|
View previous topic :: View next topic
|
| Author |
Message |
41buick
Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Posts: 18
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Madimel
Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Posts: 138
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
|
 Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 9:52 pm Post subject: |
    |
|
Buick,
I'm going to ask an obvious question, what is behind the front door and can you move it. It may help if you included an image of your floor plan. In my opinion, minus the fact that column runs smack in line with the front door, the overall composition of the porch to the house is very handsome.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
41buick
Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Posts: 18
|
| Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:21 pm Post subject: porch |
|
|
Madimel, Thanks for your reply. I was thinking the same thing. Relocating the front door a few feet to the left would resolve this issue and from my viewpoint would be the easiest and least costly way to resolve this matter. I don't have a copy of the floor plan handy but I could probably get one. A discription of what's inside the front door is as follows. Just inside the front door there's a fairly large foyer, to the right is the living room, a few feet to the left, the first thing is a stairway to the second floor, a couple of feet further is the power room and a couple feet beyond that is the laundry room. I don't see anything creating a major problem, if the front door where moved to the left so that the columns were evenly spaced on either side of the front door. The few issues that I would run into would be the brick on the front of the house, a heat register to the left of the front door that would need to be relocated and some tiles replaced in the foyer. The only other possibility that I thought of was to eliminate the two inside columns and just have the outside columns supporting the roof. By doing that the front door wouldn't need to be moved because there wouldn't be a column in front of it any longer. Obviously, something more would need to be done to support the roof if two columns were removed. My thoughts were to build a large header across the span of the porch roof and have it supported on each end by the two remaining columns or another thought was to use some sort of bracing, that would extend from each of the two remaining columns a couple of feet down from the top, forming a kind of wishbone and then attaching to the roof. These are just my ideas and I'm by no means an architech or anything close, so I may be completely out to lunch. But I would be interested in hearing your opinion. Sincerely
41buick
|
Filesize: 65.86 KB
Filename: ebay stuff 1392 5.jpg
Viewed: 135 Time(s)
|
|
|
Filesize: 72.06 KB
Filename: ebay stuff 1392 4.jpg
Viewed: 123 Time(s)
|
|
|
Filesize: 76.04 KB
Filename: ebay stuff 1392 1.jpg
Viewed: 127 Time(s)
|
|
Last edited by 41buick on Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Madimel
Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Posts: 138
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
|
| Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Hi Buick,
Maybe you can include a picture from the front door looking in and another picture from the inside looking at the front door. How deep is the patio? If you remove the center two columns, then you'll need to tie the weight of the patio back to the house. If you include the pictures, then we can ascertain whether moving the door makes the most sense or not. Adding bracing in the ceiling of the patio will still require the members to be braced back into the main house wall. So you'll end up modifying the face of the house anyway. It can be done, but at the end of the day, moving the door may be more economical.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
csintexas
millennium club
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 1670
Location: USA
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 7:10 am Post subject: |
|
|
I think you are worrying too much. The porch looks good and the exterior is an improvement. The style is not traditional anyway. It would look better if the door was centered. Also the brick makes no since and could be removed. It would look pretty funny if you removed the columns and just left the porch hanging there.
_________________
Chris Stewart
Modern Texas Home Project |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
41buick
Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Posts: 18
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Madimel. I just added the additional photos. Let me know if they are ok or if you want additional ones. The porch depth is aproximately 7 ft. It looks to me that the front door could be moved over no more than 2 ft without interfering with the stairway. I think 2 ft would be enough. It may not perfectly center the door between the columns but the column would no longer be in front of the door. How difficult would it be to move the front door over 2 ft?
Mike
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mx2
millennium club
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 1906
Location: Miami, Florida
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Relocating the door is a huge deal! For one, the brick work would be a headache, a new lintel and structure for the head and jambs, not to mention that in the end, it won't make much of a difference at all.
I agree with the notion that it does not look bad. I'm not convinced that the original house was done in a true colonial style but it looks good. I would have preferred to see a gabled entrance or flat roofed porch rather than having tried to mimic the lower roof over the bay window. See this picture:
http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/113037/2/istockphoto_113037_two_story_white_colonial_house.jpg
However, I'm curious to know more about the brick: was it originally a brick exterior finish? I assume if it was then it's covered with vinyl siding? (it looks like vinyl to me because of the j-channels around the windows)...I ask because it's an interesting feature to have the brick exposed at the entrance. It's unusual to me... but also, what is up with the wall sconce near the door? I cannot for the life of me figure out why it looks like a window that was boarded up or something...it's odd...I mean, interesting. 
Also, a suggestion: the decorative shutters are nice but some shutter dogs would add a nice touch of "reality".
Anyway, I would leave it. Spend your money on something else.
mx2.5
_________________
*Art of Architecture: The conscious use of skill and creative imagination in the production of an aesthetic building.
