam to dwelling connection should not be made into the brick veneer as veneer cannot properly support the load. The beam should be supported by a solid or built-up column in the existing wood framed wall.

4. you should use metal connectors for the column-to-foundation & column-to-beam connections. these connectors will resist the uplift and lateral forces.

5. depending on your wind load you may need to install lateral bracing at the columns to prevent swaying of the roof. columns may need to be increased to 6x6 based upon lateral loads.

Just some stuff to think about.

Good luck!

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Gary

"You get what you pay for, and sometimes free costs more!"

USNrider

Thats for the advice.

I've already called to verify the setback and it is good as long. As a matter of fact I could go as far as 10 feet without having to apply for a variance, just figure a 7 foot deep porch would liook nice and not out of place. I don't really want it to look like a room addition as it will never be enclosed.
I am already planning on putting footings in for the supports. Just have to decide if I'm going to locate the footings only where the supports are of put in a footing around the perimeter of the slab to allow for a much more solid foundation. Cost will go up and it may be overkill so I'll talk to the building office when I draft up my plans.
The house connection makes sense and I was thinking I would tie into the house above the brick but below the roof line. Not sure how easy it is to see but there is about 8-10 inch trim board up there. Thats what I'm unsure of on the attachment but it sounds like I'll have to cut into it to see if it can support the weight and connection or add a post closer to the house on each end to help support the weight.
As far as the metal connectors and strapping. Hadn't even gotten to that stage of thinking yet so thanks for the reminder. I obviously don't want this thing to fall apart in from teh first wind gust that hits it.

hand drive

the new roof will need to have the weight placed on the exterior wall of your house,placed above the right side of the big living room window. house soffit will need to come down to accommodate new roof line and then soffit re built on out side of new porch. If you do a ridge roof beam you can have vaulted ceilings under the porch, otherwise you will have a flat ceiling under the porch...

you might need to use something other than shingles for the roof because it looks like a low roof pitch...

Christopherr

**oops after re-reading I see you aren't enclosing your porch. So if you are extending 7' you'll probably need some kind of support. You could extend without supports easily 3', that's what I had. I extended my roof out with 2x6's tied into the old rafters, they wouldn't be able to hold their own but they were going onto an outside wall anyway. You might have better luck, maybe if you double up and sandwhich and bolt instead of nail your extension trusses you could do it. But I must say 7' will really reduce your slope, just make sure you use that thick rubber icegaurd barrier under the shingles. You can read what I originally wrote below just for interest sakes



I took on the same type of project 2yrs ago.

I have a low slope roof, so I had to worry about that also. I kept the slope as steep as I could so there was room for the door to open (door was on the sloped side, probably would have been easier on the end side). It worked out quite well, the roof ended up being slightly shallower but still a decent slope. Under the shingles I used something called icegaurd or raingaurd it was a 1/16 or 1/8" thick piece of rubber about 3 feet wide that I ran the length of the mudroom. That way if any snow backed up or wicked up melting water underneath the shingles I know it won't get through. No leak problems at all to date.

But Basically there was already a cement pad 16' x 5' slightly smaller than you are doing and I just enclosed it. I used 2x4 walls because I wanted to maximize the inside space, in hindsight I should have built it with 2x6's - I wouldn't have noticed the extra 2 inches, but it is a nice room.

good luck with your project.