Suggestions on covered front porch

House Repair Talk

Help Support House Repair Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

blacknblue

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2013
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Hey guys, new guys here. Me and my wife just had a 27x60 modular home installed. We are looking to add a covered front porch this spring and am looking for suggestions. I cant afford a contractor for the whole job so most of it will be done by ourselves. But we have access to plenty of experience help. Im looking for suggestions of a porch that wont break the bank but will last. we are gonna be in this place forever so we want something that will last. As for the main porch we are looking at either concrete or composite borards? whats your opinions there. The Roof of the porch is something else we are not sure about. What do you guys think would work best on a 5/12 pitch roof. Thanks

house_zps9955d28a.jpg
 
Something like this and welcome to the site.
The post required for the roof will also support a wood or ? deck

gable porch.jpg
 
What are you going to use it for? That will determine what you need.
 
I guess i should have worded it composite decking instead of composite board. Id say its main use will be just to improve the looks of the home and decoration. We are gonna be putting an attached garage on the house so once thats done than 90% of the time we will be entering the house through the garage. If i done something like is picutred above would i just build a frame, or would i need to purchase truss' for better supposrt. We dont get a whole lot of heavey snow. The snow in my picture is one of the biggest we have had in a while.
 
The hardest part of the whole job will be digging down past the frost line and placing a footing and sono tub in and filling it with concrete, one for each post.
If your happy with the 5/12 you could have the porch almost 27 ft wide with out going higher than the original roof peak.
To make thing go a whole lot easier you start 9 1/4 inches higher than the wall, which will make the max width a little less
If you want to go higher pitch, the width gets smaller.
As far a cost goes, anybodys guess, if you come up with some measurements, we can work out a material list for you to price out.
 
Before I forget I first want to say thanks for your help nealtw. As far as the measurements I would like to do it 27x6. The 5/12 pitch is fine. If I go with truss' how far should they be spaced? 24 inches on center? Also Im sure I can only use the truss' from the house wall out, correct? What do i do to connect to my current roof, construct a frame? Now you say raise it up 9 1/4. Im guessing you mean set the bottom of my truss 9 1/4 higher than the lowest point on my house roof (where the gutter runs Im guessing?) Im sorry for all the questions just not a builder and looking to learn. Thanks
 
The truss company will designe the trusses and placement acording to the snow load in your area. Usually they are 24" on center.
On new houses you would install a beam on top of the end posts back to the house. The beam would be 2 2x10s. On the house end the beam extends into the wall and is supported be extra studs. Most times people don't want to rip into the house to put in the extra studs. So the trick is to cut into the old roof and set the beams on top of the wall. With a little tinkering with the truss company envolving seat cut hight and tail length, the roof can still work out so the gutter height is right.
What happen at the wall is, everything between the beams is removed back to flush with wall to make room for the last truss.
The part on the roof is also supplied by the truss company, they are called a valley set. They are just triangles the set on the old roof every 2 feet, each one smaller than the last one.
The beams still need solid bearing in the wall, the best way to be sure of that is to line them up with a joining wall on the inside.
If you can't find a wall that helps with that, it gets a little tricky. We have done it defferent ways depending on the house, most times you remove some drywall to put some studs in. And if you have to do that then you could lower the beams down to level with the wall.
I hope some of that makes sence. Don't be afraid to ask, there are no dumb questions.
 
Before getting too far along with the project, you need to contact your local AHJ (people in charge of building permits). Most parts of the country have rather strict rules regarding any modifications to modular homes, because of complications when trying to "blend" 2 separate building codes. My neighbor here in Oregon wanted to build an attached garage on his modular, and the County said that such is not allowed. They issued the permit only after he made the garage free-standing, with no part of it touching the modular (not even the overhead breezeway cover).
 
Thanks for the heads up and concern Bridgeman but it wont be an issue in my area. We dont have building codes and such. We are in a very rural area. No permits needed for anything. We have several 1970 mobile homes with additions being built onto them all the time. Sad to say but we are just a very poor community
 
Bridgeman's point still gives you more to think about. What have you got for a foundation and how thick are the walls, 2x4 or ?
 
Your gettin plenty of good advice already. I would only add that the best way to forego any problems is to have a good plan drawn out on paper before starting. Will save you money in the long run.
On another note, all exterior doors should have a roof over them.
 
Thanks for the advice guys and keep it coming. neal the foundation is a poured wall basement. The house walls are 2x6.
 
When you get a chance poke your head up in the attic and take a photo or two. Trusses or rafters or?
 
Here are some pics in the attic. When sections of the house were brought in the roof was laying down and was raised by a crane when all was in place.

hou2_zpsb1060df7.jpg


hous11_zps3e8c820c.jpg
 
It looks like the roof was shipped in three peices and assembled on site. I haven't seen this setup before, but I think there is nothing to worry about.
There are four measurements that you are going to need. Accurately measure the 27 ft side of the house including the siding. An accurate measure of the angle of the roof. Set a 4 ft level on the roof hold it level and measure down to the roof and divide by 4.
The third one is the height of the seat cut, the distance between the top of the wall and the bottom of the sheeting, measuring straight up from the wall. Hold a level against the wall and draw a line on the side of a truss and then measure from wall to bottom of that line.
The fourth is the tale length the distance between the bottom of that line and bottom of the angle cut at the end of the truss behind the gutter.
We need 1 and 2 now and we can get 3 and 4 later.

Will you be ok with removing some drywall to add structure to the wall?
 
I would suggest placing two chairs on top of a rug with a small table between them on one side of the door, then angle a chaise lounge with another small table topped with a cute lamp on the other side of the door. Toss a couple of pillows on the chaise and a comfy throw to wrap up in on a cool evening. Don’t forget a vase with some flowers, a couple of potted plants on either side of the door and even a ceiling fan on either side of the porch.
 
Back
Top