If you consider yourself to be quite the handyman and have been looking for the next challenging project, look no further than adding a screened in porch to your house. While this project sounds a little daunting, with a little time, a little no-how and a lot of patience, you could build it yourself. A screened porch will be a great place to sip some ice cold lemonade in the summer away from those pesky insects. Your family will truly enjoy this addition to your architectural house plans.
The most common method of adding a screened porch is to begin with an already beloved patio slab of concrete. With many people have concrete porches in their front or backyards, this step is already taken care of. If you happen to have a deck made from wood or some other material, you will have to start by pouring your slab of concrete. Some people are confident with their abilities to lay out and form the patio in preparation for the concrete to be circulated. If you do not want to handle this part of the job, hire a contractor to come in and make sure everything is level and good to go with drainage and such.
Many house plans with porches come with roofs overtop. If your porch already has a roof, you are ready to begin framing in the sides for your screen. If you do not have a roof, you will need to get started building one. Start your construction of the front wall first, then move to the side walls. Keep in mind that the roof should end up falling about one foot beyond the walls. Once you have the base for the roof, it is time to decide what type of roofing to use. The most common method is to use the same material used for the rest of your home.
After your walls are done it is time to get on with the screening. This is the easiest part of the job. All you have to do is buy your screen in a big roll of screen at your local hardware store. Simply stretch the screen around each section of the wall and staple it down. The most important part will be to make sure that the screen does not sag or wrinkle. Do this by working from the middle of the bottom edge and work toward each side. Once you are finished cover up the staples with whatever you see fit. Your farm house plans will finally feel complete with your new addition that you built all by yourself!