A house with a veranda is not only an additional area, but also the ability to use it quite effectively. Such cottages look much more interesting and more comfortable, because depending on the project of the veranda, you can equip a living room, a winter garden or a library in it, saving the usable area of the main building.
Types of Verandas
Quite often, people who are not knowledgeable in construction confuse two such concepts as a terrace and a porch, believing that they are identical. In fact, these are completely different buildings, and if the first can be attached to an already finished building, then the second should immediately be included in the project of the house.
The veranda is a small extension to the house, having a common foundation with it, while a terrace on a raised base is called a terrace, only adjoining it. There is a possibility of building a veranda after putting the building into operation, but you will have to pay for paperwork and a separate project for it, which will cost a lot.
There are two types of extensions:
- Closed veranda, the target direction of which is the use of additional space as part of the main building. Typically, they equip relaxation rooms or a dining room, a winter garden or a fireplace room.
- Open annexes serve as a resting place in the warm season and are only an addition to the house and decoration, but do not relieve its useful area from the load.
Modern technologies and materials make it possible to turn any verandas into a real architectural masterpiece. This is especially true for enclosed enclosures, since glazing methods make it possible to experiment with different styles.
Materials for the veranda
Even at the stage when the project of the veranda is only being considered, it is necessary to decide what function in the house it will perform. If it becomes a gathering place for the whole family exclusively in the warm season, then you can create an economy option in the Australian style. It consists of a stone base and a wooden roof, laid in the form of boards with gaps. The distance between them allows sunlight to illuminate the entire space inside it. As a rule, the center of such an extension becomes a barbecue or barbecue area, around which tables and garden furniture are concentrated. It is clear that on a rainy day a similar veranda is damp under the windows, so it is good only in those regions where the sun prevails. This is probably why in areas with short and cool summers they are not popular.
Closed porch is a more expensive project that allows you to create a real architectural masterpiece. As practice shows, in regions with a temperate or warm climate, a combined type of outbuildings is often used, when the window frames are removed in the summer and returned to the site in winter. In such verandas you can often find fireplaces that create a warm atmosphere and warm when there are snowdrifts outside the window.
It is important to know: a closed veranda is an opportunity to move an auxiliary room, for example, an entrance hall or a greenhouse, outside the main building, so the use of materials such as stone and glass, although it affects the pressure on the foundation, opens up a lot of opportunities for design experiments.
Closed outbuildings
The main materials for the closed veranda are stone, brick, wood and glass. Particularly impressive look extensions with glazing from the base to the ceiling. In regions where the sun prevails most of the year, many private traders even make the roof glass.
It is important to know: the veranda is part of the house, therefore it must be built in the same spirit with it. Even if it was not originally in the project, a combination of materials and architectural style should be observed, then the house will really look elegant.
Exterior Veranda
As a rule, an open veranda is an occasion to surround your home with vegetation. This is how owners of private houses and summer cottages decorate their outbuildings. Curly or forever green plants especially in their honor. Such natural shading creates not only coziness, but also decorates the facade of the building.
Another thing - closed verandas. Here there is where to go for a fantasy. The combination of various materials, such as wood, stone and glass, or the exterior finish with decorative plaster - these are far from all the options that can be used to embellish the outbuilding externally.
Vinyl siding has been especially popular recently due to its affordability and ease of installation. This is a special polymer material for building decoration, which is not afraid of either dampness, or temperature changes, or fungus, or fire, but at the same time it can imitate wood or lining.
It is important to know: for the veranda to look spectacular and for a long time to serve as a pleasant place to relax, you need to use materials that are not subject to external influences, durable and environmentally friendly for its external design.
Home Decor Options
As a rule, natural materials such as stone, wood or glass are used for interior decoration of the veranda . For flooring, either laminate or ceramic tiles will be the best option.
Flowers and ornamental plants are used in the interior decoration of outbuildings, as often as in the exterior. If the veranda is closed, then its attributes such as a fireplace, tulle on the windows, upholstered furniture and other accessories are an opportunity for each owner to show his taste and talent as a designer.
Examples of using verandas
As a rule, the value of additional space in a private house is difficult to overestimate. Unfortunately, many cottage owners see in the veranda only a place where you can hang a hammock, put a barbecue and drink beer after work.
In fact, not everyone understands what a veranda is. This is an opportunity:
- Take out such premises as a dining room, a cinema hall or a winter garden outside the house.
- The open veranda allows you to enjoy nature, to be in the fresh air and to feel like part of the ecosystem.
- Closed porch creates a separate microclimate outside the walls of the house. Modern technologies make it possible to build extensions of any size on most types of soils and use the best building materials for this.
Statistics claim that the most popular today is a wooden veranda. In fact, given that this is an environmentally friendly material, it is also an opportunity to maintain health, maintain energy at the right level and seek inspiration in nature.