Shed Type Porch Roofs
First, a few words about roof slope . The lower the roof the more difficult it is to have a shed-type roof but it is mostly dependent on your geographical area.Be sure to check with your local building codes department to see what the minimum front porch slope is required for your local area.The following picture illustrates a shed roof on a home with a low roof slope. By starting the shed roof farther up the home’s roof you achieve one, a more cost effective solution, and two, a deeper front porch.
Had the shed roof been just an extension of the main roof, the front porch would not have had much depth as the overall height would have been limited due to the pitch of the roof.
This cozy ranch home is one we see often when we take walks. The shed style metal porch roof is somewhat of an extension of the home’s roof. Hanging baskets, rocking chairs and a porch swing – what more could you want?
Here’s a neat variation of the shed roof and one that seems to be very popular. It actually looks like a partial-gable roof that starts the ridge board and extends over the front porch area.
We are partial to ranch home porches with combination roofs like the one below. They tend to add a bit more appeal and interest by breaking the straight lines of typical ranch style roofs
Another option for ranch home porches would be to construct a flat roof off of the main roof. This allows you to extend the depth of your front porch considerably.
Add Height And Interest Through Layered Landscaping
If your landscaping doesnt vary in size or groupings, your ranch-style home might look as flat or one-dimensional as your yard, even if you have a variation on the traditional ranch style, such as a raised ranch or split-level.
Consider how your yard looks by height and distance , advises Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction of Sterling, Virginia, a member of the National Association of Landscape Professionals. If everything sits at the same level, it all blends together where combining various sizes and groupings of plants keeps the eye moving.
Which Matches Your House
This is quite an extensive list to choose from, but not all design ideas work well with every house style. Dont allow yourself to be held back though, your personal style and wants can be well blended with the needs you have with a little imagination.
Which was your favorite, or do you have a fabulous idea youd like to share? Please comment and question below, and as always, please share!
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Hip And Mansard Roof Designs For Ranch Home Porches
Hip roofs are another great option and make for an interesting porch roof design. Hip roofs have equal angled sides whereas a mansard roof may have unequal sides. Either one can work well for ranch style homes but the mansard style roof offers more flexibility.Here’s an example of an aesthetically pleasing front porch with a mansard roof on a ranch style home.
Again, the slope of your home’s roof will dictate the style of your hip or mansard roof as evidenced in the photo below. Compare this with the mansard roof designs featured above. On a mansard roof, you can add depth to your front porch by extending the ridge board which will in turn extend the size of the angled sides.
// Midcentury Modern Ranch
We love a good midcentury modern ranch style home with its large windows and simple, open design. We chose Dragons Breath by Benjamin Moore for the roof bump out on this home and garage to contrast with the brick painted in Revere Pewter. Certainly, the wood columns, porch roof, and door also make the space cozy and inviting.
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Gable Style Roof Designs For Ranch Home Porches
Clearly the most popular roof design for front porches on ranch homes are gable roof designs.
Just like mansard roofs, to increase the depth of your front porch, extend the ridge board to the desired length. This can create an expansive outdoor room like the one shown below.
When designing ranch home porches, consider the available light. Deeper porches will diminish the amount of light shining into your home. If you desire a deep porch and light, consider installing skylights on both sides of the gable to maximize the available light.
A gable porch roof over a front porch can make a huge impact as shown below:
After
Above is another view of a front porch with a gable roof addition. Photos are courtesy of Niesz Fabrics.
A Front Porch Addition For Your Ranch Home
All of the tips above will make your house even more of a home. Although, a front porch addition creates a fantastic adaptable outdoor living space and makes your home more inviting. Already have a front porch? Great. Check out our blog on how to make yours more welcoming.
Looking to have a front porch designed and installed? Georgia Front Porch can help dramatically improve your ranch homes appearance with its premier front porch and portico installations. Take a look at our many porch projects with before and after photos with an array of different style homes.
As one of Georgias premiere front porch builders, our curb appeal experts will design and construct a front porch addition that will have your neighbors swooning!
Get started today with the Atlanta areas leading front porch contractor, Georgia Front Porch. Contact our team now or request a free quote. You can also call us at 770-781-8234. We cant wait to get started on your front porch or portico.
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The Bottom Line On Modern Ranch Style Homes
Ranch style homes are an American staple, present in almost every neighborhood across the USA. Whether blending rustic and natural elements into the exterior design or using bright, contrasting colors to highlight architectural features, updating your ranch house to suit modern styles and needs is a great way to improve curb appeal. Therefore, we hope this list has inspired you to update your homes exterior!
