uPVC Porches and Designs

For many British homeowners in the city, the porch can mean a lot of things. It can serve as temporary holding area for wanted (and unwanted) visitors, it can be an impromptu storage room, and can even serve as a viewing area for the great outdoors. And although this area in your home can serve many different purposes, it will not last forever without proper care and maintenance.

Depending on your lifestyle, your simple front porch can bring innumerable benefits. As a homeowner, it is up to you to decide what else it could be for you and your family, apart from being an ordinary external entrance to your house. If you already have a porch that needs to be remodelling or complete renovation, let WindowInfo.co.uk provide you with vital information you'll need to get the job done.

Do I Need Planning Permission?

This is probably the first question you should ask yourself when considering to have your old entrance upgraded. According to the Planning Portal website, planning permission is not required when adding a porch to any external door of your house since it is considered to be permitted development. However, there are some requirements for exception as stated on the website:

1. the ground floor area (measured externally) would not exceed three square metres.

2. no part would be more than three metres above ground level (height needs to be measured in the same way as for a house extension).

3. no part of the porch would be within two metres of any boundary of the dwelling house and the highway.

What about Building Regulations?

Building regulations state that your porch should be at ground level and under 30 square meters in floor area to be exempt from building regulation approval. It is also required that the front entrance door between the new porch and the house must remain in place.

Make sure you are working with a FENSA certified tradesman or other similarly related organisation so that the remodelling project is in safe hands.

Personalising Your Own Porch

When designing the exteriors and interiors of your porch, you should be happy to know that homeowners now have a lot of choices when it comes to the main building material to be used, the colours, textures, and finishes of the final outcome.

The most popular of all materials is uPVC because of its innate beauty, versatility, and energy-efficiency benefits. A material also popular with the manufacture of double glazed windows, uPVC can minimize the loss of heat and keep homes warm during summer and cool during winter. This translates to electricity and fuel bill savings.

Porches can also be built in different features including a pitched or flat roof, full length glazed panels, or uPVC panels or a brick base. The choices are limitless. You just have to make sure that your porch's final look will match your home.

Learn about other benefits of uPVC porches such as security and ventilation when you ask a certified tradesman installing porches in homes through the help of WindowInfo.co.uk. Ask for a free quote today.