Charlotte Screened Porches - Built to Blend Seamlessly With Your Home
Adding a new screened-in porch to your home is an easy way to add value and create a space for you and your family to relax and enjoy. However, it’s not always easy to decide on the details of how to add a screened porch. What style and finishes will go best with your home? What kind of materials make the most sense? What extra features should you include?
You want a screened-in porch that blends seamlessly with your existing home – not one that looks like an afterthought. There are many ways to accomplish this and there are plenty of pitfalls to avoid as well.
This page will provide a general overview of the main factors to consider when thinking about adding a porch addition to your home. When you’re ready for a more detailed discussion about the specifics of adding a screened porch to your Charlotte-area house, a consultation with an experienced contractor is the best way to get information tailored to your specific preferences.
Before we dig into screened porch styles and finishes, see why hiring Fineline Construction makes a lot of sense:
- You can count on your new space to be solid and safe. Not only do we build screened porches, we are a licensed general contractor as well. We understand the structural components in our structures and how those tie into your existing home. Armed with this knowledge, we make sure your porch is built to last
- We keep the bugs out! We install screens under the floor system as well as the walls. We also caulk all cracks and voids where bugs and insects could find their way in
- Many of the material options we have are 100% maintenance free except for an occasional cleaning
- Our team of experts are professional and courteous, while providing extraordinary service with superior craftsmanship.
- We offer a complete satisfaction guarantee.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the styles, finishes, and features that will help make your new screen porch something you can be proud of and enjoy for a very long time.
Here’s a rundown of what we’ll be covering:
- Common screened porch roof styles
- The best screened porch flooring options
- Exterior trim and columns for screened-in porches
- Popular screened porch lighting options
- Top screened porch heating options
- Best screen options for your screened porch
- Popular screened porch upgrades to consider
- Screened porch FAQs
Custom Screened Porch Roof Styles
There are many different roof styles to choose from but there are often limitations on which style you can use, depending on the style and layout of your home. We generally use one of the five primary roof styles:
Gable
Gable roofs are a popular option for any homeowner that likes the A-frame aesthetic for their porch roof. They’re one of the most common types of roof we use for covered porches
That said, gable roofs aren’t a practical option for all homes. In some cases, the window placement in a house’s second story can get in the way. And a vaulted gable roof can make some features harder to design for, particularly when it comes to your lighting placement or adding flush mount heaters.
Hip
Hip roofs are another common choice for screened porches in the Charlotte area. Hip roofs are often chosen in cases where the main house already has a hip roof, or when the home has other bumpouts that we want to make sure look good with the new screened porch.
Shed
Shed roofs aren’t an especially common choice, but in cases where a hip or gable roof won’t work well and you still prefer a pitch or slope to having a flat roof, it can be a practical option..
Custom
Occasionally, we encoutner homes that have odd shapes, angles, or offsets that make it difficult to stick with one of these options. When that happens, we’ll design a custom roof that combines various aspects of the other roof types – whatever works best for the existing home. Custom roofs can cost more and lengthen the time the project takes to complete, but it’s fairly rare that we have to go this route.
What’s the best choice for my screened porch?
This isn’t a question with one right answer, it all depends on what will work best with your house. Part of what we do at Fineline is evaluate each home and determine what makes the most sense for that particular situation and space. After and evaluation, we can make expert recommendations on what kind of roof will blend in best with the existing structure, while allowing you to include the main features you want for your screened porch.
Flooring Options
The flooring options available today are many so how do you know which one will work the best for you? That depends on the look you desire as well as your budget. Here are the most common flooring types with some pros and cons to help you decide which one is best for you.
COMPOSITE DECKING
Most composite decking is made from a combination of sawdust, plastic, wood chips and resin. Premium composite decking also has a PVC outer shell that protects the composite inside. This shell adds fade protection and is mildew resistant as well. Most PVC shell capped decking only requires a simple deck rinse twice per year.
Trex brand decking is by far the best seller in composite products for decks. Their warranty is outstanding, and their products are superior. Trex has three lines of decking material, Select, Enhanced and Transcend. There are some key differences in each line:
- Trex Select is the most budget friendly product Trex carries. This line is not as thick as the Enhanced and Transcend but is still considered a high-quality composite product. The good news is the warranty is the same as their top of the line decking. This makes it a great bang for the buck product!
- Trex Enhance is a low-maintenance, high-performance composite that offers all the charm and none of the trouble of real wood. With its high-definition grain pattern and classic color options, Enhance features a rich, sophisticated finish at a value that only adds to its appeal. The biggest draw back in this line is that it is only available in three colors
- Trex Transcend is the best composite decking product available. This line comes in twelve luxury colors and has a deep wood-grain pattern making these boards look just like real wood.
There are many different manufacturer’s providing composite products but Trex is considered the flagship of this industry and have the best products available. To learn more about Trex and all the products they offer for your outdoor projects click here
FLAGSTONE
Flagstone is an awesome floor option for any outdoor project. It comes in different thicknesses usually ranging from a half an inch to two inches and can be installed in a variety of patterns. When sealed, it is stain resistant and will last for many years.
The biggest con for this product is that it is hard. There is zero forgiveness if you fall on it, making it not the best selection if you have young kids that will be playing on it frequently.
Choosing flagstone for your new screened porch will add an element of timeless beauty and elegance.
PRESSURE TREATED WOOD
Pressure treated decking is the most budget friendly flooring option available and looks really nice if installed correctly.
It is very important this material is installed correctly. Oftentimes, carpenters install screws too close the end joints and this results in the boards splitting. Once they split, it will only get worse with time.
Another annoying thing with pressure treated wood is that you must deal with splinters getting into your feet!
Pressure treated wood also requires a lot of maintenance. In fact, if it is exposed to a good bit of sun, it will need to be stained every 1-2 years. This can get very expensive over time, so it is very important to think about the initial savings versus the long-term costs of maintaining it.
If you can get past those annoyances, this wood can be a great addition to your new screened porch. It can be stained, painted or left unfinished. You can also use a large area rug to break up the wood and help give your space a warm and inviting feel.
EXTERIOR TRIM & COLUMNS
The type of products used for the exterior trim and columns have a lot to do with the style of your home as well as the vision you have for your new space. For example, if your home has painted eave trim then you may want to consider using a cement-based product such as Hardie brand soffit in combination with a composite-based fascia trim and paint to match.
If painting is certain, using a composite-based trim such as Miratec is the way to go. Miratec is resistant to moisture, rot and termites. It is also reversible with a woodgrain texture on one side and a smooth surface on the other. It won’t check, split or crack and has a 50-year limited warranty as well.
If, on the other hand, you desire a more rustic screen porch space, you may decide to use cedar material. Cedar comes in rough or smooth and can be left unfinished or stained to the color of your choice.
It is important to use proper fasteners when working with cedar. Stainless steel is the best choice as most other types of fasteners will leave black streaks under them over time. It is next to impossible to remove these stains and they can leave your space looking old and run down in just a few short years.
There are plenty of other products available for outdoor use but these are the most common and are tried and true with warranties to back them up.
Styles
We offer gable, hip, flat and custom roof styles. Depending on the style of your current home, we will design a beautiful screened porch that will blend in seamlessly. You can choose anything from removable screen systems to more traditional fixed screen panels.
If you would like to see some of these featured products in some of our projects, please visit our Charlotte Screened Porches Portfolio page
The options are truly unlimited, so please call us today at 704-332-1747. We would be happy to discuss your new screened porch project! We serve Charlotte, NC and the surrounding areas.