Our exterior designers at brick& batten can help you blend the outdoors with modern indoor living just the way your ranch style home was originally created. Our digital renderings offer design options and shopping links for easy DIY updates. Start today with our simple exterior design questionnaire.
Make Improvements To The Porch
Many ranch homes have a small front porch. If your porch is shaded, you can give it a grand entrance by increasing its reach. You can create a taller, pitched roof over it or add a canopy to create more interest. If your property cannot accommodate a larger porch, you can make the most of the existing one by adding minor features such as a decorative railing, updated hardware, or potted plants down the steps.
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Large Front Porch With Motorized Retractable Screens In A Ranch Style Home
Unlike the other ranch-style homes, this one has two stories. However, it seems that the second floor is not that tall.
This house features a double gable roof and a chimney at the top. The white exterior, combined with the red roofs and red window shutter, creates a colonial and traditional look perfectly.
The front porch is a large one. It is equipped with motorized retractable screens to protect the porch well. The tracks of the screens were recessed into the columns, so the screens can stay out of sight completely until theyre needed. The expansive outdoor deck delivers a perfect outdoor entertaining breeze.
There are two lounge chairs with black and white cushions as an accent color to this decking front porch. It seems that they are enough to give a cozy and comfortable extension of an indoor living area.
// Make The Most Of Smaller Spaces
Just because a home doesnt have a lot of room to work with doesnt mean a smaller front porch addition cant make a statement. In this before-and-after, our designers gave the entrance area a facelift with a quaint porch. This area might not be very big, but it works perfectly for an outdoor seating area while adding another layer to the exterior.
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What Are The Pros And Cons Of A Barn House
When you build a new home, whether a barn house or a traditional one, its important to review the pros and cons first. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of barndominium house plans.
Pros of barndominium house plans:
- Faster construction. Theres less framing needed when building a barn house plan, so the overall construction takes far less time than standard homes.
- Lower cost for the foundation. Most barndos are built on a concrete foundation slab , making it much cheaper than other homes.
- Better energy efficiency. The post-frame construction of barn house plans is much more energy efficient than the spacing of standard homes.
- Open-concept floor plan. Because post-frame buildings dont require load-bearing walls, you can have the center of your home as open as you want!
- Less exterior maintenance. The standard barndo choice of steel as the siding option is much heartier than the typical homes wood or vinyl siding.
Cons of barndominium house plans:
Midwestern Ranch Style Home With A Craftsman Front Porch
This is a midwestern ranch-style house. However, it also features some details of craftsman style to add the right amount of character to the exterior, especially the front porch. That way, the scale and the front elevation feel inviting and comfortable.
The craftsman front porch has some standing out columns that still look striking even through the winter, according to the designer. It is because the designer used a very thick stain application to get the darker saturation. Later, its also topped with a marine-grade boat finish in two coats. The wood used here is Southern Yellow Pine, clear.
The columns were attached to the stone posts, making them even more grande. It seems that the floor used here is concrete. The element combinations in this front porch deliver an arts and crafts design with characters.
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See More Ideas About House Exterior House With Porch Porch Design
Blogger leslie saeta of my 100 year old home outfitted the front porch of her waco, texas vacation rental home with a double outdoor living room on either side of the double glass front doors, allowing guests to relax and admire the view of a giant oak tree. The arched bricks, flared roof, and tall windows stand out in sharp contrast to the more traditional home itâs attached to. Hadley mendelsohn senior editor hadley mendelsohn is house beautifuls senior design.
Redo Makes The House Pop
Gray told us that Julie’s description fits many houses from the same era. “They were built inexpensively, so they often lack texture and architectural features, the very things that make a home feel inviting,” he says. His modificationsa street-facing gable, a front porch, and a faux cedar- shake roofgive the house more detail and distinction. The gable and eyebrow dormer could be installed when the house is reroofed, he says. To balance the facade, he suggests adding more windows to the gable side of the house and changing the ones on the opposite side. Finally, a yellow-and-white paint scheme offers a cheery look. Julie agrees wholeheartedly. “The color makes my house pop!” she says. “And the new roofline and eyebrow add so much character and curb appeal.”
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Revitalize Your Ranch Home With A Front Porch Addition
Do you love your ranch home/rancher and are looking for easy ways to revive it? A front porch addition is a great way to enhance the curb appeal and value of your single-level property. Plus, our expert design team at Georgia Front Porch has included other spectacular ideas to ramp up your horizontal space.
If youve decided its time to freshen up and modernize your ranch homes appearance, we have offered a few expert ideas. We will also give you information on how to have a front porch addition installed.
