3 Ideas on How to Enclose Your Porch
Enclosed porches have become very popular recently. The reason more people are going this route is that it allows you to use the space all year-round. It doesn’t matter if it’s hot, cold, or rainy: you can be out on it whenever you want. If this sounds right for you, read on for some ideas on how to enclose your porch!
If you’ve decided you want to do it, you might find yourself faced with lots of different options on how. As usual, what you choose will depend on your budget, the materials, and what effect you want to create. If that seems overwhelming, we’ve compiled three of the most common ways to help you out!
Ideas on how to enclose your porch
1. Glass
Glass is one of the most common materials for enclosed porches nowadays. It looks amazing and doesn’t have any frames or obvious joins, giving it a uniform look. It gives you full vision, as if you had never enclosed your porch in the first place.
Another advantage is that it gives you the option of opening and closing your porch. That means you can use it as a more conventional one in the summer, and still have a warm outdoor space in winter. If you like this option, just remember that some models aren’t mobile and won’t let you open them.
Lastly, you can install the glass on your porch without a lot of work. You can put up the upper and lower bases and anchor the glass in a few hours. Plus, you won’t need to worry about it being fragile: tempered glass is very tough.
2. Trellis
Trellises give you the option to partially enclose your porch with an opening on the sides, shielding you from the sun and rain. You can buy them as wood or metal, and they come in many different sizes. If you want to cover your porch but not enclose it, this is probably one of the best ideas for you, especially you have a house or town house.
Our suggestion is to plant a climbing plant on each corner of the trellis. If you follow this guide, you’ll be able to get it to grow and cover the entire top part of your trellis. It will give your porch shade and help keep it cool. The higher the plants grow, the more well-covered it will be, and you can have lunches or dinners under it!
Some people put curtains on their trellises to cover the sides. This is a great option because it lets you keep the space warm when it’s cold or windy, and lets the fresh air in when it’s hot or sunny.
You could also install a trellis with an anti-mosquito mesh. This is a particularly good idea if you live in a bug or mosquito-filled area. It will make your summer nights perfect because you can relax and not have to worry about their pesky bites.
3. Aluminum
One of the most classic ideas to enclose a porch is to use aluminum. If you take a look at a lot of major cities, you’ll probably notice the balconies are enclosed with this material. Glass may have become more popular in recent years, but aluminum is still a common choice.
Aluminum is great because it’s resistant to most types of weather. It also has a long lifespan and is one of the tougher materials to enclose a porch with. You can install it the same way you would windows, and it’s very easy to open and close.
It’s also the cheapest of the three options on our list, but it has two clear disadvantages:
- Opening and closing the windows a lot can can break the seal a bit. This means that cold will get into the porch, and therefore the rest of the house. What you can do is clean the guides the windows slide along to keep the dirt from building up and making sure they close well.
- Because they’re individual windows, there’s a frame between each of them. That keeps the view from being as panoramic as it could be if you only use glass. It all depends on your tastes, and how important the aesthetics are to you.