Screened Porch – Why Did I Wait So Long?

Over the past 15 years I have designed and built over 500 screened porches. I have helped develop products and techniques for building better porches and I even wrote a book on the subject. So how many screened porches have I owned? Well up until a few months ago, none!

Twenty-eight years ago my wife and I built the house that we live in now. At that time there was a huge interest in improving home energy efficiency and in capturing solar energy to help heat the home. One of these ideas was to add a sun room on the south side of the house to collect and store heat from the sun. The idea was that by using masonry and other materials you could collect heat during the day and it would slowly be released during the night to help heat the home. As a bonus you had additional finished space to use. So we added a 10’ x 14’ all glass room on our south facing back wall.

Well in theory it sounded like a good idea. In practice it wasn’t so great. First of all, the room was barely useable - way too hot in the summer and way too cold in the winter. There were nice days in the Spring and Fall, but too few to make the room seem worth while. Also have you ever tried to clean a glass roof? We had approximately 145 square feet of glass to clean that was 15+ feet off the ground, not to mention the glass walls. With the fallout from trees and other stuff that falls from the sky it was impossible to keep the glass clean.

So why did we keep it for more than 20 years? Well part of the reason is just the natural resistance to recognize a loss. The room wasn’t cheap and there isn’t much of a market for used sunrooms. Once we decided to replace it with a screened porch there was the problem of getting a crew free long enough to do the job. Fortunately business was very good so I had to keep the carpentry crews working on projects for our customers. So several years past by after we had decided that a screened porch was what we needed.

Finally this past winter we had enough slack in the schedule that we could send a crew out to demo the sunroom and build our first screened porch. Well it took a long time, but the decision was one of the best we have ever made for our home. We love it. I’ve had a number of customers over the years say that a porch becomes the “room of choice” for most family activities. I couldn’t agree more. We eat, relax, read, and visit with guests on our porch. As a matter of fact I’m writing this entry out on the porch with my lap top.

The house, after 28 years, finally feels complete. The porch design is very different from those that I have designed for others – I have done things I have never incorporated in other porches, but I’ll save that for a future entry…….

For more on designing and planning for a screened porch visit our website, www.backyardamerica.com .

Remodeling Surprises

We frequently tell our deck and porch customers that we hate surprises - giving them or receiving them. In remodeling a surprise from the contractor is telling the customer that we found a problem that was not covered by the contract and going to add to the cost. A surprise for the contractor is finding something that is not consistent with the assumptions made when bidding for the project - like a significant price increase for materials.
What are some of the most common surprises with a deck or porch project?
· Bad Soils. In Northern Virginia the soils vary greatly in a relatively small area. We have layers of thick marine clay that will not support a foundation and beds of hard shale that are just below the surface. We also have unstable soils that require footings to be dug more than 8' deep (our normal footing dept is 24".)
· Underground Surprises. Fortunately is doesn't happen very often, but occasionally we find a large buried object that has to be excavated and the hole backfilled before we can construct the footings. Imagine the cost to remove a buried and forgotten oil storage tank. Unmarked utilities fall in this category as well.
· Rot and Insect Damage. The most common rot problem is at the band joist under a door in the existing house. Rain and melted snow gets in under the door sill and eventually rots the floor framing - a fairly expensive repair. Rot in the roof where a new porch roof is to be attached is not as common, but does occur and is usually very expensive.
· Bad Specification, Bad Measurements. There is nothing worse that for the crew to show up to start the project only to find that the salesman measured a wall wrong or failed to note a window that is in the way. Also under this category is misunderstandings between customer and salesman - the customer is expecting something that the salesman did not include.
· Permit Problems. Zoning setbacks and building code issues occasionally stop a project dead in its tracks. These issues, particularly zoning problems, can be some of the most difficult to solve.
So what is the homeowner to do to minimize surprises?
· First make sure you know that your contractor is experienced and qualified. Check references and licensing.
· Make sure you understand the specifications and drawings. Make sure that all of the details that are important to you are in writing as a part of the contract and on the drawings.
· Get a clear understanding of how the contractor handles surprises. For example we have a policy that change order work cannot proceed until we have customer approval for the work and its cost.
· Do not be guilty of wishful thinking. If you suspect a problem with rot or that there may be a problem digging the footings let the contractor know. He can probably do some inexpensive exploratory work to determine if there is a problem and what the solution will cost. Most importantly select a contractor that you trust and have confidence in. To change a common expression: Surprises happen. It is how they are handled that make the difference. Both parties need to work to find a fair solution.