Truly Functional

Gable Roof Screened Porch In Canton, GA

The house already had a screened porch and a big deck wrapped around it, but the family didn’t use either of them, so we rebuilt the whole back of the house rather than patch what was already there.

Before

A Porch Too Small to Sit In

The screened area that came with the house was barely big enough to turn around in, and the builder-grade deck wrapping around it had gone soft in places and looked every year of its age.

The family had a wooded lot and a long view down the hill behind them, and nowhere comfortable to sit and take any of it in.

After

Putting a New Roof Over an Old Porch

Pulling the screened area out and starting from scratch would have been the simpler build. We kept it, because the footprint sat in the right spot and relocating it would have meant reworking the back wall of the house.

So the design landed a new gable roof over what was already standing. That means tying structure into an elevation never framed to carry a roof, and running the load down through posts to footings that could take it. That’s what made this one complicated, and none of it shows up in the finished photos.

Nobody uses a porch they have to go back through the kitchen to reach. So we ran the deck around to the driveway instead.

The Two Spaces

The Screened Porch

Four hundred and six square feet under the gable, with the rafters left exposed and finished in cedar. The gas fireplace anchors one end, stone on the face you sit in front of and cedar shake on the chase where it shows from the yard.

The Deck and Catwalk

Six hundred and fifty-six square feet of Trex Transcend across two levels. Fortress Fe26 railing runs the perimeter on TimberTech post sleeves, and the catwalk carries you around to the driveway without going back indoors.

The Details

The Drink Rail

We capped the railing with a flat drink rail wide enough to set a glass down on, which matters more on a deck this size than it sounds like it should.

The Cedar Shake Chase

We wrapped the fireplace chase in cedar shake so that from the yard it reads as part of the house instead of a box bolted onto the back of the porch.

The Two Levels

The lot falls away behind the house, so we stepped the deck down in stages rather than running one long platform out into the air and calling it done.

What We Built It Out Of

Component	Product
Screened porch	Gable roof, 406 sq. ft.
Ceiling	Exposed cedar rafters
Fireplace	Gas non-vented, stone face, cedar shake chase
Deck	Trex Transcend, 656 sq. ft., two levels
Railing	Fortress Fe26 with TimberTech post sleeves
Rail cap	Drink rail
Access	Catwalk to driveway

A build at this size runs about $247,000 in the north metro today. Roofing over structure that’s already standing is what carries a project like this past a straight new build.

If You Already Have a Porch You Never Sit In

Then the size is usually the reason. This one stayed exactly where it was and got a new roof over the top, which is often cheaper than starting again. Come see us in Woodstock nd we’ll work out what yours would need.

or visit us at Woodstock Design Center 135 Village Center W, Suite 100