Porch Construction

Getting the proportions right before anything is framed

A porch that looks added on usually has the right parts in the wrong sizes. The columns are too thin for the roof they carry, the roof pitch fights the main roof, or the porch is so shallow it holds a single row of chairs. On a colonial, a Cape, a Victorian or a farmhouse, the porch should read as part of the original design, and that starts on paper.

We look at the house first: the window and door spacing on the wall the porch will cover, the eave height, the roof pitch, the trim style already on the house. Column spacing usually lines up with the openings behind it. The porch roof pitch is set so it clears the second-floor windows and drains properly. Depth is set by how you will use it, a pair of rockers or a table for six, and by what looks right against the facade.

Before we price the build you will see a layout with those decisions drawn out, and we walk the site with you so you can picture where the columns land and how far the roof comes out.

Wraparound porches add a corner to solve. Where the porch turns the corner of the house, the roof needs a hip or a valley, the beam has to carry across the corner without a post blocking the view, and the floor framing changes direction. It is the most demanding version of the job and worth drawing carefully.

Frost footings so the porch never pulls away from the house

The house sits on a foundation that does not move with the seasons. A porch on shallow blocks or posts set in the dirt does move, rising a little each winter as the ground freezes and settling back in spring. Over a few years that heave opens the joint where the porch roof meets the house, cracks the flashing and lets water into the wall.

Porch footings in Massachusetts go below frost depth, commonly about four feet, on undisturbed soil. Each footing is sized for the load it carries, and the town inspects the holes before concrete goes in. Posts sit on hardware that keeps the wood off the concrete, so end grain is not sitting in standing water.

If there is an old porch or a set of brick steps where the new porch will go, we look at what is under it before we decide what can stay. Old stone or brick steps often sit on rubble with no footing at all, and building a new porch on top of them simply passes the movement up into the new work.

Steve stays involved through the whole job, punch list included, and you always know who to call.

Where the porch roof meets the house wall

This joint is the one that leaks on bad porches. We remove the siding along the line where the porch roof ties in, fasten a ledger or the rafter framing to the house structure, and flash it so water running down the wall is turned out over the porch roof rather than behind it. Step flashing and counterflashing go in where the porch roof meets a sloped wall or the main roof.

Porch roofs are often lower in pitch than the main roof, and low pitches need the right underlayment. In New England we plan for ice. Where the porch roof sits under a main roof that sheds snow, or meets the house in a valley, ice and water membrane runs well up the slope so ice dams do not back water under the shingles.

Gutters and downspouts get planned with the roof, not added after. Water coming off a porch roof should land somewhere that drains away from both the porch footings and the house foundation.

Columns, floor framing and railings built for weather

Columns carry the roof and set the character of the porch. Built-up columns can be wrapped in trim to match a colonial, turned columns suit a Victorian, and square tapered columns suit a Craftsman. Whatever the style, the column base needs to shed water and breathe, because a column that rots from the bottom up takes the beam with it.

The porch floor is framed with a slight slope away from the house so rain blowing in drains off. Tongue-and-groove porch flooring is the traditional finish on older houses, and it needs to be primed on all sides and ventilated underneath to last. On some homes a decking material makes more sense, and we will lay out the trade-offs honestly.

Railings follow the code for guard height and baluster spacing where the floor is high enough to require them, and we design the rail profile so it suits the house rather than looking like a stock deck rail bolted to a porch.

Ceilings finish the porch overhead. A beadboard or tongue-and-groove ceiling is traditional on New England porches, and it hides the rafters, gives a place for a light or fan box and keeps birds from nesting in the framing. Wiring for porch lights and outlets is done by a licensed electrician and planned before the ceiling closes, so nothing ends up in surface conduit.

Permits, inspections and keeping you posted

A roofed porch attached to the house is a structure, and it is permitted through the town building department under 780 CMR. Zoning setbacks apply too, and a front porch can run into them faster than people expect. Inside a local historic district, the commission reviews the design before work starts. We handle the applications and tell you plainly if any of them change the plan.

Inspections typically follow the work: footing holes, framing, then a final. You get a written scope before we start, and during the build you hear from us about what is happening that week and anything we found. When a change comes up, it is priced and agreed in writing before it is built. The site is picked up at the end of each day, and the lawn and plantings along the house are protected while we work.

Steve stays involved through the whole job, punch list included, and you always know who to call. If weather holds up the roof or a material is late, you hear about it from us the day we know, along with what it means for the rest of the work. When the porch is done, we walk it with you, go over the finishes and the upkeep they need, and the job is not finished until it is right.

See the rest of our exterior work, or browse the gallery for rooms we have finished.