Enclosed Patios – Designs for a New Indoor/Outdoor Space
When it comes to enclosed patios designs are sometimes extremely simple or fairly complex. It’s most important that the design fits your family. Here at Structurally Speaking, we don’t have cookie cutter solutions. Instead, we design custom indoor/outdoor living spaces to meet your specific needs.
Benefits to having an enclosed patio include the following:
- More space to entertain
- A safe area for kids and pets to play, even if your backyard isn’t fenced
- You can enjoy the outdoors without the bugs
- The roof gives you plenty of shade, even on the hottest summer days
- Your family gains an extra living space
This isn’t a complete list of benefits, but suffice it to say enclosing your patio is a great option! Here’s what you need to know about enclosed patios, screened porches, and other indoor/outdoor living space options.
Is Enclosing Your Patio Possible?
If you have an existing patio that you’re thinking of enclosing, the first question you may have is if it is even possible. From a structural standpoint, the answer is probably yes! However, it depends on your specific situation. The good news is that we can give you the space you want through our personalized design approach, even if enclosing your current patio isn’t the best plan.
First, we’ll look at the foundation for the existing patio. On the ground floor, many patios sit directly on the ground using concrete, but this may not be the case with your patio. We need to make sure that your patio can support the weight of walls and a roof, and that this would be legal based on the city/county building codes in your area. The same is true of a second or third floor patio or balcony. It has to be able to bear the weight of the enclosure. Before we start, we’ll do a full assessment to ensure that enclosing the patio would be safe.
Next, we need to check any rules set forth by your homeowner’s association (if you have one). Most of the time, enclosing a patio is not a problem. However, you may need to submit paperwork for approval. You don’t want to get halfway through the first day of construction only to have an angry HOA president knocking on your door because you didn’t get approval!
Depending on your existing patio and your exact location, you may need a construction permit. Like with HOA approval, this is usually not an issue, just a step we need to take. We’ll handle this for you based on the patio design and your local requirements.
If we determine that we cannot safely enclose your patio, don’t worry! We’ll sit down with you to determine what we can do that will give you the same affect. For example, maybe your patio was built without a strong foundation. In this case, we can remove the old tiles or pavers and build an enclosed patio from scratch. We take pride in finding creative solutions to make our clients happy.
Enclosed Porches and Enclosed Patios – Designs You’ll Love
With our unique consultation and design process, we can create the porch or patio enclosure you really want. Here’s how it works:
Step One: Your Free Initial Consultation
Building a new piece to your home can be stressful if you work with a company that isn’t a good fit. Before we commit to your project, we sit down for a full consultation with you. We’ll discuss your ideas for your enclosed patio, porch, or other outdoor living space. Additionally, we’ll give you some of our own ideas about how you can make your space truly shine.
This consultation is completely free and there are no strings attached. We want to make sure we are the right design team for you. You need to feel confident that we can bring your patio or porch ideas to life. Not sure what you want? We can help in this case as well! During your consultation, we’ll ask questions about how you plan to use the space, as well as look at the existing architecture. We can help you form the best patio or porch design plan for your home.
Additionally, during this consultation, we’ll talk about your budget. We don’t give you a surprise bill at the end of your project. When you work with Structurally Speaking, you’ll know upfront how much your enclosed porch or patio will cost. We don’t think it’s fair to quote a low price and then suddenly run over budget before the project is even halfway done. So, we talk about money upfront and make sure that our designs fit your budget.
Step Two: Your Design Presentation
After the initial consultation, we get to work designing your new covered patio. Depending on your design consultation, we can also create plans for a sunroom, three season room, screened porch, hot tub deck, or other indoor/outdoor space. Some of our clients start off thinking they want one thing, but quickly realize they want something else. We’re flexible and will design the perfect space to meet your needs.
Our owner, Jim, designs every single project himself. We don’t use the same design for every client or outsource the work to someone who’s never seen your home. He uses everything you discuss in your initial consultation to design options for your new space.
During your design presentation, you can speak with Jim about any changes you’d like to make to the design. Before we start to build, we want to get your new patio, porch, or sunroom exactly right.
Step Three: Time to Build!
Once you are completely happy with your patio design, we’ll start the building process. At this point, you might think you’ll never see Jim again. Wrong! Jim oversees the building process as well to ensure that your patio design translates perfectly to real life.
