Summer, cottage, vacation - what could be better? Moreover, the country house has already been built, and there is a place where you can have a good rest with family members and friends. But the porch near the house is temporary, and it looks kind of unfinished … How to make a porch with a canopy with your own hands? In the article, your attention will be presented with options for solving this problem.
What is a porch?
Porch - an external extension in front of the front door of the house. This is a functionally necessary part of any building, which is designed to ensure the comfort of the visitor's transition from ground level to the floor plane of the first or basement floor.
In fact, this is a platform located directly in front of the entrance to the building, to which steps lead. It should be large enough to comfortably accommodate several people. Above the porch, it is desirable to equip a canopy that protects it and the people on it from precipitation.
Where to start building a porch?
How to make a porch with a canopy with your own hands? First, you should carefully plan the stages of work, then considerthe design of the porch, its appearance, dimensions and proportions, the number and parameters of steps, the presence and height of handrails, other details. In particular, it is desirable that the porch has an odd number of steps. In this case, at the entrance, a person steps onto the porch platform with the same foot with which he began to rise.
It is ergonomically recommended to choose the height of the steps from 15 to 20 centimeters, and the depth - about 30. With large values of the indicated parameters, it will become less comfortable to walk.
Overall porch design
It is recommended to choose it based on several factors. To begin with, it should be remembered that the porch is an architectural element of the building, which must be final in the design of the external appearance of the building. Therefore, its design should be consistent with the overall design of the building and the surrounding landscape. The material from which the porch is made must be in harmony with the material of the cladding of the building.
So, for wooden buildings (from timber or rounded logs) a wooden porch looks better. For buildings made of brick or building blocks, it is advisable to make a porch from the appropriate material or from metal.
The cover of the canopy should also be chosen according to the roof material of the building. An alternative option is a polycarbonate structure (solid or honeycomb), which is matched to the color of the main roof of the building.
Porch features
When deciding how to make a porch with a canopy with your own hands, it is important to consider the following features.
It is appropriate when building a porch to form a slope of steps a few degrees away from the building. This ensures the natural removal of precipitation water from surfaces.
Often the porch is fenced with railings. This element is optional and justifies itself for a relatively high structure (from a meter and above). For a low extension, railings are often redundant. In any case, the choice of railing height from 0.8 to 1.0 m is ergonomically justified. If there are children of preschool age among the residents of the house, then it is advisable to equip additional railings at a lower height.
For ease of use, the porch can be equipped with such an optional element as a bench.
In relation to the size of the site, there are no standards and rules for all occasions. It must correspond to the functional purpose, which is determined by the owner of the building. If the matter is only in the comfort of the entrance, then 2 - 4 square meters are enough. m. If there is an additional function of a seating area (in fact, a purpose combined with a veranda), then a larger area should be allocated to accommodate appropriate furniture, green plantings in pots or flowerpots, and other interior elements, to ensure free movement of visitors between them. By the way, before solving the problem of how to make a porch with a canopy with your own hands, it is very useful to look at photos of already completed options.
Foundation
The practical implementation of the construction of the porch begins with the foundation. It should cover the entire porch area plus a flight of stairs. One of the options is the arrangement of the foundation immediately during the construction of the house. In this case, its material and method of arrangement can be chosen identical to the foundation of the building. Although it is not recommended to make a single foundation for the porch and the house. The fact is that in terms of its weight and, consequently, in terms of the load on the soil, the porch is clearly less than the building itself. Therefore, during the operation of the building, when the soil shrinks under the foundation, the amount of this shrinkage will be different for the building and the porch. As a result, a single foundation will crack and receive other flaws.
Another, more preferred option for arranging the foundation is to make it separate from the main foundation of the house. In this case, its type and implementation features must be calculated separately, depending on the parameters of the porch itself.
So, a columnar foundation is suitable for a wooden product, and for a brick or reinforced concrete one, it is better to choose a tape version. In any case, as with every foundation, it is advisable to lower the support points below the freezing level of the soil in your area. This will allow the operation of the building to avoid trouble caused by heaving of the soil.
How to make a porch with a canopy with your own hands from metal?
After completing the foundation, you can begin to arrange the steps. For porch with metal canopyit is better to make steps from concrete or brick. The features of the arrangement of concrete steps are: the manufacture of formwork, the mandatory reinforcement of each step with a frame with a rod thickness of 10 mm and the sequential pouring of each step after the previous one has hardened. At the same time, it is better to concrete the metal poles to support the canopy above the porch when arranging the foundation. External decoration of steps can be done with ceramic or porcelain tiles, it is necessary for outdoor work, so that it does not collapse during operation from natural influences.
Brick steps are made of solid bricks sequentially from step to step, leaving the same gap between the bricks and making the seams offset, as in ordinary brickwork. In this case, you should not use red brick, which, under the influence of temperature and humidity changes, begins to crumble and crumble over time.
The metal parts of the canopy over the porch are made similarly to the metal elements already used in the design of the house, fence and landscape. This allows you to maintain a single style and exterior of the building. The canopy over the porch is made in the style of the existing roof of the building using the same coating or polycarbonate with a thickness of at least 8 mm. The size of the canopy should be such that it protrudes 50 cm beyond the edges of the porch area, providing better protection from atmospheric precipitation for both the structure itself and the people on it.
How to make a wooden porch withDIY canopy?
Wooden porch is perfect for a structure made of logs or timber, as well as for frame. The features of the construction of the structure are the use of a lightweight concrete foundation, the fastening of a stepped wooden box on it, the treatment of wooden parts in contact with concrete with bitumen or machine oil (to extend the service life).
Another way is to use the so-called stringers - reinforced concrete beams located at an angle to the soil, on which the steps are mounted. It is important to provide waterproofing of the foundation and supports for stringers. Between themselves, the latter are fastened with a support board, fixed with spikes, and they are attached to the foundation of the building by cutting them out.
In both cases, it is better to fix the porch platform on the beams protruding from the foundation of the building. The canopy over the porch is mounted using wooden supports and rafters. Decorating pillars with carvings, similar to decorating other elements of the house, will help maintain the overall style of the building.
Other Features
How to make a porch with a canopy with your own hands in the country? You can use the suggestions above. The main thing is to remember that this design should not only successfully fulfill its main function, but also serve as a decoration for a country house.
How to make a porch with a canopy with your own hands on the north side? In this case, it is advisable to provide a translucent polycarbonate shade in the general style of home decoration as a material for covering the canopy, as well as additional lighting used in the dark.days.
Thus, the article provides information on resolving the issue of how to make a porch with a canopy with your own hands. We hope you find them useful.
