How to make a porch to the house

The most correct version of the porch is when its foundation is cast together with the house. In this case, there are practically no problems. Sometimes, when planning a building, they forget about it. Then the porch is attached to the house. An extension is made mainly of three materials: wood, metal and concrete. If the house is brick, it can be made of bricks. Another option is to make from building blocks with subsequent finishing. In any case, when planning to make a porch with your own hands, you immediately need to decide what kind of foundation to make and connect it or not with the base of the building.

How to calculate parameters

First you need to decide which side the steps will go to. They can be on one, two or three sides. Determine this based on personal preferences and finances that you can / want to allocate for construction. The height of the porch depends on the height of the base and should be 50-70 mm below the edge of the door leaf. This small step keeps precipitation out of the house. Perhaps more importantly, it does not allow the doors to be blocked if the porch rises up from the frosty heaving (if the doors open outward).

Determining the size of the upper platform

The layout of the porch begins with determining the size of the upper platform. If the doors open outward, you should be able to stand on the landing to open the doors. That is, its depth should be 30-40 cm more than the width of the door leaf. According to the recommendations of GOST, the dimensions of the site should be 1.5 times the width of the doorway. More is possible - less - undesirable - inconvenient.

If your doors are 80 cm wide, then the depth of the upper platform at the very minimum is 120 cm. You determine its width based on the tastes and proportions of the house, but it should definitely be larger than the width of the doorway.

We count the number and sizes of steps

You know the height of the porch: 50-60 mm below the door leaf. The recommended step height (riser) is 15-20 cm. Divide the porch height by the step height, you get an approximate number of steps. The number is rarely whole. The remaining centimeters can be divided between all steps or made one of them higher. Another option is to make a small step at the bottom, although this can be inconvenient.

The optimal step width (tread) is 25-30 cm. Knowing the number of steps, the depth of the upper platform, the depth of the steps, you can calculate the dimensions of the porch completely. They can already be used to develop the foundation under the porch.

When choosing the parameters of the steps, one must adhere to the recommendations of SNiP: the sum of the pass and the doubled riser must be within 600-640 mm. For example, you calculated that the height of the step (riser) is 17 cm, the tread (depth of the degree) is 280 mm. After performing the calculations, we get: 170 mm * 2 + 280 mm = 620 mm. We fit into the recommended parameters, so nothing needs to be changed.

What foundation is needed

If the porch is planned to be light - wood or metal - the foundation is most often made pile or columnar. Specifically selected based on geological conditions. On well-draining soils with low groundwater levels, sufficientcolumnar foundation, with a tendency to heaving, you need alreadypile, perhaps TISE.

For a heavy porch - made of brick or monolithic concrete - make a strip foundation or monolithic slab... The type of foundation is most often the same as the one on which the house is built.

Next, you need to decide whether you will tie the porch foundation to the house foundation or not. Decisions are made based on the planned mass of the extension and the type of soil. Both options have disadvantages. If there is no connection, cracks often form at the junction of the porch and the house; due to frost heaving, the porch can warp. Owners of summer cottages often face such a problem - basically, the porch to the summer cottages is made wooden and incoherent. After the ground thaws, it may itself "sit" in place, or may require some additional measures.

When the connections are made, cracks can also form, but not only at the junction, but also in the "body" of the extension. This happens if the reinforced ties arranged cannot compensate for the uneven load created by the house and the extension. Therefore, a connected foundation for a porch is made if it is attached to a heavy house and itself is heavy and massive, made of reinforced concrete. The second difficulty with such a decision is to make the connection of high quality. For this, ribbed reinforcement with a diameter of 12-16 mm is used, for which holes are drilled in the foundation with a given diameter. They clog the reinforcement and, on its basis, knit a frame for the porch.

Ladder constructions

There are two main ladder designs: bowstring and stringer. They can be made of wood, metal. There are also combined options - metal + wooden steps or metal + concrete steps.

On bowstrings

Bowstring stairs are the simplest. For a porch - a good option, especially if the house is wooden or a small country house. Support bars are attached to the inside of the bowstring. If you work with metal, the bars are welded horizontally (it is possible with a minimum slope of 1-2 ° in order for water to drain off the steps). In the case of wood, support bars can either be nailed, to which the step will then be attached, or grooves are cut in the bowstring (no more than 1/2 of the board's thickness), into which the step boards are inserted.