*Science of Architecture: The calculated use of technical skill and knowledge in the construction of a functional building. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Madimel
Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Posts: 138
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 1:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Buick,
The question is what is your definition of a "big deal". Is this a DIY project or are you planning to hire a someone to do the work? Assuming it is a wood frame home, in the hands of a reputable builder, moving the door is not a big deal. MX2 and Chris don't seem to mind the look as is. For me, the column running in line with the front door is not appealing. The pictures of the interior helps a lot. You should use painter's tape and mock up the new location and see if that would work for you before tearing anything out.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
41buick
Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Posts: 18
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 1:46 pm Post subject: porch |
|
|
| mx2, Thanks for your comments. No the house did not have a brick exterior. If you look at the photo of my house before the porch was added, that's exactly how the original builder built the front entrance. Just a brick face around the entrance and no porch. I thought it was a bit unusual myself and thought that the addition of a porch would add a lot to the house esthetically. The sconce near the door is another unusual feature from the builder. I changed all the light fixtures accept for that one, they orignally all matched. I plan on removing it when I decide what to do about the door. So, you don't think it would be worth the money to move the door and have it centered between the columns? Do you thing it would improve the esthetics and architecture of the house, if the door was centered between the columns. I agree with you in regard to the brick being a concern if I moved the door. But I was planning on removing the brick anyway and either just siding up to the door or replacing the brick with a stone veneer, either way I thing it would look better than the brick. As far as the choice of roof, I considered a basic gable roof but wanted something a little fancier. Unfortunately the architect that I consulted with and who designed the porch didn't give much tought to the location of the columns. Let me know what you think. Sincerely 41buick
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mx2
millennium club
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 1906
Location: Miami, Florida
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 4:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Well, let me be honest and upfront...if money were no object and I was commissioned to do what I deemed best for your house, I would have opt for the gabled roof, removed (or covered) the brick with similar siding (maybe do something interesting like instal vertical siding where the brick is to show that it is different), and yes, I would center the door with the window above...and gabled roof.
That said, I think that is what the architect attempted to do with the misaligned columns...the door is...was the problem as it should have been centered with the window above. So to make it appear like the "entrance" is centered but scaling it down to match the house, they may have tried to make the two columns furthest from the house look narrower and more in scale with the house. Then to capture the door and keep the roof shape of the bay windows, they enlarged the column spacing against the wall, which so happens to be the brick facing. In essence, it's not bad considering what they had to work with.
If you're gonna move the door, can you relocate it dead center with the window above? But again, I say...it looks good (I won't say great but...). I think it would have looked better with the gable (did I mention that already?)...just kidding with you...keep in mind, all of this is subjective. There's no penalty for being right or wrong. Ultimately, you have to be happy with it.
mx2.5
_________________
*Art of Architecture: The conscious use of skill and creative imagination in the production of an aesthetic building.
*Science of Architecture: The calculated use of technical skill and knowledge in the construction of a functional building. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
41buick
Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Posts: 18
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 4:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
mx2,
I wish I could say that money was no object but thats not the case, as I am retired. But knowing myself, when something bugs me I usually do something about it. As far as the gable roof, that what you said right "gable roof", but seriously I considered a gable roof and had several renderings done and it just didn't look very good , it looked very plain. I think the reason I didn't like it was because the gable had a very low pitch because of the limited height we had to work with. Let me ask you this, is there any way the porch roof could be modified so that it could be supported by using just two columns instead of four. If that could be done then the front door wouldn't have to be moved because there wouldn't be a column in front of it. In other words could this roof be made to be supported similar to how a gable roof would be supported, using just two columns. Also, I meant to ask you, what are shutter dogs? Sincerely 41buick
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mx2
millennium club
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 1906
Location: Miami, Florida
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mx2
millennium club
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 1906
Location: Miami, Florida
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
...actually I was thinking more in this shape (but larger and with with columns)...
http://www.cswshopping.co.uk/popup_mpi.php?pID=78&img=1
mx2.5
_________________
*Art of Architecture: The conscious use of skill and creative imagination in the production of an aesthetic building.
*Science of Architecture: The calculated use of technical skill and knowledge in the construction of a functional building. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lekizz
millennium club
Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 1000
Location: UK
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
In my eyes it is debateable whether the column is in the way of the front door. After all (tell me if I'm wrong) it appears that there may be a path leading to the right towards the garage, so when you leave the house you don't walk straight out, but you turn right. In that sense the gap between the columns directs you towards the intended route. If there was a path through your garden that led directly forward from the front door then I agree the column would be a disaster.
If there isn't a path leading towards the garage then maybe you should create one, very evidently, to make it look as if you planned the column positions where they are for a reason 
P.S. surely you realised, before the porch was erected, that the column would be in front of the door?!
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mx2
millennium club
Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 1906
Location: Miami, Florida
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
...or maybe plant some tall bushes on the two angled sides of the entrance effectively leaving only the center visible from the street. It will make it appear centered and draw the eye away from the door. Paint the door and behind the sconce a muted color so as not to jump out like the white does.
mx2.5
_________________
*Art of Architecture: The conscious use of skill and creative imagination in the production of an aesthetic building.
*Science of Architecture: The calculated use of technical skill and knowledge in the construction of a functional building. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
blogger
del.icio.us
digg
slashdot
