# Operation Front Porch = Outdoor room Complete!



## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

First I had to measure and order the rail system and screens. The came (made in the USA) in a week. First I taped up the rails so I could cut the ones I needed to shorted from the 7 foot length. The 90 degree turns were my reference point. 









I did pre-drill the rails for easy installation. I mounted them to white PVC 2x2s that I had previously mounted to the porch beams.









These mounted easily in an afternoon - I installed them with a 1.75 inch gap in the center so that I can remove the screens in the winter for storage.









Once the rails were up, I could then turn my attention to hanging the screens.


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

*Installing the screens*

The screens came with snaps installed along the top to which I attached the supplied plastic rail carriers. Then I just slid the screen onto the track.









Each side of the screen has a channel that a fiberglass rod inserts into. I had to cut these shorter on the 'house side' of the screen because my porch is canted @ 1.5 inches over seven feet. You can also see here that the screen attaches to the house and the floor using snaps that easily installed with the supplied tools.










My next problem was the open rafters of my porch. The company supplied me with these panels made to fit the height of the rafter gap.


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

They also supplied sticky velcro to attach the panels. I reinforced these with staples. Here's a detail of one of the corners with the panel treatment.









Here's a pic of the screens partially retracted.









Another detail of how the screens 'hang'.


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

So here's my final deliverable:









Detail of the front - I left fewer magnets at the bottom to allow the dogs to come and go - by noon the first day they were screen 'pros'. It seals nicely with the STRONG rare earth magnets supplied with the kit.









Here's a pic from the inside - I LOVE the tropical feel of my new living space.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

That looks nice
So does it completely seal against skeeters once snapped down etc ?
So they slide to the sides....like a Hospital room screen ?
There was someone on here that was framing in his front porch for screens
I like the method you found much better


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

Just spent the last two hours out on the porch from 8-10pm (prime mosquito time). With a light on on the porch we were mosquito free! :thumbup:

I'm especially pleased with how this project turned out. The screens work exactly as advertised.


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## gma2rjc (Nov 21, 2008)

That is so cool Leah! They look great.

Barb


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## cocobolo (Dec 16, 2008)

That ended up coming out very nicely.

There is a couple in the finishing stages of building a house here, and she gets really uptight at the mere sight of any bug. 

I'm going to have to get them to check in on your thread. She would really like this idea.


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

Dug up this thread because I am sitting on my front porch watching the NBA finals with NO mosquitos! I LOVE spring!


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## chrisBC (Dec 28, 2010)

I like your porch, cool old house..good job...

have you ever thought of a beadboard ceiling?


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

We are going to keep the open framing of the ceiling. It's hard to see in the pics (and under the umpteen-dozen layers of paint) but it is actually T&G beadboard - really really wide beadboard. We've got some rot problems (still need a new roof ) and I'll have to get replacement boards custom milled. 

The real problem I have with it, is that with the open framing I just can't convince myself to do the typical southern thing and paint the ceiling sky blue.


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## chrisBC (Dec 28, 2010)

hmm yeah ok i see that now

well one thing at a time hey

Would you paint the whole thing or just the rafters? I'd think leaving it open, it might look nice to paint the rafters a different colour than the planking.


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

But, I'm a big fan of testing paint plans via photoshop. Maybe after we re-do the roofing we'll strip all the old paint and consider something different. :thumbup:


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## chrisBC (Dec 28, 2010)

yeah, good plan, much easier than painting it five times, haha

hope it goes well for u


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