Help making a porch.?
Question:I want to make my small back porch bigger, but I have no idea where or how to start. Right now its a perfect square about 12 x 12. Can anyone give me step-by-step instructions & what tools I will need to make this easy? Thanks in advance!
Answers:
It depends on how high your porch is off the ground i figure you can either pour concrete if its low or get house blocks if its regular height and buy some lumber,nails,hammer,circular saw,saw horses.But most Lumber companies have free pampletsthey give their customers with building plans on it especially for small jobs like this.oh yeah you will also need a level.
You neglect to say if its a wooden porch or poured cement slab. Please distinguish, because the work and tools are quite different.
Without the detail of knowing the current construction, ground or slab its on, height off the ground it is, it will be difficult to advise.
If it's any distance above ground level the ground under should be prepared for the addition. That could mean digging holes to fill with concrete as support footers, getting treated 4 x 4 lumber for the supports, pier block perhaps with 4 x 4 brackets embedded, 2 x 6-8-10 lumber for deck/porch supports, and support bracing, decking material, galvanized screws, and tools.
Obviously if you're interested in the aesthetics of the add on, you should use the same "flooring" material as currently exists.
You can tie the addition into the existing porch with appropriate sized "ledgers" bolted into what supports the top deck of the porch now, frame out whatever size you want to add on, attach the framing to the 4 x 4's and add the top.
Beyond that suggestion it seems a bit pointless to detail every conceiveable type of porch construction, No offense.
Steven Wolf
Before you do anything on this project , check with the building department of the town you live in and see if a permit is needed to build your porch.
Many a person has built a structure without a permit and many a person has been required to tear down that structure. No kidding.
So check first.
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