{"id":12935,"date":"2023-12-06T17:30:32","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T17:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/?p=12935"},"modified":"2024-03-25T14:31:46","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T14:31:46","slug":"planning-a-deck-or-porch-for-the-modular-cabin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2023\/12\/planning-a-deck-or-porch-for-the-modular-cabin\/","title":{"rendered":"Planning a Deck or Porch for the Modular Cabin"},"content":{"rendered":"

The plans are approved and stamped, so we meet with a contractor today for an estimate on grading, the foundation and tie-in work, and the utility hookups, sewer, water, and electric, for our new modular cabin. He can also give us a price for the steps, decks or porches or anything else we want to add.<\/p>\n

All customers will need a licensed contractor to put in the foundation and prep water\/power\/sewer hookups, and ready for the cabin to be set come delivery time. When picking a spot for your small prefab cabin, make sure that a block foundation can be placed there. This block foundation should create the minimum 18\u201d clearance needed between the cabin subfloor and ground for plumbing hook-up purposes.<\/p>\n

Site Preparation for Small Prefab Cabins<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So we can\u2019t delay deciding what kind of porch or deck we are going to have.<\/p>\n

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12\u00d740 Log Cabin Porch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The porch on our log cabin was 12-feet wide and the entire length of the cabin. It made up nearly one third of the footprint of the cabin.<\/p>\n

\"The
Our back porch with the ceiling, vinyl siding, decking, railing and balusters during construction<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We built our new home with a porch nearly as big. This time the porch is 12-feet deep and 28-feet long.<\/p>\n

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Elevation and Foundation Plan for our 12\u00d728 porch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the plan for it with the foundation and grading.<\/p>\n

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Rear Elevation Plan for our 12\u00d728 porch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The porch runs from the dining room wall to the living room wall.<\/p>\n

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Plan for our 12\u00d728 porch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We can walk out to the porch from our bedroom or the dining room.<\/p>\n

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Foundation Plan for our 12\u00d728 porch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the foundation plan for the porch we have now. The porch for the new cabin won\u2019t be a lot different.<\/p>\n

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26-feet long and 12-feet deep porch
The living room and kitchen windows will open to the porch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We want to do something similar with the new cabin.<\/p>\n

If we start with the living room wall and go to the kitchen, we will have a porch that is 26-feet long. We would like it to be able to be 12-feet deep.<\/p>\n

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Deck on a Westwood Modular Cabin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We looked at some of the photos on Westwood Homes website to get some ideas. Most of the cabins add a deck.<\/p>\n

The deck looks really nice. An advantage is, more light can come in the windows if there is no roof over them. A deck should cost less, too.<\/p>\n

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Covered Porch on a Westwood Modular Cabin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I really would like to have a covered porch, something like this, but without the stairs coming up in the middle.<\/p>\n

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Covered Porch on a Westwood Modular Cabin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It looks like this porch is 12-feet deep, like the porch we have now.<\/p>\n

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Rocking Chair Porch
Photo by SA, Virginia State Parks staff<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Can we have a porch 12-feet deep? The side wall is only 8-feet high. Will the roof be too flat?<\/p>\n

We could do a smaller porch, like this one. This porch is not as deep, closer to 8-feet deep.<\/p>\n

Roof Pitch<\/h2>\n

The sidewall of the cabin is 8-feet high. I did some research and found they recommend the lowest ceiling height for a porch to be no less than six feet, six (or 8) inches from the floor.<\/p>\n

I did a lot of math I didn\u2019t need to do.<\/p>\n

How to Calculate Roof Pitch<\/strong><\/p>\n