Create a Three-Season Room with a DIY Screened-In Porch

Dream about enjoying a peaceful evening on a front porch, sipping a cool drink, and not worrying about mosquitoes, pesky flies, or an unexpected shower of rain. Suppose you have a front porch. Screening it in can change it into a bug- and weather-free area. It lets you enjoy more of your porch for many more months of the year, not only improving your living space. A DIY project on screening in the porch for an excellent three-season room prepares a simple guide for you.

But Why Should You Screen in Your Porch?
There is something quite special about a screened-in porch that effectively extends your home: it protects your furniture from the elements, keeps bugs out of your personal space, and lets you enjoy “being outdoors” when, in reality, there is no pleasant weather. With a screened-in porch, you can add safe comfort items such as a comfortable chair, a ceiling fan, or even a hot tub, without worrying that they will all rot out on a rainy day-or be eaten away by pests.
It also adds significant value-both in personal comfort and enjoyment and in the home’s monetary worth. According to Design Builders Inc., most homeowners should look forward to a 75% return on investment in a screened-in porch. Many buyers-those who are able to-scratch around actively searching for house features, so the addition of porch screen space could also push up the resale value of your house.
Screening in a Porch-A Wish List
Depending on the size of your job and materials used, employing a contractor or doing the job yourself, your typical costs would range from $3 to $5/square foot for the screen alone. However, you might even have extra costs for tools, hardware, and even a building permit.
The overall cost of a do-it-yourself item may vary with materials and scope, but anything from $600 to $3,500 is certainly possible. Lighten your wallet by purchasing a screened-in porch kit, which actually is cheaper and easier to install, particularly for those new at this business. One square foot usually costs 25%-50% less if a novice does the screening work.
Steps for Building Your Own Screened Porch
Step 1: Preparing for the Project
Equipped with all your requirements, next the porch is to be checked and rendered ready for screening. Take an accurate measurement of the specific areas to be screened. Investigate to find out if there will be need for any change in existing features like stairs or doors. Ensure that you possess the correct permits and consult with regard to local authorities or homeowner associations about the city zoning rules.
Step 2: Selections of Materials
As a beginner to DIY projects, the recommendation is to work with pre-made porch screen kit. These kits already come with all the components necessary, taking lesser installation time and cleaner results, usually because the most popular kits, such as ScreenEze, nix the spline from the entire process instead.
One also has to choose the best form of screen fabric. While the most cost-effective and easy-to-use options are the basic fiberglass screens, the higher-end options could cost more but have added benefits such as greater durability or extra elements such as resistance to pets or shading from the solar rays.
Step 3: Organize Your Tools
Depending on whether you are constructing your own frames or using a kit, a variety of tools will be required, such as measuring tape, saw, drill, utility knife, and level, alongside. If installing a storm door, it might be necessary to have a screwdriver, in addition to a possible miter saw for cutting frames.
Step 4: Check the Alignment of the Porch
Before hanging mounting bases or frames to it, make sure your porch frame is level and upright. A bubble level is used for checking trueness both in horizontal and vertical lines. He explains that it may well be necessary, under certain conditions, to adjust the frame work by the addition of trim or framing, so that everything will align perfectly.
Step 5: Attach the Mounting Base
In most kits, the first step is to connect the customized mounting bases, usually aluminum or vinyl, for support of the screen panels, cut them conveniently with a miter saw and secure them with screws. Handle fastening the screws with care to avoid the damage of both the mounting base or the surface of your porch.
Step 6: Install the Screen Fabric
Now you should find your bases in place, and the next step would be the attachment of the screen fabric. In a channel system kit, cut the fabric, then put it into channels and secure it with a hit of a spline. With simpler systems, e.g. ScreenEze, the fabric will stretch nicely with every slackening of the same over the grooves.
Be sure to keep the screen well-stretched and wrinkle-free and get rid of any excess material amount with a sharp knife such as a utility knife.
Step 7: Install the Cap Strips
Place cap strips over the edges of the mounting base to cover it up after sorting out which screen fabric was installed. With the use of a rubber mallet, set the cap strips into place.
Step 8: Add a Storm Door
At the very end, have a storm door added to your screened-in porch to cover and shield the porch from elements when the sun cannot afford such luxuries for you. You may search for a door to match your porch’s trim, considering other features that may be used in your renovation, such as windows through which the screen panels may be removed at any time.
Knowing When to Call a Pro
While most homeowners find screening in their porch to be a DIY project, some steps may require a professional touch. For research, for example, framing the porch for screening or installing wind doors might be best done by experts, especially if you’re uncomfortable where structures are concerned.
Adding a motorized screen or for running electricity for a ceiling fan is the wisest step to hire a professional as well as he may have some specialized ideas and/or permit requirements.
Conclusion
It may give an added touch of comfort as well as potential value that could improve over resale. A DIY project to screen in a porch can be most beneficial towards home improvements. Three seasons are visible by professional rain and bug-protected enclosed decks, so write a series of how-to articles on cost estimation. Before commencing with any of its essential requirement-determinations, a bare structured kit is precise.