On kosoura

A staircase on kosoura can also be of a simple design - with open supports. In this case, triangles are cut at the required angle at the top of the board. Their lower part serves as a support for the steps.

When cutting a kosour, the height of the step and the width of the tread are laid. They are connected at right angles. A template is made according to the markings, with which all the steps are marked.

The number of stringers in a staircase depends on its width and on the thickness of the boards used for the steps. The thinner the board for the steps, the more often you need to put stringers. If you are using 25 mm boards, then there should be a distance of no more than 50-60 cm between the two supports. If you need a wide staircase, but do not want to put three stringers, use thicker boards. It is important that they do not bend under your feet.

If you decide to weld a staircase on kosoura from metal, you will need to be patient: you will have to weld many small sections, but the principle of formation is the same.

Ways of fastening parts

The bottom edge of the porch staircase can sometimes rest directly on the ground. This option is simple but unreliable. First, the soil may settle, the stairs will collapse. Secondly, upon contact with the ground, both wood and metal are destroyed faster. There are special impregnations for wood (Senezh and Senezh Ultra, for example), and metal is well formed with a primer and painted in several layers.Nevertheless, it is better to make the base - pour a shallow tape on which the bowstrings or stringers will rest.

There are two ways to attach a staircase for the porch to a reinforced concrete base - to a leg - a bar with a cross section of at least 75 * 75 mm or to a foundation bar of a smaller section (in the photo on the left).

Difficulties may arise with the installation of porch pillars. There are several ways. There is one very simple and effective one that works great even on heaving soils (clay and loam). Holes 50-60 cm deep are dug under the pillars. In them, a bucket and a half of sand is poured onto the bottom, tamped well. Half a bucket of rubble is poured over the sand and also rammed. They put a post, align it to a level, put spacers that will hold it in a given position. The space between the wall of the hole and the pillar is gradually covered with rubble, carefully ramming it. The hole is filled flush with the ground, the top can be concreted (so that the precipitation does not flow down), but not spilled to the very bottom. The pillars installed in this way do not lead even with strong heaving. A significant part of the water goes into the sand, and the rubble takes over the remaining forces of frost heaving, neutralizing them.

If the porch is attached to a freshly cut wooden house, in which shrinkage has not yet been completed, and the porch design provides for the presence of a canopy, the racks must be fastened to special adjustable plates.

 

We draw your attention to the fact that both the metal and the wood that you will use to build the porch require careful processing. The porch is exposed to all climatic influences and the materials require good protection.

Monolithic concrete stairs

The most durable stairs are made of monolithic concrete. It takes more time to make them than metal or wooden ones, but their service life is calculated in decades. The types of concrete stairs are described in detail in the video. The basis of the calculation is also given.

How to make a concrete staircase on kosoura with your own hands, see the next video.

Wooden porch

A wooden porch is one of the most common options in our country. Wood is plastic, easy to process, costs relatively little (in our country), forgives many mistakes. That is why it is a favorite building material.

It also has disadvantages: it requires good protection before starting construction (antibacterial impregnations and fire retardants), as well as regular maintenance - updating the protective paintwork. Then it looks attractive for a long time, otherwise it quickly loses its decorative effect.

One of the options for building a wooden porch with a ladder on bowstrings can be seen in the video. We draw your attention to the fact that the porch is being built on sandy soil, so the used method of installing the pillars is not suitable for everyone. Otherwise, everything is clear.

 

Brick porch

Since brick is a dense and heavy material, a serious foundation is required under a brick porch. Usually it is a monolithic slab, and with double reinforcement and it is better if it is larger in size than the planned porch.

When calculating the parameters of the steps, it is necessary to take into account the size of the brick and the thickness of the seam between them. Then it will be easier to lay it - no need to cut the brick. If you are not going to cover the porch, use quality material for the outer rows. Inner rows - backing up - can be made from combat or building blocks and their remains.

If the house is on a high plinth, making a monolithic brick porch is too expensive. Then the columns or walls are folded, leaving an empty space inside.It can then be used for household purposes or covered with decorative shields. If you need an upper platform, from above these columns / walls are covered with a concrete slab - homemade or ready-made - this is by choice. Then a ladder is attached to the resulting base. It doesn't have to be brick. It can be metal, concrete or combined.

Photo report: wooden porch on a metal frame

Theory is just theory and in construction too. You always understand the essence of the matter better if you observe the process on your own, because you can see how others are doing and learn something for yourself.

