Entrance group is a special part of the house facade. It doesn’t just perform certain function, but also decorates the house exterior. When planning how to make a metal porch with your own hands, most housemasters think primarily about the protection of the front door and entrance area. Such canopy must be strong, durable, affordable and easy to install. And, of course, every house owner wants that the street staircase and porch turn out beautiful.
Advantages of metal staircase and porch
Advantages of metal staircase and porch
Today, external metal staircases and canopies are often found not only in the administrative and commercial buildings, but also in the private houses. They have many advantages:
- bearing structure can be easily attached to any building and doesn’t increase the load on it; this is an optimal solution for the reconstruction of porch and installation after the completion of all construction works;
- strength and durability; with minimal care, such entrance group will serve you for several decades;
- quick installation, which in some cases doesn’t require special skills and tools;
- ability to combine the metal frame with any type of roofing;
- unlimited space for the realization of design ideas (there are no restrictions on size and shape).
At that, visor and staircase can be decorated with forging, bent elements, color alloy and decorative casting.
Disadvantages are the high cost of metal. However, the possibility of using recyclable materials allows you to save significantly. Metal structures require regular care (application of anticorrosion coating). Moreover, you should provide water drainage from the steps and landing.
Steps of the metal staircase must have an anti-slip protection: corrugated surface, rubber pads, etc., as they become slippery when wet, while in winter they can ice.
Metal visor and porch: types
Metal visor and porch
Metal is a very durable and elastic material, which makes it possible to mount the structures of various types. Metal stairs can be made on stringers, bowstrings or bolts.
They can be flight and winding. When it comes to the street staircase leading to the porch, small straight-stair structure with a wide landing is usually implied. It is most often complemented by the railings or included in the entrance group with fencing.
Regardless of the design and structure of the staircase, visors can be different. Here are the most common forms of visors:
- single;
- gable;
- arched;
- domed (Marquis);
- concaved;
- multispan structures (for large canopies).
The type of visor is chosen considering the overall design of the house facade. Canopy can be fully metal or combined. Metal bearing structure goes great with different roofing materials. Today you can find many beautiful options covered with sheet metal, stainless steel, metal tile, onduline or polycarbonate.
Design of external metal staircase with canopy
Design of external metal staircase with canopy
You can see the metal staircases with canopy in the photos of the modern buildings and ancient palaces. Their decoration is so diverse that it goes well with different styles.
The simplest canopy with flight stairs, which you can easily build with your own hands, fits into the modern minimalistic urban style. To give it grace, you can decorate the bearing structure and railings with forging. Nowadays, forged decorative products can be successfully replaced with cheaper elements made by means of cold bending.
Hi-tech solutions with an abundance of transparent surfaces and glittering details are no less interesting. Construction companies and shops offer the prefabricated external staircases from stainless steel. You can build such structures with your own hands at home. They don’t require special tools or technology.
How to build a porch with your own hands
How to build a porch with your own hands
As well as in the design of any other staircase, the most important stage is calculation. The angle of elevation must be 26-45 degrees. At that, the height of steps must be 12-20 cm, and the width- at least 25 cm. Metal structure has a relatively small weight and doesn’t require the installation of a heavy support. Usually, columnar or continuous footing should be 20-30 cm lower than the freezing point of the soil.
The simplest structure you can make with your own hands is saddled stairs made of l-beams or straight angle. You should weld or bolt the supports of the future steps to them. More rarely, l-beams are used as a stringer (in this case, the steps are welded). If the external staircase is adjacent to the wall, you can use the bolt fastening. In the photos, such structures seem light, almost airy. However, such staircase requires complex calculations. You should also take into account that the load of the whole entrance group will fall on the bearing structure of the house.
External metal stairs with a visor are usually fastened by means of welding (more rarely on the hardware fasteners). Such installation is characterized by high speed and absence of “wet” building works. With certain skills, you can mount a metal staircase with your own hands within 1-2 days.
All metal structures (except the elements of stainless steel) require corrosion protection. Today, it can also be a decorative coating.
Modern metal paints will not only protect the staircase from moisture, but also turn the common rolled products into a luxury item.
For example, hammer paints can give the surface the effect of embossing of different metallic shades. Using them, you can give the metal stairs copper, bronze or golden shade with an unusual pattern. Metal can be also combined with wood, stone or polymeric finishing materials. The pictures of different design options of the metal staircase with a canopy will tell you how to decorate the façade of your house.
If the information in the article was useful, write your comments and feedbacks and feel free to ask the questions. We will gladly prepare the new materials. If you are interested in the topic of entrance group, you will like the article about the front porch of the private house.
