A porch is a roof, a floor, and a promise that the rain goes somewhere else. The difference between a porch that keeps that promise for thirty years and one that rots in five comes down to slope and flashing, the two details we're most stubborn about.
Where porches go wrong (and how we don't)
Almost every failed porch we've been called to fix had the same two problems:
- Not enough slope. A covered floor still gets wind-blown rain. The deck boards and the roof both need fall away from the house, a quarter inch per foot minimum on the floor. Water that can't leave, stays, and wood that stays wet, rots.
- Bad or missing flashing where the porch roof meets the wall. Caulk is not flashing. We step-flash and counter-flash that joint the way a roofer would, because a slow leak into your wall sheathing is the most expensive kind of cheap.
Get those two right, use treated framing and rated hardware, and a porch becomes the lowest-maintenance structure on your property.
What we build
- Shed porches: a covered extension off a custom shed, turning storage into a place to sit. Our 10x20 shed-with-porch builds are some of our favorite projects.
- House porches: front stoops to full-width covered porches, framed into the existing roofline or built with a clean offset roof.
- Porch conversions: screening in an existing porch, replacing rotted framing, or putting a real roof over an uncovered stoop.
Materials and finish
Floors in treated decking or composite; posts wrapped or exposed, sized to look right for the roof they carry (a 4x4 post under a big roof looks wrong because it is wrong); ceilings in beadboard or smooth panel; and a shingle or metal roof matched to the house. Paint and stain to match your existing trim. A porch should look like it was part of the original build, not an addition.
Pricing, honestly
The price moves with footprint, roof complexity, and how the porch attaches to the existing structure. A straight-gable porch on a new shed is the simple end; a wraparound tied into two rooflines is the other. Every quote is itemized so you can see exactly where the money goes, and the quote itself is free.