The porch is a functionally significant element of the architectural ensemble of a country house, which, in addition to its practical purpose, performs an aesthetic function, emphasizing the beauty of the entire building. Acting as the front part of the building, the porch of a private house can tell a lot about its owner: about his tastes, attitude to his land, material wealth. That is why many of us try to decorate the facade of the house so that it stands out from the others. And even if at the construction stage the owner does not have the opportunity to attach a beautiful wooden porch to the house, he can always realize the desired after a while.
Porch Design Options
The porch of a wooden house is an extension in front of the entrance to the building, which serves as a transition from ground to floor.
Since the height difference between the ground and the floor often reaches from 50 to 200 and even more centimeters, the porch is equipped with a staircase laid out from the steps
The practical function of the porch is also that the wooden extension is designed to protect the front door of the house from snow and rain. Therefore, the platform adjacent to the front door is also equipped with a canopy. Depending on the shape and purpose of the porch may have one of the design options, consider some of them.
Option # 1 - an open area on the steps
The compact platform with adjacent steps acts as an excellent complement to the architectural ensemble of a one- and two-story wooden house of small sizes
Option # 2 - site with partially closed walls
When arranging a porch located on a small elevation, low fences perform a protective function, protecting against falls and possible injuries.
On the porch, whose height does not exceed a half meter, such railings and partially closed walls act more as a decorative design
Option # 3 - porch closed execution
The owners of country houses most often equip a glazed porch if they have the opportunity to erect a more spacious area in front of the entrance.
The space of such a porch - a veranda, furnished with comfortable garden furniture, allows you to receive guests and enjoy a pleasant vacation in the fresh air
Self-construction of a wooden porch
Stage # 1 - building design
Before proceeding with the construction of the porch to the house, it is important to determine not only the size of the structure, but also to consider the presence of steps, the height of the handrails and the general appearance of the porch.
A detailed project of the future design or at least a drawing of the porch will allow you to visually draw up an idea and calculate the required amount of material
When designing a structure, a number of points should be taken into account:
- The width of the porch platform should be no less than one and a half width of the front door. The porch is located on the same level as the ground floor of the building. In this case, a margin of 5 cm from the level of the porch area for the front door should be provided. This will subsequently avoid difficulties in case of deformation of the surface of the wooden platform under the influence of moisture when opening the front door. Indeed, according to fire safety requirements, the front door should only open outward.
- The number of steps is calculated with reference to the fact that when lifting, a person steps on the porch area leading to the front door, with the foot with which he began to move. When arranging the porch in a country house, they usually do three, five and seven steps. The optimal size of the steps: a height of 15-20 cm, and a depth of 30 cm.
- Wooden steps leading to the porch should be placed at a slight slope of a few degrees. This will prevent stagnation of puddles after rain or melting ice in the cold season.
- It is advisable to provide for the installation of a canopy that protects the front door from precipitation. The presence of fences and railings will facilitate the ascent and descent of the stairs, which is especially true in the winter, when the surface is covered with ice crust. From the point of view of ergonomics, the most comfortable for a person railing height is 80-100 cm.
- When building a porch, it should also be borne in mind that when connecting an extension to a monolithic building, it is extremely undesirable to connect the building structures tightly. This is due to the fact that the house and the porch, having different weights, create different shrinkage. This can cause cracking and deformation at the joints.
Stage # 2 - preparation of materials and construction of the foundation
To make a wooden porch, you will need materials:
- A beam with a cross section of 100x200 mm for the installation of support poles;
- Boards with a thickness of 30 mm for the arrangement of the site and steps;
- 50 mm slats for side racks and railings;
- Antiseptics for surface treatment of wood;
- Cement mortar.
From building tools should be prepared:
- Saw or jigsaw;
- Hammer;
- Level;
- Screwdriver;
- Fixing materials (nails, screws);
- Shovel.
The construction of any building structure begins with laying the foundation.
The best option for laying a reliable and durable support for the construction of a wooden porch to the house is the construction of a pile foundation
Unlike traditional concrete types of foundations, the pile foundation does not require large financial costs for construction. In addition, it is quite simple to install: any owner with basic construction skills will be able to build a pile foundation.
Wooden bars intended for supports should be treated with antiseptic compounds before installation. This helps prevent rotting of the wood and extend the life of the supporting structure. In the places of installation of the supports, we dig out pits with a depth of 80 cm, the bottom of which is lined with a sand and gravel "pillow".
After aligning the base, we install vertically supporting posts, leveling them according to the level, check the height, and only after that fill it with cement mortar
The height of the piles should be calculated taking into account that even after the platform has laid on them, the distance to the door should be at least 5 cm.
Pouring vertically mounted support poles with cement mortar, wait for it to completely dry. Only after that we fix the extreme row of support posts to the wall of the house using self-tapping screws. This will significantly increase the strength of the structure. Logs are laid horizontally directly on the support posts.
Stage # 3 - making a kosour and installing steps
To equip the flight of stairs, you will need to make a special inclined board - a kosour or a bowstring.
The flight of stairs can have two design options: with incised steps or with ledges cut out
Using a special triangular pattern we make recesses for a bowstring. You can also make such a template yourself by cutting a blank from thick cardboard. One of the sides of the pattern corresponds to the horizontal part of the future steps - tread, and the second vertical - the riser. The number of steps depends on the size of the porch area and the expected load that they will have to withstand.
Having calculated the required number and size of steps, on the board we carry out the marking of the profile of the future bowstring. As a basis for the manufacture of a bowstring, it is better to use unedged lumber, which is an order of magnitude wider than conventional edged boards.
To fix the bottom of the bowstring, it is necessary to fill in the concrete support platform. To protect the lower stage from rising steam from the ground with the upper layer, it is desirable to line the vapor barrier.
At this stage of construction, it is also necessary to provide a “cushion” device to remove excess moisture
Having poured the supporting platform with cement mortar, we wait for the base to completely dry and only after that we proceed to the installation of the bowstring. We fix them on the supports using self-tapping screws or nails. The distance between the bowstrings should not exceed one and a half meters.
Stage # 4 - assembly of the wooden structure
We attach ready-made kosour by means of sawing, or using the thorn-groove method, we attach to the platform lags. To do this, we fix the boards with grooves to the area beam so that subsequently the spikes of the bowstring are inserted into the grooves of the board.
After that, we proceed to the installation of the wooden floor of the site. When laying boards, it is advisable to fit them as tightly as possible. This will further avoid the formation of large gaps in the drying process of wood.
The final step in the assembly of the wooden porch is the installation of steps and risers
We start laying from the bottom step, performing the fastening by the “tongue-and-groove” method and additionally fixing them with self-tapping screws. First we attach the riser, and then tread on it.
The porch is almost ready. It remains only to make a railing and equip the canopy. To give the design a more attractive and complete look, it is enough to cover the surface with varnish or paint.
Porch device videos
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