A porch you can still use in the rain.
Square and sealed to last — built on-site by a carpenter, the same person who quotes it and frames it, not a factory kit installed by someone else.
The difference isn't the roof. It's how it's framed into your house.
Carpenter-built (mine)
- Roof framed and tied into your house, on-site
- Flashed to shed water where the roof meets the wall
- One trade, start to finish
Enclosure kit + installer
- Standard sizes, adapted to fit
- Sealed where the kit allows
- Handoffs between supplier and installer
Nobody around here builds covered porches as their own thing. It's a line item on somebody's deck job, or a product a sunroom company drops in and seals up. That's the gap this page exists to fill.
What you're actually paying for
A deck adds a floor to stand on. A porch adds a roof over that floor — tied into your house instead of just sitting near it. Two porches can look the same from the street and be nothing alike underneath: one sheds water where it meets the house, the other quietly lets it in.
You can't see which one you bought until it's been rained on a few times. So here's mine, opened up.
The build-up, top to bottom
tap a layer
Four parts. You'll only ever stand on one of them.
Grade / frost line
Part 01
Roof tie-in
A deck's frame stops at the house with a ledger board. A porch's roof has to land on the house too, and shed water for good — that's the whole structural difference between the two.
What I use
It ties into the house — same idea as a deck's ledger board, just working on the roof instead of the floor. A structural member gets lagged into the house framing, then flashed. If there's already a roof at that wall, the new one frames right over top of it. The exact detail depends on the house, but it always ties in — it's never just sitting there. Roof style isn't a fixed default either. Most square houses around Peterborough end up with a gable roof, and where the porch runs beside an existing roof on both sides, that's two valleys. Otherwise it gets decided on the visit, house by house.
Where it goes wrong
A tie-in that isn't done right doesn't fail on day one. It works loose from the house over a few winters, or starts shedding water into the wall instead of off it.
Part 02
Flashing
On a deck, the ledger join is the single highest-risk detail on the build. On a porch, it's this — every seam where the new roof meets the old one has to be built to shed water, not just cover it.
What I use
Step or apron flashing, whichever the join calls for — bent metal, run against the house and onto the roof, then sealed with exterior flashing sealant so nothing tracks in behind it. No brand I insist on — it's whatever the situation calls for.
Where it goes wrong
Flashing that's caulked instead of layered fails quietly. Water tracks into the wall long before anything shows on the porch itself.
Part 03
Posts and footings
Below the frost line, same as any footing in this climate. But a roof carries weight a deck's floor never does, snow included, which can change how many posts a porch needs and how far apart they sit.
What I use
Footings, below the frost line — the discipline is the same one my decks get, but sized and confirmed on the visit rather than to a stated depth — a roof changes the load, and it's different every time. New footings mean calling in locates first. A lot of porch repairs just reuse what's already in the ground. A beam resting on posts, generally 6x6, set on those footings — post-and-beam framing, the way I build it. Framing hardware scales with the porch. A smaller one often just rests 2x6 rafters on top of the beam — no hanger strictly needed, though I'll still set them where the joint ends up covered by finish. A bigger porch, or certain roof styles, gets real connectors: a rafter hanger at the house, or a hanger where it lands on the beam. Anywhere the joint stays visible, I'll run a flat black plate instead — the timber-frame look.
Where it goes wrong
Undersized or under-spaced posts don't fail on day one. The roof settles unevenly, and things nearby start to bind — the same slow way frost heave racks a deck out of square over a few winters.
Part 04
Floor
A deck floor takes the weather straight on. A porch floor sits under a roof, which opens options that don't make sense out in the open.
What I use
Cedar or Trex composite, same as the deck page — cedar in five-quarter boards, Trex where low upkeep matters more. I'll build pressure-treated if the job calls for it — it's mostly a brown-toned product now, sienna, since the old green PT is pretty much gone from suppliers — but it's not what I'd steer you to. Cedar's still my own pick even under a full roof. Close it in with windows and a door instead of just covering it, and the floor isn't locked to decking material at all — linoleum or hardwood are both on the table.
Where it goes wrong
Same as an open deck — boards cup when moisture sits underneath instead of running off, usually a frame problem more than a board one.
A porch doesn't usually fail at the roof. It fails where the roof meets everything else.
What gives out first
- The beam system — dropped or sagging, usually a level problem first
- Older shingles giving out and starting to leak
- Foundation work that wasn't done right to begin with
- The porch separating from the house — a tie-in that was never really tied in
- Wood left unsealed or unpainted, greying out in the sun — not structural, but it's what shows first
What I do about it
- Tie the roof into the house and flash it to shed water, not just cover it
- Footings below the frost line, sized and confirmed on the visit for the load the roof and snow actually add
- Same floor treatment as the deck page
- Framing hardware sized to the roof — hangers and connectors where the load calls for them, not guessed at
A porch built right — flashing, footings, everything else — holds up a long time. What I see going wrong is concentrated in the older ones and the ones that weren't built right the first time, not something baked into a covered porch as a structure.
Choosing boards
I'll tell you the downside of each one, including the one you're leaning toward.
Floor
Same board list as the deck page, and cedar's still the one I'd pick myself even under a roof. Close the porch in with windows and a door instead of just covering it, and the floor stops being locked to decking material at all — linoleum or hardwood are both fair game once it's not carrying the weather anymore.
Cedar
Suits you if
You want real wood underfoot — the grain, the smell, the way it ages.
The catch
It asks for upkeep. Left alone it goes grey, and it wants refinishing to stay looking new.
Trex (composite)
Suits you if
You want the low-upkeep surface — no staining, no refinishing, ever.
The catch
It costs more up front, and it's never going to feel like real wood, because it isn't.
Pressure-treated
Suits you if
The budget is the deciding factor and you want the porch this year.
The catch
I'll build it, but it's not what I'd steer you to — and I'll tell you why on the visit.
Roof
Metal, ideally — it lasts way longer and it's worry-free, and that's the whole reason I lean that way. I'll also build asphalt shingle matched to the house, or roofing tile, depending on what you want and the budget. Unlike the floor materials above, there's nothing here I'd steer you away from — if you want shingle to match the house, that's a fine call.
What a porch from me includes
The drawing first
You see the size, the layout and the number before anything is cut.
Roof tied into the house
Framed and flashed as part of the build, not an afterthought bolted over the floor. Eavestrough or gutter tie-in off the new roof isn't standard scope — I sub that out, so it's priced as its own line if you want it.
Ceiling or soffit finish
Always addressed, never left bare. Vaulted or flat, tongue-and-groove pine — stained or painted — is what most people go with right now, or a ventilated soffit; the style gets chosen with you.
Permits
Mine to pull. It's easier that way, and a roofed porch usually means more permit and engineering steps than a simple deck does.
Delivery and haul
Van and trailer are mine. Materials arrive and the old structure, if there is one, leaves.
One trade throughout
Same person who quoted it is the person building it.
“The time goes into the parts you don't see. You keep them anyway.”
Want it screened in, or closed up with windows and a door? A covered porch can go any of those ways — open air, screened, or fully closed. If a dedicated screened structure is what you’re after, that’s the screen rooms build, not this one.
Start with the visit.
I'll come look at the roofline, tell you what it needs, and you'll know more about your own house either way. No charge, no obligation.