Evolution of the Screen Porch

We caught one of our new members, Casa Decks of SE Virginia, reminiscing and wanted to share it with you. I especially liked the last part about your porch being a second living room, because that is exactly how I feel about mine:

Looking back over the last 15+ years that Casa Decks has been building decks and screen rooms in Suffolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach; we have noticed a distinct evolving of screen porches to true outdoor living rooms (screen porches to screen rooms).

When we first started building, the standard screen room had open rafters, was constructed using pressure treated wood with stretched screen, and had a ceiling fan centered over a patio table. Often they were low pitch shed roofs without gutters. If the interior ceilings were finished, they were normally without insulation and covered with plywood or T-111.

Fast forward to today and the patio furniture has given way to padded wicker furniture with accent rugs. Ceilings are now cathedral, insulated, and covered with t&g; wood or vinyl. The ceiling fan has remained, but may now be remote controlled with recessed lights on a dimmer circuit replacing the schoolhouse light fixture on the fan.

Ease of maintenance has become standard with no exposed wood, use of aluminum or vinyl tracked screening systems, and the ceiling insulated for both sound and heat factors. Care is now taken to match the architectural style of the home and matching the trim (soffit, fascia, gutters, etc.). This trend has continued, in that a large percentage now has matching brick skirting and use tongue and groove porch flooring

The trend as we have seen it is from the porch to a true outdoor living room. More photos of screen rooms can be seen at www.casadecks.com.