# Feasibility of enclosing this porch and adding a bathroom?



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

It's not dead but it would be a much bigger job than what you imagine.


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## jerrade (Aug 30, 2020)

I don't doubt you, but can you elaborate?


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

The porch joisting is quite inadequate and more support is needed. You will absolutely have to enclose the crawl leaving access. Leaving the brick columns will always look like a porch was enclosed. Removing the bricks, which are a facade will get you back to basic framing and you can build your walls to them. Figure how you will ingress and egress the home as you can't block that entrance, but will need a way to get into the bathroom from the remainder of the house. 5 feet isn't a lot of space for a bathroom, considering a shower/tub is 5' long. Now, a 1/2 bath may be more feasible. You'll just have to get down and do a floor plan considering all your windows, doors and fixtures.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

If you want to close in the crawlspace, you would likely need footing and foundation.
The floor would have to be removed and rebuilt to match the floor in the house.
Removing the brick on the front of the house would likely give you a ledge to build the floor on. 

With the foundation and new floor you would be able to remove the posts and build the new front wall. 

After that it would be pretty straight forward.


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## jerrade (Aug 30, 2020)

I don't particularly mind if it looks like an enclosed porch (it's pretty common in the area). The columns appear structural to me. You can kind of see how the far two columns have settled and tilted out a few inches over the last 100 years. I was thinking of removing the existing back door and just leaving it as a passage to the enclosed porch area. The new external door would be at the edge of the porch where the steps are (probably with a small landing area built out). I figured I could drywall over the brick on the interior side. No room for a tub, but a shower stall should fit. There would be an interior door to the bathroom where the middle column is. The other side of the porch could be a small mudroom type area, possibly with a door out to the back yard.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

What climate are you in?


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## jerrade (Aug 30, 2020)

Pittsburgh, PA area. So it gets cold in the winter and the floor would definitely need to be heavily insulated somehow.


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## Biscuits (May 11, 2020)

The house I bought had an enclosed area on the back porch. 

There was a door. Looked like storage. The whole thing was maybe 30" wide x 6' long. 

Inside of this space was a vanity, a light, and a toilet. The walls were painted bright pink.


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