Building a Porch in covered doorway.

Mattlemon

Hi,

Outside my front door is a space that I want to convert into a porch. Effectively, the front door is set back into the house so that when you open the front door there are brick walls either side and the roof is the floor of a bedroom upstairs.

So, what I want to do is lay a concrete slab outside the front door to bring it upto the same height as the front door and then put a glazed unit flush with the two walls to cover the whole area in.

I know I'll have to get someone in to measure up for the door and get that custom made out of PVC but I wanted to put the concrete down myself and tile the floor etc.

I don't obviously want to bridge the damproof course of the house and risk damage so I need some advice about how to put the concrete down and how to tie it in with the damproofing of the house. Do I need to put something under the concrete to protect it from damp?

Hopefully it's a bit more obvious and easier to answer from the attached pics.

Thanks,

Matt

slimjimmc

I guess a single sheet of heavy gauge PVC under the new concrete and wrapped up the sides should be fine, but I could be wrong.

Mattlemon

Could damp not then get up between the DPC and the original brickwork?

BryanF

Mattlemon wrote: »

Hi,

Outside my front door is a space that I want to convert into a porch. Effectively, the front door is set back into the house so that when you open the front door there are brick walls either side and the roof is the floor of a bedroom upstairs.

So, what I want to do is lay a concrete slab outside the front door to bring it upto the same height as the front door and then put a glazed unit flush with the two walls to cover the whole area in.

I know I'll have to get someone in to measure up for the door and get that custom made out of PVC but I wanted to put the concrete down myself and tile the floor etc.

I don't obviously want to bridge the damproof course of the house and risk damage so I need some advice about how to put the concrete down and how to tie it in with the damproofing of the house. Do I need to put something under the concrete to protect it from damp?

Hopefully it's a bit more obvious and easier to answer from the attached pics.

Thanks,

Matt

dig out the ex path and hack off plaster below step to look for DPC, if you cant find it may not be the end of the world, which way does your surface water fall off the drive and surrounding paths? ie ideally away from the front door area... you could always place a glav drainage strip outside new door, but that's a last resort as you need to connect to surface drainage... don't forget insulation under the conc and above the soffit not forgetting about ventilation of roof space.. + think about thermal bridging around door or a least an EPDM barrier around door frame. get the door fitters to set the door back half inch from side walls, so that a fillet cover piece or some sort of matching strip (to the doors) can finish things off, as you can't hide discrepancies with plaster cause of the brick.. also consider some sort of ventilation just some small premavents in one of glazed doors. and dont forget to the letter box:)

ps from your photo it appears as thou the side wall (on the left) is not completely covered by the roof, if this is so I'd be addressing this before doing the porch.. best of luck