concrete porches

[farmerpsv]

Hey all,
am building a place and am considering putting a concrete front porch as opossed to a wood deck. my question is, how is that done with a raised foundation? is there some type of wood structure built to hold the wet reinforced cement that is removed or becomes unecessary once the concrete hardens? what is the cost difference between a wood porch and concrete? thanks
paul

 

[btolle]

I believe the procedure is to to pour the "walls" or sides of the porch leaving the interior open. Then remove the inside forms (after a couple of days) and fill with compacted sands and pour the top. Most I have seen leave an overhang of an inch or 2 when they pour the top.

Trying to fill the whole thing with concrete would be very expensive, terribly heavy, and would take a lot more form bracing to hold the weight of the wet concrete.

Can't help with cost differences.

BTW, don't forget to slope it away from the house for drainage!

Bill Tolle

 

[getut]

Around here it is popular to brick and block the outside of the porch just like the foundation and then suspend 4"-6" of concrete inside the bricked porch. They use rebar and steel in the brick to support the concrete. You have a nice brick rim around the edge of the porch.

Concrete porches are a no brainer for me. Cost more to begin with but last nearly forever with no upkeep.

 

[heehaw]

we filled ours with sand, then poured 4-5 inches of concrete on top of the sand...low maintenance was the reason for going with concrete..has lasted 18 years with nothing more that an occasional rinse with a hose.
heehaw

 

[farmerpsv]

thanks y'all.
i've restored a few victorian homes, 2 had wrap around porches with wood porches that had to be repaired and required a good deal of maintenance. 1 had a concrete porch and another a brick porch. i really like the brick, concrete i great for all the above reasons. while wood is more aesthetically pleasing, it isn't worth the trade for me.
thanks again for the info
paul

 

[Dargo]

Two years ago I added 1500 sq feet of covered wrap around concrete porch to my house. We love it and use it a lot. It has become a major feature of my house. It has 12 ceiling fans under it and 8 secruity cameras along with a built in sound system. I would not go back to wood after doing this one in brick and concrete. I'd rather not discuss the cost /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif, but I used 5500 brick and 47 yards of concrete. That doesn't include all the vinyl railings and roof structure over the porch. If you can do it, go for it! We love ours and it is virtually maintenance free, and I expect it to outlive me. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Oh yeah, if you are interested in more detail, PM me and I can provide you with the specifics. Good luck!

 

[KubotaSteve]

The guys that built my house didn't do the greatest job when it came to my front porch. They incorporated the footers for the porch into the one for the house which was a good thing, but they didn't incorporate the blocks into the house blocks for the foundation. Now it seems the block foundation is pulling away from the house a little (house is only 3 years old). They filled the cavity with sand and whatever other junk they threw down in there and then capped with concrete. I was ready to replace with wood, but after hearing these comments, I guess it was just the contractors that did mine.
On my brother's house he has a large covered porch on the front of his house so they used some pan decking with jacking supports underneath and lots of rebar until it set up then took it down and now he has a nice size room under his porch which would work well for cold storing items.

 

[ScottAR]

Two options, Seen it done both ways, I have no preference.

Your first option is to fill with sand or gravel and then make a 4-6" formwork on the top.

Second option is to build a frame work between porch block wall and house wall and cover with economy roof tin. Then make your formwork over top as above.

Option one is a little easier, option two gives you access under the porch for possible electrial outlets or whatever. I suppose a couple conduits placed in the sand would do the same thing. HTH.

I should add that nearly all porches around my area are concrete except really old houses. (pre 40's)

 

[PBMAX]

Our old home was there when we sold 23 yrs. It had a closed to the weather, but open under neith to the garage in one corner base and was as tall as the basment blocks.(4x10 foot deck) I used it to store flamables. (it did have plenty of brick turned to allow air in so it was well vented. They caped it like ScottAr mentioned with some fram work and a piece of sheet coragated metal. They acually used what looks like you may find on a commercail site for large concrete floors. After 23 yrs it only had a few fine crack in it. I'v decided to start collecting the framing steel and sheet medal for a new back deck along the back of our new place. It will end up being 58' long and 14 wide . It's sad, the deck on the house now is wood and it might last 10yrs or so. The weather here has been hard on it the last 3yr. But that gives me plenty of time to collect the material over a long spell easing the cost by spreading ot out. Now finding a place to stack the matrial out the way.....? But easy to keep inventory of it at the same time... What I need to know is if the 4" post that are ther now will support the weight? or should I buy bigger ones for it?