Somewhere on a traditional suburban street in Dublin, OH, there is a screened porch that transports the homeowners back to that sweet, intimate cabin in the woods where they spent so many nights in front of the fireplace.
Yes, it’s a screened porch. With a stone fireplace. In Dublin, Ohio. And they love it.
The clients asked Archadeck of Columbus to create a cozy, warm, cabin-like screened porch to take the place of an old wooden deck. So this Dublin outdoor living project falls into the category of deck-to-screened-porch conversions. Looking at it now, you won’t think, Oh, that used to be a deck. Instead you’ll think, I want a screened porch like that!
To begin the construction, we removed the original deck and built the new structure from the ground up. For the floorboards and stairs, the homeowners chose TimberTech Terrain composite decking boards in the brown oak color. These boards are low-maintenance, durable and texturized to display the beauty of real wood graining. The selection is both beautiful and practical because the material resists mold, mildew and moisture damage —great for a screened porch!
Looking up, you can see that the porch roof has a shallow pitch to avoid hitting the second-story windows overhead. We installed a standing seam metal roof that works well for this pitch and also has the advantage of being a “cool roof,” meaning it is light in color and won’t absorb heat from the sun.
Of course, the centerpiece of this project is the traditional wood-burning fireplace. While the appearance is that of aged brick, perhaps reclaimed from an older home, we actually built it with (new) concrete stones. It definitely contributes to that cabin-in-the-woods vibe we wanted to convey.
Inside, the fireplace’s granite hearth is nestled amidst cedar and pine. The mantel is cedar, as are the screened room’s posts and beams, while the ceiling is tongue-and-groove pine that will be painted. Outside, you can see the cedar trim, posts and beams and cedar skirting with a small door to access a storage area under the porch. There are two outside storage doors, one on each side of the fireplace.
The overall effect is that of a cozy cabin in the woods, and the homeowners can visit their remote cabin getaway any time just by stepping from the house onto the screened porch. This fireplace will warm many a chilly Ohio evening.
If you have an out-of-the-ordinary escape destination in mind and want to incorporate it into the outdoor living space at your home, contact Archadeck of Columbus for a design consultation today. You can reach us at (740) 879 – 3730, or email us at westcolumbus@archadeck.net.
Columbus Decks, Porches and Patios by Archadeck of Columbus 