How to build a porch with your own hands: a guide

Build a porch with your own hands is not difficult. But whether it will be beautiful, convenient and reliable depends on the quality of the materials used and compliance with the basic rules of construction. This will be discussed in this article.

Making a porch project

Прежде чем начать building a porch with your own hands, необходимо решить, из каких материалов оно будет сделано. Но самое главное — нужно правильно рассчитать все размеры, чтобы по ступенькам (см. Ступени для крыльца: оригинальное оформление парадного входа) можно было удобно и безопасно ходить.

Calculating the size and number of steps

To calculate the optimal dimensions of the future porch, you need the following data:

1. The total height of the porch. This is the distance from the lower edge of the entrance door to ground level.
2. Common run - distance in horizontal projection from the first to the last stage. When determining this size, one should not take into account the depth of the platform in front of the entrance, which should be at least slightly larger than the width of the entrance door.

The steps for the porch consist of a tread (horizontal part) and a riser (vertical part). A ladder is considered convenient for walking if the sum of the depth of tread and the height of the riser is 445–450 mm. The depth of the tread should be in the range from 200 to 375 mm, and the height of the riser from 125 to 200 mm.

Calculate the number of steps is very simple: you need to divide the total height of the porch to the desired height of the riser.

Knowing the height of the riser, calculate the depth of the tread, multiply it by the number of steps - and get the length of the total run. If for some reason the resulting figure does not suit you, for example, you do not have enough space for such a long porch, then change the step size ratio.

Council You can increase the depth of tread due to the protrusion of its leading edge above the riser.

Material selection

Решая, как build a porch with your own hands, чтобы оно было красивым и надежным, при выборе материала в первую очередь нужно ориентироваться на то, из чего построен и как отделан дом, чтобы сложилась целая и гармоничная картинка.

The most common materials for the porch:

• Tree. Solid woods should be preferred (see Wooden Porch). Bars and boards before use must be treated with special means to prevent rotting. Elements that will be buried in the ground - bitumen mastic, ground elements - special impregnation, linseed oil, paint.

• Concrete. Для устройства бетонного крыльца необходимо строительство опалубки, использование арматуры, устройство пароизоляции (см. Concrete porch). Чтобы в процессе эксплуатации такое крыльцо не давало трещин на стыке с основной стеной здания, необходимо ещё во время устройства фундамента для дома позаботиться и о фундаменте для крыльца — они должны составлять единую конструкцию.
• Brick (see How to make a porch for the house of a brick with your own hands), concrete blocks. The construction of the porch of these materials requires a solid foundation, also tied to the foundation of the house. With even small skills in working with brick and mortar, building such a porch will not be difficult.
• Metal. Welded metal porch looks great with any building, if the steps and railings are finished with suitable material. But metal is not cheap and requires anti-corrosion protection (see How to make a porch of metal with your own hands).

If you have not yet decided how and with what to build a porch with your own hands - the video clip will help you decide. Below you can see quite detailed instructions for building a porch made of wood and concrete.

Porch device

Concrete porch

How to build a concrete porch, if a foundation was not erected for it in advance?

In this case, it is necessary to arrange a temperature joint between the base of the building and the concrete structure of the porch. For this, the foundation of the house along its entire height and width of the porch is covered with roofing paper with a layer of sealant applied to it.

We build a porch with our own hands in the following sequence:

1. Dig a pit with a depth of 20–30 cm at the site of the future porch, well tamp the soil in the excavation. Pour a 10-centimeter layer of gravel or sand at the bottom of the pit, moisten it and tamp it well too.
2. Make the side formwork of boards, plywood or sheets of chipboard. Formwork should visually follow the shape of the steps.

   Note! To prevent water from stagnating on the steps and on the porch area, they should be done with a slight inclination forward (5–6 mm for every 30 cm). Take into account this bias in the manufacture of formwork.

3. Install the side formwork on the prepared base, reinforcing it with stakes and struts. Align it with level and height. Cut boards of the required length and width to the size of the risers and nail them to the formwork, connecting the two sides together.
4. Apply grease to the inner surface of the formwork to prevent concrete from sticking to it.
5. Lay a sheet of roofing material on the base to provide vapor insulation and moisture protection of concrete.
6. Prepare a concrete solution and place it in the formwork, starting with the bottom step. To give strength to the porch, it is desirable to lay a reinforcing mesh in each step. The laid concrete is evenly distributed over the entire area of ​​the step and is tamped with a shovel so that there are no voids left.
7. Level the surface of the steps, not forgetting the slope, and leave the concrete to dry for at least 7–10 days.
8. Remove the formwork and engage in finishing steps. For this, a material such as a special porch tile made of porcelain stoneware with a non-slip rough surface is perfect.

Wooden porch

The foundation for the wooden porch can be a thick timber, which is impregnated with an antiseptic, dipped into excavated holes with sand poured on their bottom and poured with cement. This foundation is called the pile.

Bars-piles are installed at the corners of the site and at the same time serve as supports for it. They need to be cut to the same level, making spikes on the ends. The supports are connected with each other by lags, in the lower part of which grooves are hollowed out. The groove-thorn connection adds strength to the structure.

Pour the pad to the bottom of the porch. Instead of a platform, you can fill in 2–4 low support columns, on which bowstrings and kosouri will rest.

To understand how to build a wooden porch with your own hands, it is necessary to choose the type of bowstring: with carved ledges or with embedded steps. Let's look at a simpler version - with carved ledges.

1. Having calculated the number and size of steps, pick up a few thick edged boards of the desired length for making bowstrings and kosourov. Bridgeboards are necessary in the manufacture of a wide porch as an additional support for the steps.
2. Mark the profile of the future ladder on one of the boards with the help of a molded building square, and cut out the excess with an electric jigsaw.
3. Make the second string and skewers on the ready-made pattern.
4. For fastening the bowstring to the lags use the groove-thorn connection. At the ends of the lag, nail a thick board in which the grooves are selected, and at the ends of the stringers and kosur make appropriate spikes. Strengthen fastening can be steel brackets or corners.
5. Place the lower ends of the string on the supporting posts or platform, carefully aligning all the details with each other.
6. Lay the floors on the porch area.
7. Cut to size and secure to the bowstrings of the risers and treads, connecting them all the same method of thorn-groove and fastening to the frame with self-tapping screws.
8. If the staircase consists of more than three steps, it is necessary to provide a railing for the porch to ensure safety.

As you can see, if you want and ability to work with tools, building a porch with your own hands is quite simple. There are many more methods and materials for its manufacture, but those described above are the most accessible for those who first encountered this task.