ways to design a front porch exterior
I’m at the point where I need a design for my front porch/patio and was wondering about how to approach it.
I want it to look like it has always been there and was well designed in the first place.
I have a connection to a architect through a neighbor/friend and have called him once.
He told me to get pictures of what I wanted. I have taken a few but am having a hard time finding what I want so I can take a picture of it.
I kind of know what I want but really want something on paper.
On his Website it says he does architectural illustrations of projects. So in order to get an idea of what it will look like and save some money I was going to have an architectural illustration done.
From there I can have plans drawn by someone else if it is cheaper. I just want to make sure the proportions are right for this. I’m going for a look and I want it right.
Does this make sense? How do I get a sense of what style or proportions will work?
I just made the one short phone call to him. Should I just have a longer conversation with him?
Will Rogers
Replies
It would really help to get an idea of what style or features you are looking for and the house style behind it. Farmhouse wraparound? Grand Victorian? craftsman? pediment? and what is the house - single or two story, ranch, rambler, split level? One of the few things they sometimes get right on some of the HGTV remodel shows is how to use the style of the house to determine what is and is not an appropriate add on.
Having said that, if you have some specific style in mind it might be cheaper getting one of the books of house photos and use those for ideas. Getting a full rendering through an architect without some concept of what you want is going to be frought with redos and costs.
When my wife and I were planning to remodel our 1950s Lakewood Calif tract house (plan D, left bedroom) we spend several weekends driving around looking for the features of the kinds of houses we wanted ours to look like. We then sat down with the plans service and did a series of sketches based on the photos, never went to the full rendering level. We then used the details we liked in the photos as a style book of examples with the builder when we were working on the contract and again when we were working on the details. Even then we had a couple of things I would do different today.jose c.
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"Though I don't think" added Deep Thought "that you're going to like it."
Edited 5/27/2009 1:37 pm by El kabong
"We then sat down with the plans service and did a series of sketches based on the photos."
Who did you sit down with exactly? I'm doing the work myself so I don't have a plans service.
I need someone to sit down with that knows design really well and does it a lot.
Would that be an architect?
A designer?
I'm to the point where I need to sit down with someone. Who exactly should that be?
The guy I talked to has design LLC after his name. Maybe he isn't an archy."There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers
We had someone who was recommended to us who did all the drafting for the house and supported us during construction when we had a couple of details we had to modify due to engineering issues. She was formerly a registered architect who was semi retired and worked out of her home, and she and her daughter together ran the plans service. We talked about what we wanted to do, she came over one day and took measurements, we sat down and talked about ideas, and then she developed a set of sketches and a candidate floor plan. We went through about three cycles before we finalized the front elevation and some details about the floor plan (square footage, an extension for a laundry room, etc) before she came back with an initial set of drawings that we started to interview builders with. That interactive process took our ideas and turned them into something buildable. The LLC to me implies more of a drafting or plans service. If the guy was a member of one of the associations he probably would tag his name with AIA. You should ask.jose c.
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"Though I don't think" added Deep Thought "that you're going to like it."
Thanks El kabong. She sounds like what i want. I don't think I need as comprehensive of plans though.
For one thing, I'm doing the work so it's not like i have to work up a bid on them.
I went out and took some more pics.
The low stone walls add a sense of old rustic charm to the front yard. I'd like to incorporate that into the house front.
the patio goes on the outside of the window in the middle of the brick wall.
The window will be pulled and a set of doors will lead out into the patio.
I need shade for the patio so a pergola is going over it.
Those things are pretty easy for me. How to tie it together and give it charm is what I need help with.
We live just outside of old town and i want the house to look like it is about 20-30 years older style wise.
I will include some pics of the house with new landscape in front tonight.
And some old town houses i liked tonight.
"There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers
Edited 5/27/2009 4:01 pm by popawheelie
Go ahead and post larger pic if that's all you have, and someone will resize them for us.Email me a phone # and put BT Design in subject line.Heading off to the jobsite now, but I'll call if I'm not all beat up mentally later on.Huck - that's greatly for the very nice compliments. I just now see this thread
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks Piffin. I was wondering if and when you would post. This is the busy time of the year for building and such.
