How to Build a Home Porch

Draw the house façade on a sketchpad to plan the right size porch. Create dimensions that fit well from every angle and enhance the overall house design. Plan a roof shape that blends perfectly with the house roof angles, so the porch looks original to the house instead of added on later. Draw the details of the porch design on graph paper. Allow one square to represent 6 inches of actual space.

Plan a foundation that works well with the house foundation. Ensure that the porch foundation matches the house foundation or complements it perfectly. Build a wooden porch on brick support posts to match a home’s brick foundation, as one choice. Plan to construct the posts out of concrete blocks covered with bricks, for example.

Dig the foundation for each concrete slab to support porch foundation columns or posts. Use a shovel to dig each footing separately or dig a foundation perimeter with a ditch witch to support five or six posts, for example. Create a concrete pad 8 inches deep to support each support column. Lay concrete blocks that will be covered with bricks to create a visually pleasing porch foundation. Buy bricks as close to the house brick color as possible.

Construct a porch base. Use floor joists composed of 2-by-8-inch boards. Use high-quality lumber in hardwood, such as oak, if the budget will permit. Install floor joists on 16-inch centers, which means it will be exactly 16 inches from the center of one joist to the center of the joist beside it. Bolt the framework to the house, so the porch will not pull loose over time. Cover the porch base with plywood before constructing the roofing and support posts. Nail ½-inch plywood sheathing over floor joists.

Install premade posts or build wooden posts to support roof framing. Use 2-by-6-inch boards to install roof angles and create rafters on 16-inch centers. Bolt all roof framing to house framing and sheath the roof rafters with ½-inch plywood. Install flashing and tar paper before nailing on asphalt shingles or other materials that will match house roofing.

Finish up porch details. Install roofing guttering around the perimeter of the porch and add porch flooring material. Install 12-inch porcelain tiles, for example, to cover the walking areas before adding porch railings. Be sure to install splash blocks at the bottom of downspouts to skirt water away from the porch foundation.