A covered porch, a well-liked house feature, is especially popular in the barndominium community. There are several reasons for this; read on and you will discover the main reasons barndominium homeowners love them.
Why should you consider adding a covered porch to your barndo?
1. It is very easy to include a covered porch in most barndominium designs. The house is often sitting on a slab which forms the base, then if you extend the roof over the space, you have a porch. Of course, if you want to you can cover the slab with a wood, tiled or other type of flooring. Sometimes barndos are even designed to have the porch inset into the building in which case the slab which the barndo rests on does not have to be larger than the home’s footprint.
If your barndo is not being built on a slab, because, for instance, you are putting in a basement under your home, you can still extend the roof and have a structure created for the floor.
2. Covered porches are a low-cost way to expand your living space. You can place a swing or rocking chair on your porch and relax or add a hammock to read or nap. It’s also a great place to locate a table, chairs and other furniture so you can entertain friends, enjoy family dinners, throw parties, or have a game night.
3. This is a great way to get more time outside. Barndominiums are usually built in rural settings; people move to the countryside to get back to nature. There are many ways to make the most of countryside living such as walking, gardening, hunting, fishing, riding horses, playing with dogs, and more. Another aspect of outdoor living can be enjoying the outdoors without having to deal with every element the weather throws at you. It can be very cozy sitting on your covered porch listening to the rain, delighting in the first snowflakes, or watching the lightning during a thunderstorm.
4. A covered porch can keep you dry while you look for keys and guests dry as they wait to be admitted. It can also act as a mud room allowing family members to remove shoes and jackets and leave umbrellas behind before walking into the house.
5. Covered porches can make the most of the view. If you are surrounded by beauty, you might want to make your covered porch wrap around the building. Whether you are looking at farmland, woods, the horizon, mountains, a river, lake or pond, or even a great view of the city in the distance, a porch with a chair or two is an invitation to enjoy.
6. If you are looking for a way to make the exterior of your barndo more interesting, a covered porch has a way of dressing up a simple building. It’s a feature that helps break up an expanse of wall. Add an attractive railing and it can really improve curb appeal.
7. A covered porch can be an outlet for your creativity. Make the furnishings rustic, shabby chic, sleekly modern, whatever you like. From furniture to chair cushions to wind chimes, knick knacks and lighting, you can choose a style and a theme… Will your porch be a garden-themed oasis? Will it feature a country motif of cows and roosters? Or will it feel like a second living room complete with comfortable seating and lamps, maybe even curtains that can be opened or pulled closed for privacy?
8. If and when you decide to sell this barndominium, the more features you can enumerate to attract buyers, the better. As mentioned above, most people like a porch so it can add to the desirable sales points of your home.
As you can see there are many reasons people may choose to add a covered porch to their barndo design. Some homeowners may ask why increased home value is not on this list of reasons, since a porch is likely to add some value to your home. The added value, however, depends on a couple things.
The first question is: Will the added value cover the cost of creating the porch? As we’ve seen, there are reasons that a covered porch can be a very reasonable investment on a barndo design, but whether the added value will cover the costs depends on how much you invest in the porch. Will you add a finished floor, wainscoting, railing, or other extras to the porch? Will your embellishments be value driven or luxurious? Further, added value depends ultimately on the person who decides to buy the house. Is the porch something they are willing to pay for thereby adding a little on to the price they pay for the barndo? There is no way to know.
A covered porch can bring hours of enjoyment over the years, and people rarely regret having installed them, unless of course the construction was poorly done. So, if you decide to add a covered porch to your barndominium’s initial design, you should have nothing to worry about since you will have vetted the builder/s of your home. You can look forward to kicking back and enjoying the view.
