Porch in a Wooded Setting

Explanation of Project:
These clients are very involved in the community and often have large gatherings in their home. They have a desire to be able to entertain guests, in a comfortable, inspirational, outdoors setting. The home is set on a large wooded lot, so building a porch that extended the home into this natural setting was a great choice to achieve this goal. An existing stone patio was removed and a new screened porch designed and built to the homeowner’s specifications, including a stone wood burning fireplace, rope bed, built in grill area and space for a large dining table.

The former stone patio was functional, but lacked an inviting appeal.

Rough timber beams are not like other wood. You cannot sand down a small mistake or blemish. Every cut and drill execution needs to be perfect. To heighten the challenge, we wanted to increase the beauty of the finished product by building the porch so that you cannot see any of the brackets, fasteners, wires for electrical, etc. So, to camouflage the “mechanics” of this project, we carefully bore holes into the timbers and tucked wires inside, reversed large bolts and fasteners to still meet building codes, but also hide these unattractive devices. Hand-made wood plugs were used to hide the holes. These two photos are close ups of that work.

Overall Results of the Project:
This project has exceeded the client’s expectations. What could have been a simple screened porch is now a work of “wood sculpture” art. The client has enjoyed this space and it has been the perfect spot for large, inspirational, gatherings…s'mores included.