Thanks for the suggestion on the re-sizing. I messed up my computer when I tried Google chrome. Add-ons are disabled and links don't work. When I go to re-size at photobucket I need Adobe which I allready have. So I'll have the computer guy come by. I've been wanting more memory anyway.
There are some issues with the front of the house.
1. The entrance is inside a little porch. One door goes into the house and the other goes into the garage. The landscape designer had me take the front walk up to the left side of this porch. Her idea was to put up lattice work on the right side and grow climbing fragrant vines on it so you would have green wall there that would bring fragrance ionto the entrance. I like he idea of fragrance at the entrance to the house. I like the idea of a green wall.
But I'm not sure if it is a solution that is formal enough for the front entrance. I can build a trelis from scratch out of some nice lumber. I can do a design that has a theme that is reflected elsewhere. I was thinking I could do a stone planter under it so it was more formal. I included a pic of some stonework that is inside the house that would work. It's just inside the entrance. I was going to use this style for the patio wall as well. It is a local stone and style.
2. If you look at the pic of the window in the middle of the brick wall it is wide enough so I could cut the brick and turn it into a doorway. This would lead into the patio from the house.
There are no other windows in this room though. It is a small dinning room with the kitchen behind that. So opening up the dinning room into the patio will enlarge the room and get people out there. Right now nobody uses the dinning room.
3. The reason I brought it up was because I think just putting doors in the room going out to the patio isn't enough. I think it needs a window or two. I would like to put some large windows to the left of the doorway. I would like to have them be fixed large windows. I would like the windows to sit on a stem wall about 24-30" tall. I would like the windows to turn the corner on the stem wall. I would flood the room with light and create a unique modern element.
4. I think there is to much bright red brick on the outside of this house. It dates the house to the fifties and I'm trying to make the house look older. So I wanted to apply sized flagstone along the bottom of the exterior about 24-30" tall. This would cut down on the brick and give the exterior an older look. Old stone is used alot on the homes in this area. Maybe it is a Colorado thing. The sized flagstone would be capped with a piece like a sil anged a bit to shed water. I would like the flagstone cap to be under the windows I put in to the left of the doors. So the cap would be 8-9" wide under the windows on top of the stem wall.
5. The size of the patio was figured out by the lanscape designer and I think it works fine. I included a pic of the lanscape plan. It shows the size but no elevations. I think the wall for the patio should be about 40" tall so you can look over it when you sitting down and say high to neighbors passing by. I want the patio wall to have the flagstone patern I included a pic of with a 2" thick cap on top of it.
6. I'm not sure how to tie in the pergola to the house. Should the top of the pergola line up with the facia? Or be above or below it? Should the pergola posts die into the top of the patio wall? I could build the wall with concrete posts under the pergola posts. That would tie them together better visually. I could build sleeves into these concrete posts that the pergola posts would slide into.
7. The front of roof in this patio area is a hip. Most of the older homes don't have hips. Should I put a gable end on top of the hip So the pergola has a gable end in back and above it? I could just aplly a gable end on top of this hip California style and put a nice decorative finish on it. It would set the pergolw off nicely.
Here are some pics of the front where the patio and pergola is going. I included some pics of older homes. One has a dark rustic feel to it. Not exactly what I'm after but I think darker colors with lighter accents will work. Others are colorfull. With the moss rock walls I put in front I think darker rustic colors would be a better match.
Also, I'm planning on putting a small low pretty dark iron fence in front at the sidewalk. The moss rock and the iron fence will have an old look. Maybe some iron could be incorporated into the patio somehow?
Well I'm done for now. It is a big undertaking for me. I can describe it and I do have a strong sense of what I want. But typing it out with two fingers is pretty painfull. I will try.
"There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers
Edited 5/28/2009 12:15 pm by popawheelie
the short answer: Piffin
the longer answer: don't look for photos of exactly what you want, look for photos of the kind of look you're after, try to pin down in words what you'd like the makeover to accomplish. There is a good book out by Taunton called "Curb Appeal Idea Book", by Mary Ellen Polson, B&N has it in the clearance section for $2.99 here locally. Excellent photo references, and talks about the psychology of designing an appealing entry.
Another good reference work is "A Field Guide to American Houses" by Virginia McAlester, for architectural details that harmonize with your house style.
