Tag Archives: Macon GA Screened Porch Builder

Composite deck builder, Deck builder, Screened Porch

Archadeck of Central GA Provides Solution for Afternoon Sun with Macon, GA, Deck and Screened Porch Combination

If your deck is made of wood and faces west, it takes a beating. The sun’s UV rays break down wood fibers. You won’t be surprised, then, to learn that when these homeowners called Macon deck builder Archadeck of Central GA, they wanted to replace their wood deck with composite materials.

Lake Tobesofkee GA Deck and Porch Builders

This home near Macon’s Lake Tobesofkee is in a great location but that afternoon sun is rough. The homeowners’ den receives the afternoon sun, too, and it can get mighty hot in there.

Macon screened porch builder Archadeck of Central GA was called in to replace the deteriorating deck and to add a screened porch to this Macon, GA, home.

Bigger Deck, Resilient Materials

The key to designing a deck that won’t deteriorate under intense sunlight is using composite decking materials. They don’t break down when exposed to the sun’s UV rays the way wood does. We replaced the original deck with a new one in the same area but designed it to be a bit larger. The homeowner chose Deckorators low-maintenance composite decking boards in the prairie color. For the deck railing, we used pressure-treated wood for cost savings and capped it with Deckorators composite rail cap. Many homeowners don’t realize we can mix composite decking with pressure-treated wood for railings, but we can.

Screened Porch Design Challenge

Have you ever designed a porch adjoining a room that has cathedral ceilings and trapezoid windows? It’s likely you haven’t because not many people have. Needless to say, we had to determine where the new porch roof would meet the existing home. Sometimes when you’re working in the area of a home’s windows, you can come in with the porch roof below them (for example, below second-story windows). But with trapezoid windows high up in a room with a cathedral ceiling, well … you end up extending the home’s roofline over the porch addition.

Lake Tobesofkee GA Deck and Porch Builders

Because we extended the roofline, the screened-in porch has a high ceiling, too. The porch’s ceiling fan is lowered from the ceiling with a 6-foot rod.

Don’t forget, the new construction will also receive the afternoon sun because the outdoor living area – a combination deck and screened porch – is facing west. For that reason, we used Solar Screen mesh for the screens with a 90% grade. That means these heavy-duty screens will block up to 90% of the UV rays, the heat and the glare from direct sunlight that would otherwise heat up the porch. While you can still see out through these screens, they are so effective they will prevent fading of carpets and fabric such as upholstery on the screened porch.

Lake Tobesofkee GA Deck and Porch Builders

For the porch floor the homeowner chose pressure-treated wood. With such effective screening, the porch floor will not be assaulted by the sun!

Interior Room Also Benefits from 90% Solar Screen

The sunlight that used to stream directly into the home’s den is now filtered by the 90% Solar Screen used on the screened porch. The good news is the den will now stay a lot cooler – or at least use less energy to cool. While the room is going to be darker now, the homeowners feel the reduction in heat is a good tradeoff.

Lake Tobesofkee GA Deck and Porch Builders

In the course of a project sometimes we extend the scope of the job if the homeowners request additional work. In this case we also replaced the home’s gutters while we were already working along the roofline, and we saved the homeowners a little money doing it that way.

And the Dog is Not Forgotten

The dog of the house is going to love this screened porch but will still want to get out and run around. The dog’s favorite part of the combination screened porch and deck? A screen door with a doggie door. Woof!

Lake Tobesofkee GA Deck and Porch Builders

If you are interested in replacing a deck, adding a new porch or adding a combination outdoor living space, contact Archadeck of Central Georgia for a design consultation. You can reach us by phone at (478) 745 – 2000 or via email at centralgeorgia@archadeck.net.

Stephen Denton Archadeck Augusta square lr
Stephen Denton, owner Archadeck of Central GA.
Archadeck of Central GA, Deck builder, Screened Porch

New Screen Porch by Archadeck of Central GA Makes It Home, Sweet Home For Aultman Pines Homeowners

This is the story of a home we were pleased to make “feel like home.” Our clients in the Aultman Pines neighborhood south of Macon, GA, own this home and had been renting it out for some time. When they decided to move into the home themselves, instead of renting it, they knew the house needed renovations, including a revamp of the outdoor living space. However, we advised the homeowners to first replace the Masonite siding and replace it with vinyl siding because the Masonite had failed and the house was starting to rot. This delayed the construction of the porch for months, but it was the right call for the homeowner.

Back of home before we began the project:

With the siding handled, they were able to proceed with a much-needed upgrade to their outdoor living space. The home had a backyard wooden deck that needed to be replaced, and these clients had a better idea. They felt they’d get more use out of a screened porch than a deck. At Archadeck of Central Georgia, our philosophy is that whatever outdoor structure you’re apt to use the most, that’s the one you should build. While a deck is right for some people, if you’re a screened porch family then you should have a screened porch.

We removed the old wood deck and built a screened porch in its place. The homeowners wanted a place for their grill, so we included a small grill deck off the porch. The project is built with the addition of a future hot tub in mind as well because the homeowners eventually want to add one next to the screened porch.”

Project after Archadeck of Central GA completed:

For materials, the homeowners selected pressure-treated wood for the inside of the screened porch and low-maintenance composite decking for the grill deck outside. Their decision was driven by price, with wood being more economical than composite decking.  Because the interior of the screened porch is protected from the weather, wood used inside the porch will last longer — and look great longer — than it would outside on a deck subjected to sun and rain. For the grill deck they selected the Ipe color composite decking boards from Fiberon’s Horizons line. They also used the Fiberon Ipe rail cap over the grill deck’s wooden railings. Finally, they chose a bronze screen door and bronze screens for the screened porch.

As early as the design phase, this project took an interesting turn because the home had a window looking out from the kitchen onto the original deck. Once a screened porch was sketched in to replace the deck, suddenly we had a window and its roof inside the porch. We were able to remedy this by making the porch walls a foot taller than usual (about 9′ rather than 8′) and using a knee wall to cover the roof of the window. Never let it be said that Macon porch and deck builder Archadeck of Central GA doesn’t meet a challenge head-on!

Stephen Denton Archadeck Augusta square lr
Stephen Denton, owner Archadeck of Central GA.

If your outdoor living space could use some help to make it feel more like home, contact Archadeck of Central Georgia to learn more about our custom outdoor living designs in Macon, Warner Robins and the surrounding area. You can reach us by phone at (478) 745 – 2000 or via email at centralgeorgia@archadeck.net.