How to Add a Side Porch to a Colonial Home

Draw the home’s basic layout on graph paper to determine the size of the porch foundation. You can select a wraparound porch for a 21st-century colonial, but choose a smaller and more elegant porch if the home is styled in an earlier period. Use one square of grid to represent 4 inches of real space, creating a scale bird’s eye view of the home's layout. Then, using a professional if necessary, draw the home’s design and porch from various angles to ensure the porch harmonizes with the home's colonial features.

Study local building codes to define how close your porch can be to any neighbor’s property lines. Stake out proposed porch dimensions and account for roofing to ensure finished overhangs don’t extend over property lines. Get a building permit before starting actual work.

Rent a trencher to dig the foundational footings. Construct a base with standard concrete blocks laid on top of footings that you've seated below the frost line. Build footings 1 foot deep and 1 foot wide using 1-inch-thick plywood forms and 10-inch wooden stakes. Pour concrete into the forms after placing metal grid to reinforce. Trowel the concrete to a smooth finish and allow it to dry for 24 hours.

Lay blocks directly on the footings, and trowel mortar smooth to accommodate a stucco finish over the blocks or solid brick overlay. Construct the base to the correct height, allowing for wooden, concrete or brick finished flooring. Build the finished porch flooring about 7 inches lower than the home’s interior flooring to create a comfortable step-down.

Lay tongue-and-groove exterior flooring over 2-by-12-inch floor joists installed on top of the concrete blocks (as one option). Check with a colonial home expert to ensure the porch flooring materials are appropriate for the home’s architecture. Don’t install inexpensive pine boards, because this will devalue a colonial with exquisite hardwood trim and moldings.

Construct a porch roof with generous overhangs. Build roof trusses, for example, that allow 15-inch overhangs versus skimpy overhangs of 6 inches. Use 2-by-8-inch boards for roof rafters to give the porch a bulkier, sturdier look to foster colonial appeal. Keep in mind that any home looks more upscale with well-crafted, wide overhangs on all facades and porches.

Brace the porch roof with 8-inch-square temporary wooden posts while constructing the roof. Construct an arched-type alcove that curves upward over the porch for an extremely elegant look. Install solid wood boards to accommodate the curve and serve as a foundation for shingles. Nail ½-inch plywood over A-frame or hip-roof rafters to form a base for shingles. Staple roofing felt in place with an electric stapler and add asphalt shingles with roofing nails that are long enough to secure shingles to the underlying plywood or boards.

Install high-quality solid wood for the porch ceiling. Place ceiling boards over the underside of exposed porch rafters. Run electrical wiring that will allow you to install colonial light fixtures before installing roll-type insulation (optional). Insulate the roof in case you ever decide to enclose it with glass or other materials. Place finished porch ceiling material over the insulation by nailing wood sections, whether boards or wood sheeting, to rafters. Beadboard or a beadboard look is a good option for finishing a colonial porch ceiling.

Install premade formal porch posts or columns in relation to doors and windows. Draw the porch design with exact placement before having any posts or columns cut to fit. Use sufficient columns, or fewer columns of bulkier dimensions, to support the weight of the porch roof. Consult with an expert on these issues. Install railings to add visual interest to the columns if this is appropriate.