Like you, I think a successful porch re-do should look like its always been there. I just completed a front porch remodel on my mom's place, and one of the neighbors who has lived in the neighborhood his whole life gave me a nice compliment, when he told me he thought it had always been that way. Another neighbor asked, Did you do something different to your porch?
View Image
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
Edited 5/27/2009 1:51 pm by Huck
Thanks Huck. The porch looks nice.
What I have in mind is a patio. But I want to change the look of the whole front.
So I has to tie together in a way that fits. It's just over my head to do and I need someone to pull it together for me.
I am doing all the work myself. I have a background in construction.
I will have to submit plans to the building dept and pull a permit. That is no big deal.
I can look at more houses but am not sure what good it will do.
I need to talk to someone that knows design. I'm at that point. Who to talk to???
It's like I need two sets of plans. One for the building dept. And another one for what it will LOOK LIKE.
What it looks like is my main concern. This isn't interior spaces so topo type plans with furniture and such isn't a concern.
I'm primarily looking for front elevations of the house. 3/4 view would be nice.
I don't need a lot of details. I can work those out as I go. It sounds a lot like an illustration. But don't know.
Besides the patio and pergola there not much else structure wise. Everything else with be stuck on the outside. It will surface treatment stuff. I don't need details for that or specs.
I included a pic of the front yard before I changed the landscaping.
"There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers
Edited 5/27/2009 3:48 pm by popawheelie
I need to talk to someone that knows design. I'm at that point. Who to talk to???
I think Piffin or Gene Davis could do the design work, and can provide renderings for visualization purposes. Or you can work some of the options out with the peanut gallery here - there's a lot of talented people willing to share here.
I think you need to get your desires down in words, if not pictures. There's a whole lot that could be done with the area in front of your house (I'm looking at your picture).
What do you want it to look like? What do you want it to be used for? Is it going to be a sitting area, for friends to relax in, or is its main function just decorative? Are you going to barbeque there? Do you want built-in seating? Do you want some measure of privacy? What kind of floor - rock, brick, wood? What kind of walls - block, brick, stucco, stone, wood fence, lattice, plants? What kind of roof - trellis type shadecover, protection from rain, patio umbrella? Access to the house - through the front door, french doors, another door? Do you want to make a style statement? Do you want a garden "feel"? Formal or relaxed? What is your budget? What is your time frame?
"...craftsmanship is first & foremost an expression of the human spirit." - P. Korn
bakersfieldremodel.com
Edited 5/27/2009 4:46 pm by Huck
My computer is messed up right now so I can't size pics smaller.
That is part of my problem. I need someone to talk to so I can get plans.
Conveying ideas over this computer is hard for some of us. At least for me.
I type with two fingers. It's ok for some things, but I'm not sure if the scope of this project is something I can do on this bli#%nking machine.
If you don't mind big pics I can put them up but right now the computer is sick so I can't size them smaller."There are three kinds of men: The one that learns by reading, the few who learn by observation and the rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."Will Rogers
"It's like I need two sets of plans. One for the building dept. And another one for what it will LOOK LIKE."I think you should stick with one architect for the project. Probably save you $, time, and frustration in the long run. You need to submit sealed? plans for your permit and those plans should show what it will look like, and enable you to build it, details and all. Lots of good suggestions posted here. The pictures of what you like are a good start. Library may have some books. Take some graph paper, measure and draw your existing front elevation. Make a bunch of copies, and sketch away. Show what you think you want to the architect to refine. The less time the architect spends guessing what you like, the better. Unless of course he is Frank Lloyd Wright. Then he will tell you where to place the rocker, after he tells you what rocker you can buy. : )
if you're having a hard time defining what you want, try defining what you don't want.
Before you get too far with that helpful neighbor start talking to him about costs. I wouldn't use him for the concept and then dump him for someone cheaper unless your upfront with that from teh start. Start talking costs now and you may save a good friendship. Who knows, he may be offereing his entire services for your project as a good neighbor.
I have been in the predicament you are in - I know what I want but cannot explain it well enough.
Drive around where you live and see if you can find anything like you might like and snap a picture - surf the Internet and cut and paste and come back with these ideas and we will come up with something you will like