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Suburban Ranch Home Ideas
Most suburban ranch houses are smaller, simpler versions of the original large California ranch homes. This economical home plan became immensely popular after WW2, when soldiers returned to America and bought new homes for their growing families. Their smaller square footage still includes several bedrooms, making them an affordable choice across America.
Suburban ranch-style houses usually sit on concrete slabs, with sliding glass door access to the patio. These large sliding glass doors may be in the living room, dining room, master bedroomor all three. Suburban ranch homes come in a wide range of sizes, designs, and styles.
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Ensure Symmetry To Boost Eye Interest
If your landscaping lacks proper arrangement by size, your ranch-style home might look unappealing. Improve the yards appearance by ensuring that trees are arranged according to their sizes. Arrange the low-growing shrubs symmetrically. In the same way, plant the taller plants in pairs to create balance. If your yard has enough space to place raised planter boxes, you can use them to create an illusion of height. Raised plant designs to ensure proper drainage.
Classic Front Porch In A Ranch Style Home With Gray Brick Exterior
This 1970s ranch-style home has one story and a traditional brick exterior.
The gray exterior, combined with the white trim and columns, delivering a warm and grounded feeling because those are the popular color options of an earthy-tone design. The whole house still remains classic despite the remodeling project here and there.
The front porch also has a classic look. It has no seating area here, so clearly, it is not the place to enjoy the nature outside. Despite the fact, the front porch is perfectly framed with green foliages and bright-flowered plants in its both sides. There are also two potted plants placed on both sides of the main door.
The main door, which is a classic hinged door, was painted in dark green, similar to the window shutters. The dark green color serves as an accent color to this gray brick house. It enhances the beauty of this whole exterior.
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Split Level Ranch Home Ideas
A split level ranch house includes three levels of living space. The main level includes the kitchen, dining room, and main living room. A half-staircase leads down to a larger great room or family room, and there is often a half bathroom, office, or guest bedroom on this level. Another set of stairs leads up from the main level to the bedrooms and bathrooms.
A split-entry ranch house is similar to the split-level ranch, but when you enter the home, you must decide whether to go upstairs or down. Also called a raised ranch home, these dwellings have the kitchen, main living room, and bedrooms on the upper floor. The downstairs area usually includes a rec room, garage, and perhaps access to a half-basement.
How To Determine Where Your Front Porch Will Be Placed On Your Home
Front porches are a great way to welcome guests and create a welcoming atmosphere for your home.
The placement of your front porch is just as important as the style of your front porch. The placement will determine what type of door you need and how many steps youll need to climb to reach the front door.
The first thing that you need to do is measure the distance between the sidewalk and the street in front of your house. This will be the length of your front porch. You also need to measure from one side of the street to another, which will be the width of your front porch.
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Ideas Of A Ranch Style Home With A Fun And Bright Front Porch
This is basically an ordinary classic front porch with a neutral color palette, roll-down screens, vintage furniture, and a concrete floor. What makes it look extra is the pop of color from the sofa cushions and the throw pillows.
The exterior itself was painted in Sherwin Williams Dewy 6469. The trim color was painted in Sherwin Williams Extra White 7006, while the floor is concrete and was painted in Benjamin Moore Porch & Floor Enamel. The furniture pieces are vintage fiberglass. What an inspiration for a mid-sized front porch in a coastal style.
The vintage furniture pieces were completed with bright blue cushions and patterned yellow throw pillows. The round table is also in a similar bright yellow color. All of them genuinely give a splash of color in a creamy white front porch. This way, the exterior of this house wont look too plain and boring.
There are rolling down screens in a track. They are secured to the floor to protect the porch from the bugs. Those would mount inside the railings, so only a minimal additional structure was needed to create the holding track. It is called retractable porch screening.
Cut Back Trees And Shrubs
Its easy for a ranch house to become lost among busy landscaping. Tobias lived in a ranch-style home and says that trimming a tree to expose the front stonework made the home look bigger. A large tree also can block the natural light that a ranch-style home tends to draw through large front windows.
The average cost of pruning a tree runs from about $80 to $500, depending on the size of the tree and how much work it needs. However, if you have a tree thats growing too large for your yard, or showing dead or broken branches, or cracks in the trunk , you might be better off removing it.
Mark Hughes, a certified arborist for about 15 years with Arborist Aboard, Inc., in the Tampa, Florida, area, charges about $500 to remove a tree thats 12 inches in diameter around the trunk and not close to any structure. Removing the same size tree that hangs over a screened room in a backyard is more involved and would cost about $1,500.
If trees arent a concern, be sure that any shrubs and bushes along the front of the house dont obstruct the windows, either. Bushes should always be cut underneath the windows, for sure, says Tobias, noting that older clients interested in ranch-style homes especially prefer a lot of natural light.
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