The love of a good porch

Porches are an under-rated element of a home, so often now we see a little canopy that is not even that good at keeping you slightly drier as you search for your keys at the bottom of your bag or pockets. Really, why bother?? Chocolate hammers etc spring to mind.

Porches can, and should be much, much more. We value conservatories as a link between the house and the garden, but not a porch – the link between the house and the outside world.

The front door area is:

• The entrance to the home
• The place where we meet and greet family and friends
• The place where we also bid them farewell
• The place where we enter the home (in all weathers)
• A source of draughts

So porches can and should be:

• Attractive – so that we project a warm and welcoming image to the outside world;
• Spacious – so that we can gather together and welcome people to the home;
• Glazed – so that we can visibly wave farewell to visitors whilst remaining in the dry;
• Have some storage facilities – so that we can take off coats, boots etc in the dry;
• Be easy to clean – outdoor clothes and boots can then drip dry and be stored without worry;
• A buffer zone – an area where one external door can be opened and closed before the main entrance to the house itself is opened. This reduces draughts (and associated heat loss) significantly;
• Light – all this activity needs good lighting, so use natural light (see glazed) and sufficient artificial lights, probably combined with a white-ish colour;
• In keeping with the rest of the house – this is important as a good porch is very visible and so needs to complement the existing structure.

Get it right and a porch can be a real asset to a home, but it does require a little more planning and thought than we get through average builders and architects. We would recommend having a really good think through the points above to see what you can achieve with yours.

Eco Home DIY Advice blog is brought to you by Eco Home Centre (http://www.ecohomecentre.co.uk) a not-for-profit organisation in Wales, UK. The Blog can be found at http://ecohomecentre.blogspot.com