uPVC Porches ideas & designs
A well designed porch is a common feature of many homes in UK. When correctly chosen, porches beautify a home’s exterior appearance and improves its style.
A well-built porch can be the main focal point of the property from the front and can even add real financial value, just in case you may decide to sell your home at some point in the future.
Porches enhance “kerb appeal” with a stylish entry point to your home. Apart from aesthetics, porches have a wide range of practical benefits that come in handy for the property owner.
Security
Security is the first and most important benefit of porches. They add an extra front door which serves as a barrier, through which you are able to see visitors before letting them.
This protects you from unwanted visitors. They also reduce burglary attempt, because for one to break in he must successfully go through two doors, which is hectic and risky to the potential burglar.
Lighting
Increased lighting is another major benefit of porches especially upvc porches. They are made up of glass walls which are held tightly by bright upvc frames. These transparent glass allows generous amount of natural light in, which creates a warm and a lovely environment for your guests.
UPVC Porch styles
When choosing a porch for your home, a upvc porch should be at the top of your priority list because they offer a wide range of advantages to the homeowner and the property itself.
Moreover, upvc porches are available in different designs and colour so that they can easily be customized for any type of home.
Other than what you might think of as a typical front of house porch, there is a nice selection of different stylistic porches to think about, such as:
Victorian – ornate with fancy detailing- Spanish – makes you think of a “Hacienda”
- Farmhouse – sharp angle pitched roof with side pillars and dwarf walls
- Queen Ann – big wide & ornate
- Colonial – you can often see this style, with Pillars, in central London townhouses.
- Craftsman – more of a veranda, very wide, best on a detached house
How much does a uPVC Porch cost?
As with other home improvements of this nature, pricing is heavily influenced by design, materials and labour.
They offer a great value for money in terms of quality and utility, create aesthetic appeal and can help to make your home look cleaner and organized
uPVC porches also conserve energy, by helping to retain internal heat. Thereby avoiding a lot of heat loss to the outside and as a result bringing a down your home energy bills – making them highly economical for homeowners especially during the cold seasons.
Porches are also very helpful during rainy seasons, even if it’s just a very simple design with an overhanging roof above the door (when you are caught in a heavy downpour, shelter on or in the porch as you fumble around & search for the door keys!).
Lastly, upvc porches are made from a long lasting and highly durable material. Therefore, once fixed, the only thing one might need to do is a little “washing down” once every few months to maintain the original appearance.
Average Porch Prices
A full glass sided uPVC porch will cost far less than one that has any type of brick / block-work walling. Especially if you utilise proper double skinned cavity walls.
The average cost of supply only upvc porches ranges between £900 & £1,100. This will get you a uPVC framed, full glass sided porch with a single double glazed door and poly-carbonate roof.
It’s very difficult to find prices for porches online, and we have tried! As far as we can tell, you could expect an average price for a porch to be around £2,500 to £3,000.
This price should allow you to build a porch of 3 square metre size (under planning requirement size) including the base, roof, 2 window openers, uPVC front door and possible use of dwarf brick walls to the sides of the porch.
Important point to note
Building on the front of your property has some complications as local planners are not usually big fans of it!
You can usually build a porch without planning permission, but it need to be 3 square metres or less in floor area and 3 metres or less in height. It should also be a couple of metres back from the nearest boundary or public highway (any type of road!)
In all cases, we recommend you do a check with your local planning department before starting work.