In other words, we’re part of the entire process from start to finish. We don’t hire subcontractors to finish the job, and we don’t do a sub-par job and then disappear with your money. The design you see on paper is exactly what you get in real life. We’ll make sure of it!
Enclosed Patio Ideas – Common Features Our Clients Love
If you’re not totally sure what you want for your enclosed patio, we can show you pictures of our past projects. While no two clients/homes are the same, you might see some common features that many clients love. This can help springboard your own ideas about what you want in a new patio.
First and foremost, many of our clients decide that they want a combination indoor/outdoor space. This could be a sunroom that leads to a porch, a three-season room that leads to a patio, a screened porch that leads to a deck, etc. In short, your new space will include areas that are enclosed and areas that are open if you choose this option.
If you have an existing deck or patio, we’ll take this into consideration as we design your new space. Sometimes, it makes more sense to add on a sunroom or enclosed porch that leads to your current patio or deck. Other times, it makes sense to enclose the patio you already have and add on a deck. We’ll work with you to figure out what is best for the space in terms of both design and budget.
Another common element among our clients is some kind of fire feature. With enclosed patios designs we can consider including outdoor fireplaces and other features that we can safely add under a roof. You have more flexibility with a deck or patio without a roof. In this case, you can consider adding a fire pit, fire column, fire table, chimera, fireplace, or other type of fire feature. We can even design a space with room for heaters if you want to add warmth without a traditional fire feature.
We also build a lot of spaces that include a place for a hot tub. Hot tub decks and patios are the perfect place to relax after a long day of work. Imagine enjoying a frosty beverage as you sink into the bubbles while watching a movie on your outdoor television. We can make it happen! Just check out this design inspiration from HGTV for beautiful hot tub decks and patios.
Even More Patio Ideas – Decor Tips to Make Your Space Beautiful
Our primary job is to build good bones within your new enclosed patio design. But, we also love to hear details about how you intend to decorate. Decor pieces can give us a sense of your style. We might also have some ideas for built-in features that will complement your decor. So please, show us pictures of the outdoor furniture, curtains, accent pieces, and more during your initial consultation.
One of our biggest recommendations is to pay close attention to how the sun will affect the space. With an enclosed porch or patio, you won’t get as much sun as you have in the past. However, we’ll build the space to let in the natural light. Choose curtains to match how you’ll use the patio. Sheer options will let in a lot of light, but do not give you as much privacy, for example. On the other hand, thicker curtains, shutters, and blinds allow you to block the sun (and the neighbor’s view), but may not give you the breezy, open feeling you want.
You will likely want furniture for your patio. We recommend outdoor furniture, which is easier to clean and resists weather damage. If you have a specific set or piece you plan to purchase, we can build your patio with the dimensions in mind. For example, maybe you want a perfect nook for a little breakfast table and set of chairs. Maybe you want to create a game room complete with a large poker table. Or, maybe you want an area for a porch swing. The sky is the limit!
If you know how you want to decorate in advance, we can also make sure to show you colors that will match the overall vibe. We have options for flooring, and of course many paint colors for your walls. Additionally, we can help you choose stain or paint colors for any built-in features like planters or benches. Neutrals are of course popular, but if you prefer bolder colors, we’ve got that covered too.
How Much Will Your New Patio Space Cost?
As mentioned, we discuss patio costs during your initial consultation so there are no surprises along the way. We can work with most budgets. Since our patios are completely custom, we can’t give you a flat price here on our website, but these are a few things that will affect the cost:
- The patio size along with any additional spaces we’ll be building, such as adding a deck
- If you have an existing patio or are starting from scratch
- Special features, such as adding a hot tub
- The exact building materials and finishes you choose
- If you need electrical or plumbing in this space
- The materials you choose for the windows (screens versus glass)
Remember, one of the biggest benefits of adding any kind of indoor/outdoor living space is that it will increase the value of your home. So, this is a great investment for your family.
We provide a breakdown of the costs and can work with you to find solutions in your budget. Remember, there are no strings attached to start. We recommend booking your initial consultation to get a full picture of the costs.
If you’re ready to get started, click here to contact us. We’d love to add your project to our schedule.