At the request of the parents, an exact copy of the old porch was made. The only difference is that a metal frame is welded for the new one.

On the site of the demolished porch, a foundation pit was dug 25 cm deep. Sand was poured and rammed into the bottom layer by layer, 10 cm crushed stone on top of it. A metal mesh with a 10 cm cell was laid on top, and all this was filled with concrete.

A metal frame is welded according to the previous dimensions of the porch (from a corner of 70 * 5 mm). The sides are set vertically and secured with studs. Further, the base for the benches is welded to them. All metal is treated with a rust converter, covered with primer and painted twice.

The wood was used for construction dry. Planed boards were cut to size (porch width) and impregnated for direct contact with the ground.

We lay the dried boards on the frame. You have to drill a hole for each fastener - you just can't take a corner.

At this stage, two mistakes were made at once. The first is that the skin was not started from the sidewalls. They immediately began to lay the steps. As a result, water constantly flows into the joints of the side cladding and steps and the wood is barked. It is necessary to start the trim from the sides, and make the steps a little longer so that they protrude beyond the side trim by at least a couple of centimeters. The second mistake - the boards on the porch are stacked close to each other. At high humidity, they swell and the surface becomes uneven. When installing the porch sheathing, make gaps of at least 5-8 mm.

After all the boards are fixed, they are sanded. First with a coarse-grain belt sander, then with a fine-grain disc sander. The process is lengthy. In parallel, the task is being solved - to remove the green color of the impregnation. It does not even overlap with three layers of tint.

After sanding, we start painting. Apply three times. Each layer after complete drying of the previous one. As a result, the color is dark mahogany.

 

While the paint dries completely, we start making benches. We cut the boards under them, grind the oblique bevel (for beauty), cover with impregnation.

We make the backs with a small decor - rounding along the edges.

We saw along the marked lines with a jigsaw, then we grind to a smooth edge.

The sides are covered with plywood, which has been painted the same color. The porch is ready.

DIY brick-concrete porch: photo

The walls of the staircase were previously made of bricks, on top of which a monolithic concrete slab was poured. Along the edge, a frame from the corners is monolithic into it - so that the stairs and railings can be welded.

 

From a corner of 70 * 70 * 5 mm we cut the workpieces of the required length. Then we treat them with a rust converter. We begin to cook after the reaction has stopped and the metal has dried.

 

The first metal bowstring was welded.

The finished sidewall was attached to the concrete base with two pins.

In the same way, we cook the second bowstring and fix it. When working, make sure that the two bowstrings are in the same plane.

We begin to weld the support bars. It is important to constantly control the horizontal position so that the steps are not oblique.

 

We weld the transverse pieces of the corner to the support bars so that a shelf is obtained.

The corners are welded to form a frame. We put a piece of sheet slate in it. We lay out a reinforcing metal mesh on the slate. Weld the edges of the mesh to the frame.

Pour concrete into the prepared steps. We make it high-quality so that the steps do not wear out longer.

While the concrete is gaining strength, we take up the posts that will support the canopy over the porch. For them, we take a profiled pipe 70 * 40 * 3 mm. We cut four columns from it. Two are slightly longer - they will be near the wall of the house, two are 15 cm shorter - they stand along the outer edge of the porch, creating the necessary slope - so that the water-snow melts normally. For handrails and crossbars, we use a profiled pipe 40 * 40 mm.

All metal is also treated with a rust converter.

In order to avoid lateral stresses, it is important to set the racks strictly vertically. We expose them, grab them, in several places with short seams, check again if they are right. We weld on temporary stops and only after the next check we weld in accordance with all the rules.

After all the posts are set up and welded, you can assemble the railing. At the desired height, they are fixed strictly horizontally.

Then we proceed to the installation of the roof. We also cook it from a 40 * 40 mm profile pipe. First, the strapping around the perimeter - at the level of the shorter racks, then - the rest of the structure. It is not difficult, but it takes a lot of time - many intersections.

Then it was the turn of the handrail and decoration. And again, there are no difficulties, it will cope easily if desired.

Everything, the porch is ready for finishing work. Rough tiles for outdoor use were purchased on the steps and landing. The sidewall of the monolithic slab was also trimmed with it.

The metal was painted with a matching paint, the roof was covered with corrugated board remaining after the installation of the roof. The porch with my own hands turned out to be good.

Photo ideas for the design of the porch