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I am fishing for information or experience related to converting a deck into a screened in porch. I moved into a new (12 year old) house a few months ago. My wife and I are in the planning stages for a deck. Our general idea is to build a deck (maybe 12' x 12'...this fall or next spring) that one day we could enclose to create a screened in porch. At that point we would build another smaller deck off the side of the screened in porch...it is modeled after my Brother in law's setup.
I have a book on decks and I have read over the deck code documents provided by my county. I have not found much information related to screened in porches. Are the building code and load requirements for a screened in porch the same or similar? Or is a screened in porch looked at more like an addition to the house.
The initial deck might be DIY or contracted. The addition of the roof and walls to create a screened in porch would likely be contracted and that would likely be several years out. Are there additional requirements that should be included in the design of the deck to allow for this conversion?
The weight of a future roof drastcally changes the support required. Definitely easier to make whatever foundation you'll need now. I would approach the local building inspectors and tell them what you have in mind, to avoid costly surprises in the future. Usually they're pretty helpful, especially in advance
Hey Brent,
The difference is apples to oranges that will effect your footing details and more .
A couple of months ago Fine HomeBuilding put out a great article on screened in porches.
I picked it up for some basic ideas and general info because I am planning to install one where my open air pergola is now located.
You might be able to install the deck now and later on do the screened in porch but don't expect to use the same footings.
The two structures will be built independently of one another unless you plan for the screened in porch footings and mudsill now and set your Simpson CBC post anchor connections now and cover them with a pot or something .
Or you could do it in two stages by building the deck first and later on add the structural screen wall footings by pouring the footings and laying in the mudsill right up against the ends of your deck boards and then frame in your stud walls for the screen panels.
The biggest challenge I think will be keeping the expenses down if you decide to do the screened in porch at a later date and have to raise your mudsill up to the level of you deck boards.
I think it might be a good idea to sketch out the various methods of construction and get a couple estimates to see which would be the most cost effective to do in the long run.
You can use the same footings and deck for a future screened porch. It just has to be built differently.
Since you'll have to provide plans to the county anyway, consider hiring an architect in your area.
Thanks for the info and the link. It sounds like I should be approaching this more like I am building a screened in porch (without a roof) rather than a deck. I will try to find some books on porches and maybe I will even break down and talk to somebody at the county office (I tend to shy away from inspections and permits and the stuff...but I will need one for this project anyway).
The company linked is actually interesting. They are not too far away from me and it sounds like they do work in my area. Looks like they can provide designs and they have a service where they will do all the framing and let the homeowner take care of the rest. In any case, they have some interesting info on their site. They seem to be keen on GeoDeck composite decking. I need to research surface material at some point.
our house had a porch that was later enclosed. when we bought it we decided to make it an actual room(dining room) wish the original builders had planned for that. we ended up taking the whole thing down and starting over because the footings weren't deep enough. $20 thousand later we have a fabulous dining room.
Thanks for thinking of me! I am not sure they fit in with the "suburban east coast" style of my house. Is it just me or do the lower carvings on those posts look like those wooden cutouts of a woman bent over in the garden?
