Spotlight on a DC Screen Porch with Zuri Premium Decking

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Contemporary Screen Room on the Outskirts of Washington, DC

Washington, DC, features so many beautiful homes, but limited space is almost always a hallmark of these houses. Today, we’re featuring a recent Design Builders project that fits this bill exactly. The home is located in Washington, DC, and every detail within the new screen porch project was carefully designed to maximize the available space.

Background Information

This particular project was a screen porch added to a Washington, DC, home. The home belongs to a couple who’ve been there for many years and have already put a great deal of effort and care into both the interior and exterior spaces. The beautiful outdoor garden is a particularly striking aspect of the home, and it was important to the homeowners and Design Builders that the screen porch work seamlessly with this and other prominent features of the home.

Again, as is the case with many DC-based homes, limited space was a major consideration with this project, and everything had to be carefully planned and designed in order to maximize the available square footage. The end product ended up being only nine feet by thirteen feet, but it accomplished every goal the couple was looking for and became the perfect area for a small casual gathering.

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4 Goals of the Low-Maintenance Screen Porch Design

The couple wanted to accomplish four primary goals with their new screen porch:

1. Avoid the Rain

Depending on the time of year, DC can experience lots of rain. This screen porch was one way to keep dry while not necessarily being stuck indoors.

2. Avoid the Bugs

Insects can be a big problem in the DC area, and a screen porch allows you to enjoy the outdoors without having to battle the bugs.

3. Maximize the View

The back garden is a stunning feature of this home, and the couple wanted to ensure that the screen porch maximized—not blocked—this area. From the kitchen, they still wanted an unimpeded view of the numerous plantings and shrubs, so the screen porch was dropped a few feet to ensure that line of sight wasn’t impaired.

Every detail was considered in this regard. The handrails, for example, were a cable system, and there were no bulky top caps used. These touches allow the eye to travel through the screens without getting obstructed or distracted by any large architectural pieces.

4. Let More Light into the Home

To help with the view and to allow the maximum amount of natural light into the home, Design Builders added an extra window as well.

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Features of the Screen Porch

At every step, Design Builders was cognizant of making an elegant, beautiful space that complemented the interior of the house. To that end, a combination of Zuri premium composite decking and pressure-treated stained wood were used throughout the screen porch. This helped mimic the look of authentic hard wood without making the homeowners worry about time-consuming or expensive repairs through the years. '

They also chose to add a heater. This will make the space more livable and comfortable in the shoulder seasons, thus extending how many months out of the year the couple can utilize this space.

For privacy and to keep rodents and other small animals out, a lattice detail was attached to the bottom of the porch.

If you have a home in the DC area and think your space is too limited to get a usable end product, think again! With the right planning and detail, even the smallest space can be transformed into a beautiful, useful extension of your main home.