Winterizing Your Front Porch is Easy to Do

Closing in our porch was one of the best ideas that we had. We redid our front porch in July of 2006. The reason that we decided to close it in, is because in the winter, the snow would blow right at the door, the wind would whip through without any barriers. We have an old style picture window which we have never replaced because we like it so well. Unfortunately, in the winter time, the cold air sneaks in and makes it cooler in the house, which causes us to turn the heat up and that costs more money. We had to do something without making a drastic change.

Before we built the porch in, it was just a concrete floor with metal support beams and a metal roof. We replaced the metal support beams with wood supports and added banisters and gates. We left the metal roof alone because we prefer to listen to the summer rains hit it while we sit on the porch. This was a wonderful idea and it wasn’t very expensive to do. We have twin babies and we wanted the little tots to be able to go outside in a safe place. We also have a Golden Retriever and they are well known for their hyperactivity. The porch provided our babies a safe haven. That was very nice. We even started spending more time outdoors as a family, enjoying long conversations as well as several family cookouts.

We talked about investing in siding to put up for the winter to block out the cold but first we wanted to see if it would be worth the extra expense. So this year, we decided to put up clear plastic. This type is the same kind people use to cover the floor when they paint. We stapled it tight as we went along. Once the porch was completely covered, we were surprised at the difference that it made. According to the thermometer, there was twenty degrees difference in the temperature from outside. It also completely stopped the cold air from sneaking into our front room. We can now sit on the porch with snow on the ground. It is also a great place for the kids to go out on sunny days when it is still breezy and the normally couldn’t go outside. It is a great way to use the porch that would normally not be used in the winter. The total cost was twenty dollars.

When spring arrives, the plastic can come down and the porch can be open again.