New porch, is Anglian any good?

Slinky

dllive said:

Slinky said:

dllive said:

Slinky said:

This is our porch, which obviously has a cavity wall as we have a small radiator in it, but the advantage of the large low window is that the windowsill is the perfect height and width to sit on to put your shoes on.  It's 50cm from floor to sill.

That is a great point! I will be doing that.

Is your cat waiting for you to install a cat flap in the door? 

No, she has two flaps already! One in the side door at the front, and the other in the patio door at the back.  We went for the large glass door and the large window to try and reduce the light loss to the kitchen window which is to the left of the porch. We're looking east through the door.

ETA, when specifying the window size, don't forget that the 50cm height is the internal height from the floor.

Actually, you raise a good point. At some point I do want to get a cat, so I should think about buying a door with a cat flap in! So many things to think about!

Catflaps are generally retrofit. Just chose a door style suitable for fitting a flap in - you don't want something where you're cutting into the rigid structure of the door. You need a door with an area of flat panel low enough down for the cat to climb through. This is our side door. It's a composite door with a blind in the glass panel. The catflap is a Sureflap - they work on the cat's microchip, only allowing your cats to enter and you can control them via an app.

Slinky

And cutting the catflap into the door will most likely invalidate the warranty, but there's not too much you can do about that.

ThisIsWeird

If you do go for a slimline window to the right of the door, then perhaps under that would be the best place for a 'flap? No damage to anything important.
Interior window sill heights less than 800mm? will require toughened glass, an extra cost. 
Since your porch won't be heated, you can keep the wall thickness quite slim - even 3x2 studwork should be fine. It would still make sense to infill with Jablite or similar, just to help level out structural temp swings.
Once built, you can add all the boot and shoe racks you wish. 

Slinky

ThisIsWeird said:

If you do go for a slimline window to the right of the door, then perhaps under that would be the best place for a 'flap? No damage to anything important.

We have this arrangement at the back, alongside our patio doors. Cut into uPVC. If at some point in the future we are catless, we can have the panel replaced easily enough.

Another option for the OP, if there's not enough width for a panel beside the door, is to build in a through the wall arrangement on the side or back of the porch.

FreeBear

dllive said: Is your cat waiting for you to install a cat flap in the door? 

One does not need a cat flap when there is staff (servants) to open the door on command.

ThisIsWeird

FreeBear said:

dllive said: Is your cat waiting for you to install a cat flap in the door? 

One does not need a cat flap when there is staff (servants) to open the door on command.

Or two young ladies to look after one.

dllive

Hi guys

Just to give an update: 

Ive spoken to  guys - 2 builders and 1 carpenter. Both builders have come back with quotes, still waiting to hear back from carpenter.

Ive changed course slightly (or a lot depending on view point). The door is now going to be on the front, unfortunately at the expense of having the canopy. My thinking is that it gives me usable space to sit down/store stuff in.

Having the door on the side meant that - in affect - the space would be just a corridor, so having it on the front makes the floor space 'useable'.

Everything else is going to stay the same: extending to chimney stack, dwarf walls with uPVC windows on top; slate roof, ventilation etc...

Heres a couple of mockups.

What I want to make sure is that the uPVC windows dont look tacky. I dont know what the options are (width/height etc.). I havnt seen any uPVC window/doors used on porches that look tasteful. The image Ive used in the above mockup was the best I could find, and I dont even think thats uPVC!

It makes sense to position the new door opposite the existing external door. I did think about staggering it slightly otherwise the new door will be a bit close to the garden steps. You can see how close the existing door is to the rear wall (which is in line with the garden steps) here:

Perhaps Ill measure-up and take more photos later today.

One of the builders mentioned having man made tile roof because its a lot lighter. Do man made tiles look quite authentic, or should I get normal slate?

Any thoughts/feedback very much appreciated  

ThisIsWeird

Thanks for the update.

I agree with everything you say. A door at the front will give you maximum usable internal space, both left and right of the door. Yes, you lose the canopy - unless you really want to add a different type there - but gain useful internal space.

Cannot comment on exactly where the new door should go, but - yes - keep it safely away from the steps.

Yes, I suspect that these example doors and windows are timber, and - no - I haven't ever seen realistic PVC equivalents either!

I suspect you either need to go white for the windows, or a strong non-wood - colour. That could be anything from anthracite to the lovely green shades you showed us before. Ie, you don't pretend that PVC is wood.

I gave you a link before to lightweight composite tile sheets, and they certainly look authentic to me. You'd ideally need to see them in the flesh, but if ok they'd make a lot of sense. I'm pleased one of your builders is familiar with them - he might even be able to direct you to an installed example?

Maximise the depth - take the porch at least partially on to the step wall.

That is a lot of glass. Keep experimenting with having less, just so you know you have compared the appearances. I'm not at all suggesting it's wrong, but since you are capable of making such mock-ups, I'd recommend testing all options.

Your other house windows are white, I now notice. Try some porch mock-ups with white-framed windows, but set in dark surrounding frames - eg the cills, corner posts, (possibly the) door side frames, and barge board in a contrasting dark colour. White windows.

Of course, the angle perspective of the roof is wrong, but you know that :-)

FreeBear

It is possible to get slim line uPVC frames - I think the smallest is around 50mm wide. To go much slimmer, you'd probably be looking at either aluminium or steel from someone like Crittall (yes, they are still in business). Just make sure you are sitting down when reading the price list.

As for lightweight roofing - There are a range of metal sheets available that simulate the look of traditional tiles. A neighbour used them on his garage, and they don't look too bad. You can also get composite insulated panels that weigh very little, and might work.

Albermarle

I suspect you either need to go white for the windows, or a strong non-wood - colour. That could be anything from anthracite to the lovely green shades you showed us before. Ie, you don't pretend that PVC is wood.

Just be aware that white is the standard product for all UPVC window profile ( that the frames are fabricated from) . Any colour involves an extra mainly manual manufacturing process, where a thin sheet is rolled onto the surface, and held there with adhesive. A bit like stickyback plastic, although it is a somewhat more technical/expensive product, as it has to withstand the weather for many years.

Inevitably this pushes up the cost considerably compared to a white window.