Planning A Front Porch Addition
A front porch addition is a great way to increase the value of your home, but even if you’re not planning on selling anytime soon, an addition can increase your living space to help accommodate a number of needs. Front porch additions can be turned into a guest room, a craft room, an office or a cozy sunroom, among other options.
But, before you can begin reaping the advantages of the extra space, you’ll have to consider certain aspects of the room during the planning stages. Here are some tips to help you plan your front porch addition.
First, you’re going to need utilities in the space. This may result in having to relocate the existing electrical circuits or installing brand new wiring. Depending on how the addition is going to be used, you may also want to have a phone line or cable line run to accommodate an office setup. If you are planning a sunroom or craft room, you may require plumbing as well. Keep in mind, if you’re planning on moving your laundry appliances to the new addition, you will probably need a gas line run to the area.
Having utilities run to your front porch addition may require certain structural changes to your existing property, but if you choose to forego the utilities, your new room will fail to meet all of its potential.
You will also want to consider the lighting when planning your front porch addition. If you are creating a craft room, plenty of natural light from large windows and skylights will be appreciated during the day. But, if the room is going to be a guest room, you may want to ensure a little more privacy by reducing the number of windows or skylights.
Since the addition is being built new, you will have to decide on a heat source for the room. This can be accomplished by routing one or more furnace ducts to the area or installing an alternative source of heat such as radiant floor heating or electric baseboard heat. If your home has central air conditioning, running ducts to the room will satisfy both your heating and cooling needs, but it may present the most problems as far as installation is concerned, so choose wisely.
