Hi. decks.com has some pic's of porches.I am building one right now over my 20x20 deck.We had the same problem as you so we are screening it in.I am not a builder just a DIY'er but it looks like you roof line is kind of low to shed snow,ice.good luck

Yah, your roof line is low, but you could still do a gable roof. There is no rule that says you have stay below you current height. You could build your gable roof at the height that you want and when it ties into the your existing roof, you will slope the new roof back down to match the slope of the front of the house.

I now this is a horrible render, but it does show what I'm talking about with the roof line. This is what it would like from the front.

Instead of having a straight ridge line, you have the triangle I was trying to describe.

{{!gwi}}

I understand about the existing roof being too low for a shed roof. So, if we do a gabled roof attached to the existing roof, can we change out the 4' 4x4 posts on the deck to 10' and attach it that way? I've read something about not being able to do that, but I'm not sure.

It would be very possible to build a simple trelles/arbor,pagola seems like those terms have blended together latley. Anyway four posts going above your eve line and staying away from the gutter 4'' or so. Beams on the posts with one hung with joists hangers in the center joists on 16'' centers, Lexann roof. Bang Bang!! out on the deck in the Summer Time.

So this would not have to be attached to the existing kroof? Sounds like a money and time saver. Do you know where I could find pictures of what you're talking about?

My site has a couple, deckmastersllc.com, with and without the lexann roof.

Right not attached to the existing Kroof... Keying in wrong spelling is completley fine with me Lord knows I do it enough. J.

Keying in the wrong spelling is also a perfect way to keep from triggering those popup ads, John! Those can be a pain.

I am a passionate user of Lexan panels and have used them on two porches so far for walls/windows. One of these days, we will use it for roofing a derelict cinder block garagx which lost it all during some long ago hurricane. Just as long as you allow for the expansion and contraction of the material in your construction, polycarbonate makes fantastic wind0ws, ro0fs, or whatevers.

And in the case of the project in question here, I also recommend shade cloth for the hottest spots.

You can add a gable roof to the deck. But you would most likely need to put the posts outside of the existing deck to be sure pier /post sizes are large enough to carry the roof loads. Some similar examples I have done below.

{{!gwi}}

Well, as bigkahuna said, we have found that we have to put the support posts outside the existing deck. Apprently if we don't, it's considered changing the integrity of the original deck and if we do that, we would have to take up all existing decking and add hurricane clips and other such things to get the deck to current code. It may not look it from the picture, but this deck is extremely sturdy and isn't going anywhere. A lot of our neighbors have had trouble with the county zoning board on these things so we figure we'd just do what they say and eliminate any problems. We were going to do the job ourselves, but our neighbor runs a construction crew that's not doing anything now and says he'll give us a good price. We really like the idea of letting the pros figure out how to tie the roof new roof into the existing overhang and these guys are young and could use the work. So for the first time DH says give them the job. I'm getting excited!

You should carefully check the code requirements for where you live.

I just went through this with my county. Where I live, a permit (and following inspections) is needed for this type of "structure", with complete plans detailing the attachment to the house and all other details. The deck CAN NOT support the posts and the posts have to have concrete footers, to code, even if on a patio. The footer requirement had me scrap the project, since my plans were to cover part of a deck over an existing patio. The posts were to attach to the existing patio.

--Nate