Enclosed front porch window replacement archived

I think this is a longer-term project for us, but I'm interested in getting some estimates for our front porch. I'm just not sure who to call and would love a referral.

The porch is enclosed with screens and storm windows. The windows themselves are ugly, and they are uneven, which leads me to believe that we will need custom windows to truly fit the space properly - or that we will need to make structural changes to the porch (eek).

Has anyone been down this path? What is involved? What are some good options? My husband would probably prefer to just open up the porch, but I like the relative privacy and 3-season functionality of the enclosed porch.

bump... anyone have any thoughts/experiences/advice to share?

We recently replaced our front vestibule with a set of windowed French doors (two panes and three panes across, depending on the piece). They were all stock pieces, with framing done around them.

A vestibule is a bit different from your porch, but with planning/framing, you may be able to use stock pieces to replace what you have. If you want to see what we did, send me a note and we can set up a visit.

Enclosed porches are awesome! We took our screens down last year when we had the house painted and while having it open was nice for awhile, it was VERY nice having them back this year! My father and husband rebuilt the screens--screens top to bottom, no separate windows. If you guys are a bit handy, you might be able to do it yourself? Otherwise I'm sure a decent carpenter type could do it.

Let me know if you want to come see them sometime. They did a great job, even if I'm a bit biased. I'm sure they could give some good tips if your porch is anything like ours.

Your job sounds more complex than ours, but we had the carpenter from Rutgers Painting replace all of our screens and do minor carpentry repair as part of the prep for our big painting job, for a very modest price (around $500 for our screen porch, which is behind the house and has no storms to deal with).

Thanks so much!! These are great suggestions. I hadn't thought about a carpenter. We are going to have our go-to handyman take a look but I'd like to make a few calls.

@afa, my husband is pretty handy, but is coming to terms with the fact that he just doesn't have enough time these days to DIY.

Yeah, it took like two months of "weekend" projects to actually get the screens on. Time is always the issue with DIY projects!

afa said:

Yeah, it took like two months of "weekend" projects to actually get the screens on. Time is always the issue with DIY projects!

Yep... my bathroom facelift has been half-finished for 4 1/2 months I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back. With so little time at home and with our kid as it is, we'd rather suck it up and spend a little money. Not that we have tons of that either

I had Orange Valley Glass replace the screens on my front porch and they did a good job.

@brianoleary, French doors sound heavenly. That wouldn't work for our space but perhaps you're right that stock pieces could work- as long as they are installed well! In our current porch they used cheap basic storm/screen windows and just out them in. So you'll see gaps where the porch ceiling is uneven.

Our vestibule is also not perfectly square, and it is slightly pitched away from the house to allow for drainage. The new framing was built to compensate for that, so that the stock pieces fit quite nicely. We're listed in the phone book, if you want to just drive by to take a look. Wilber's Painting & Carpentry did the work.

Terrific, thanks for the recommendation!

We had a chat with Wilber's today, and it sounds like it would be a lot less expensive to open up the porch than to frame and replace the windows. Hmmm...

@afa How do you prevent hour daughter from pushing on/falling through the screens?

After our chat with Wilber's, I'd like to get some more quotes on reframing the porch and replacing windows, in order to make a better decision about whether to replace or open them up. The latter will apparently be much cheaper, and would be more aesthetically in line with a lot of homes in town, but I really think we'd use a lot of utility that way.

Does anyone have a recommendation for either a window company or a carpenter to price this out? Thanks!!

try tony w summit home crafters he is a skilled carpenter

Ooooh... don't open it up. Seriously, especially if you have another outside patio somewhere, you will REALLY appreciate having a bug-free place to sit and still be "outside." Though I'm not sure I totally understand what you mean by the structure of your porch......but if you can maintain some kind of screened-in situation, do it. I'll pm you with our contractor's info. He might be able to help you out, and I know he'd be willing to at least give you some advice. He's framing in an old door into our new bathroom (begrudgingly, mind you!, but my husband wanted an old door), so I'm sure he could do the kind of work you'd need.

@annemarie, I have no idea. She just hasn't yet. She's tall enough to open the door with the handle, which she thinks is the most fun handle to use ever, so so far no pushing. A year ago, it might have been an issue?

@afa, what is your question about the structure? I may not be explaining it well. The current porch is enclosed with storm windows and screens. The storms are ugly aluminum, so our plan has been to replace with regular, nicer windows (with screens). The porch is also not even, however, so we'll need some custom framing to level it out.

When we met with Wilber's for the carpentry estimate, they said it would be much easier/cheaper to just rip it all out and open it back up, rather than reframing and paying for all-new windows. It's not a large porch but I guess the windows add up quickly. Still, I honestly don't even know that we'd ever sit out there if it was open! We have a tiny patio so I agree that it's nice to have a bug-free spot. Plus since we have the storms it's a 3-season porch. But, the upgrade is all aesthetic so it's hard to stomach a large cost for the project!

Below is an example of what I mean about the leveling (and also the godawful storms!!). It clearly needs painting as well but that's been included in our exterior painting estimates anyway.

Ohhhh I see. Hm.

Would you consider changing it from a "three season porch" with windows to just a "screened in porch"? Getting the windows is going to be the most expensive part. Just having someone build screens isn't going to be as much, according to my completely unprofessional assumption.

@afa, I think you're right, and it would also probably eliminate some of the framing issues; I don't think the uneven-ness would be quite as noticeable with only screens. However, I'm not sure screens as the front entryway would be ideal in terms of curb appeal... But, it's definitely an option we're considering, absolutely.

TarheelsInNj,

Check out Olger Fallas. I've seen work he's done on an enclosed porch at my neighbors home. Great job. We ask him for estimates on our sun porch which we would like to replace windows and have insulated. His number is below.

@phenixrising, I wish I had known that! We had Olger Fallas estimate our paint job, I could have asked all at once. Right now the exterior painting estimates frm Wilber's and Olger Fallas are neck-and-neck, but we thought it might be helpful for one company to do the whole project. I'll definitely give Olger another call!

Both companies are very good. We used Wilbur for several projects and recently started using Olger after seeing my neighbors new enclosed porch. They did a fantastic job. Their prices are pretty even. We're having Olgar install some windows for us. Olgar came in cheaper than Wilburs with the window installation.

Have you thought of reframing around the windows so they could fit into a standard size? Much cheaper than having custom size windows. We did this with our backdoor. Wilbur's carpenters reframed our doorway to get the standard fit. We bought a standard door instead of custom and it looks great. (You can't even tell the changes since they did a great job around the trim and frame.)

Yes, that's what we were talking with Wilber about. I guess with the custom framing needed plus the actual windows it's still a hefty cost. But, that was his on-the-spot range and I haven't received a detailed estimate yet so we'll see!