Planning new House. Back porch faces North. Your opinions ???
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HUCKthe1
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Ours is 18x45'. It is a nice size for what we use it for but always wish we had more room. I am planning on adding a lower patio almost as big someday with a fire pit. It will be like an additional outdoor room. For your plans 25' does not sound too deep me.
jinman
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Eddie is right. My house faces west due to that being the direction with the nice view down across my lake. I have a raised deck that shades the walkout basement (similar to the house Pete Clausen just built for his mom in the Projects forum). For the upper main floor, I've installed a 18' Sunsetter motorized awning with remote control. That shades most of the living room's west wall and the rest is shaded by a balcony from my 3rd floor master bedroom. The bedroom has another Sunsetter Easy Shade vertical sunshade over the french door going to the balcony. Without all that shading, the rooms get lots of heating from the summer sun. As it is, the shades do a terrific job and keep us cool and the air conditioner not overloaded. I would think a northerly facing or easterly facing house would be the best choices in Texas. But since you say your back porch is to the north, your southerly facing front of your house is going to take a lot of heat. I had the south side of my house resided a few years ago with HardiePlank siding after adding 1" thick foam insulation. The sun had brutalized my cedar siding on the south side. After the new siding and insulation, the south side is very cool. It made a huge difference. It just seems that no matter what way you turn your house in Texas, the sun is gonna find you if you don't plan for it and make your house very well insulated on all sides.
houstonscott
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Yes, in Texas the back of your home should be oriented north, if possible. I think about 010 degrees true would be perfect. All your activities in summer afternoons should be shaded. Summers in Texas are spent in the shad. While morning sun is fine as temps raise, areas you spend morning activities are fine for east facing. Design of home can take advantages to, and placement of garden should get morning sun, it's important to get growing processes started early in the day. Ensure AC is shaded in afternoon hours too. Protect west facing activity areas from sun too, they will get very hot. Tree placement can help too.
HS
HS
tcreeley
Elite Member
It really is a question of where you are located in this country. North porch makes a lot of sense for Texas and hot climates. As a kid in western Mass, our house had a wrap around porch that faced west. In June the low setting sun would travel through the glassed front door length of the house to hit the pantry wall by the kitchen. Of course the 100+ year old maples on that end of the house kept everything in the shade. Nothing prettier than sitting in the shade and looking out over sun lit fields.
Shade is useful. I built our insulated chicken coop for our 13 barred rocks under some fast growing chinese elms. They have shade all summer long, and in the winter direct sun from the leaves having fallen. That helps comfort wise.
Shade is useful. I built our insulated chicken coop for our 13 barred rocks under some fast growing chinese elms. They have shade all summer long, and in the winter direct sun from the leaves having fallen. That helps comfort wise.
dmccarty
Super Star Member
Since you are n TX, a north facing porch might be perfect since it will always be shaded. Our front porch faces east, so in the morning it gets lots of sun, but by early morning, the porch is shaded. If we had a west facing porch we would get the afternoon/evening HOT sun even with though trees would block some of the sun. A porch open to the south would be OK in the summer but one would have to pay attention to the roof line and porch depth to keep the sun glare out of the porch during the winter.
I think the minimum depth for a porch should be eight feet. Many porches are six feet wide which is not enough room for a chair, bench or swing and have enough room to walk around. We put in eight foot deep porches which is a good balance between space and cost. One part of the front porch is 12 feet deep to allow a table. As is true for other parts of the house design, the porch size has to be balanced with size and cost unless you have Bill Gate amounts of money.
Another point to ponder is the porch height about grade. Our local code says that a porch has to have railings if the porch is a given distance above grade. I think the distance was 28 inches. Stairs of a certainly height would also need railings. Our house is on a slope but I was able to design the porch so that it and the steps did not require railings. I had to do a bit of grading to meet code but it worked out. I did not want railings, nothing wrong with railings, but they require extra work and cost and I like the looks of the porch without railings.
I do not know if it is true or works, but light blue porch ceilings are supposed to keep birds and bugs from nesting on the porch because they think the sky colored ceiling is the sky. I wanted to put in a blue ceiling on our porches but the wifey wanted a gray colored porch ceiling and she won. We have bugs and birds nesting on the porch which I point out to her from time to time. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:
Later,
Dan
I think the minimum depth for a porch should be eight feet. Many porches are six feet wide which is not enough room for a chair, bench or swing and have enough room to walk around. We put in eight foot deep porches which is a good balance between space and cost. One part of the front porch is 12 feet deep to allow a table. As is true for other parts of the house design, the porch size has to be balanced with size and cost unless you have Bill Gate amounts of money.
