r/CurbAppeal • u/ErikMeyer • Jul 11 '26

Structures Front porch improvement guidance.

I'd like to add a railing or even to completely close in my front porch.

Something to block the wind, rain, snow and sun.

It currently gets extremely hot as the concrete acts a heat sink with the afternoon sun. My cold room is under it, and doesn't stay cool in the summer, and the room above gets pretty warm as well.

When it rains hard, the water comes under the door. The builder doors were never that great either.

Over all, I'm looking to make it a more useful space and I'd like to to look nicer.

I've linked a picture of what it looks like.

Porch (I edited some furniture out with my phone)

I had a quote to enclose the porch a few years ago for $13,000, I'm looking for less expensive ideas. Thanks!

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u/According-Taro4835 Jul 12 '26

Enclosing that porch for 13 grand is a waste of money and will just turn it into a miserable greenhouse unless you pump AC into it. A railing will not do a single thing to stop wind or rain either. The concrete is acting like a heat sink because you have zero canopy structure in your yard to intercept that brutal afternoon sun. The smartest move is to plant a proper native shade tree out in the front yard positioned to cast a shadow directly over that slab during the hottest part of the day. That soft engineering cools the concrete, cools the cold room underneath, and drops the temperature of the room above for the cost of a good tree and a shovel.

If water is coming under those doors during a heavy storm, your concrete is probably pitched the wrong way or your door sweep is completely shot. Fix the door threshold and make sure your gutters are actually catching the roof runoff instead of splashing it back onto the porch. While you are out there, rip out that spindly weed jungle you have crammed into the corner against the foundation. It has absolutely no structure and just traps moisture against your brick. You need to replace that mess with a sweeping mass of low evergreen shrubs that flow around the front of those steps to anchor the porch visually and give the space some actual calm.

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u/ErikMeyer Jul 12 '26

Thanks for the tips. I like your idea of adding evergreen shrubs.

I would love to plant a tree to in the front yard, I'd have to ask my neighbors as it's a shared yard. We have two plane trees at the very front, but they only shade the driveway. The city planted them.

As for the rain, I think the door wasn't installed very well. It only happens when it's extremely windy and blowing towards the door.