Another point to ponder is the porch height about grade. Our local code says that a porch has to have railings if the porch is a given distance above grade. I think the distance was 28 inches. Stairs of a certainly height would also need railings. Our house is on a slope but I was able to design the porch so that it and the steps did not require railings. I had to do a bit of grading to meet code but it worked out. I did not want railings, nothing wrong with railings, but they require extra work and cost and I like the looks of the porch without railings.
I do not know if it is true or works, but light blue porch ceilings are supposed to keep birds and bugs from nesting on the porch because they think the sky colored ceiling is the sky. I wanted to put in a blue ceiling on our porches but the wifey wanted a gray colored porch ceiling and she won. We have bugs and birds nesting on the porch which I point out to her from time to time. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:
Later,
Dan
Gary Fowler
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My back porch is facing North and except for very early morning sun, it is in the shade all day. My brother in law lives about 200 yards north of me and his porch faces South and seems to stay cooler than mine due to the normally southeast or south west wind. Of course he has two big trees to the south east and southwest of his porch so it is shaded all the time. Ceiling fans provide a bit of cooling wind when needed for added comfort. If you put in ceiling fans, be sure you get outdoor rated fans as the blades will droop on non outdoor rated fans, just ask my BIL about that.
I wouldn't have a porch without it being covered as it is pretty well worthless in the south. My porch is 12 feet x 44 feet and would certainly be nicer to have about 4 feet wider as it would accommodate a patio furniture table and chairs much better. It is pretty cramped as it is.
25 feet wide might be pushing the envelope for span without some middle supports for the floor and would require some engineered trusses for the roof span. I think 16 feet wide would give you all the room you need and not be too much of a reach for spanning the floor and roof.
I wouldn't have a porch without it being covered as it is pretty well worthless in the south. My porch is 12 feet x 44 feet and would certainly be nicer to have about 4 feet wider as it would accommodate a patio furniture table and chairs much better. It is pretty cramped as it is.
25 feet wide might be pushing the envelope for span without some middle supports for the floor and would require some engineered trusses for the roof span. I think 16 feet wide would give you all the room you need and not be too much of a reach for spanning the floor and roof.
MacLawn
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As usual, old Eddie is right. I noticed that in TEXAS, old Sol beats down hard on ye until He totally goes down, not like here where it's a local call to talk to Heaven, and old Sol has a bit more respect for the evening hour.
And, hey, make that thing big. You won't regret it.
And, hey, make that thing big. You won't regret it.
s219
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North porch in Tx makes sense to me. We had a south facing porch in our last house, and it was always hot
The back porch on our new house faces west, since that's the direction of the water view. Thankfully we're smack in the thick of a forested area, so it is well shaded even in late afternoon when the sun is on that side of the house, and a ceiling fan helps when there is no breeze. In the mornings, it stays cool out there until noon. By evening, we have a great view of the sunset. It all worked out better than I expected. Best room in the house for sure.
Our porch is 12 feet deep, and that makes for a nice size for gathering together with people and accommodates porch furniture well. I wouldn't want to go too deep as it would start to feel like a cave in the back in my opinion.
We played with grading to avoid the need for rails, so the screens run floor to header unobstructed. The ceiling slopes up with a 3/12 pitch and is open. Keeps things roomy feeling and leaves space for the ceiling fan.
The back porch on our new house faces west, since that's the direction of the water view. Thankfully we're smack in the thick of a forested area, so it is well shaded even in late afternoon when the sun is on that side of the house, and a ceiling fan helps when there is no breeze. In the mornings, it stays cool out there until noon. By evening, we have a great view of the sunset. It all worked out better than I expected. Best room in the house for sure.
Our porch is 12 feet deep, and that makes for a nice size for gathering together with people and accommodates porch furniture well. I wouldn't want to go too deep as it would start to feel like a cave in the back in my opinion.
We played with grading to avoid the need for rails, so the screens run floor to header unobstructed. The ceiling slopes up with a 3/12 pitch and is open. Keeps things roomy feeling and leaves space for the ceiling fan.
Dr_Zinj
Veteran Member
Porches on the north side of a building are fine south of the Mason-Dixon Line. You don't want them on the north side if you're north of that. For instance, in NH the only places you should put a porch on a home is East, SE, South, SW, or West side of the building; and preferably between SE and SW. Anything else is just too cold and dark.
