How To Plan Your DIY Porch Enclosure Project

by Sammy Koza | Nov 22, 2022 | Memory Vinyl Windows, Planning, Porch Conversion

If you are building a home, a garage, a gazebo, a lanai, or other projects that require building materials then you have likely slammed head-first into a barrier in getting things done: limited supplies.

You are not alone.

Custom furniture resellers are quoting 6-10 months on a single hardwood chair or couch being made in North Carolina. Office furniture companies are quoting 4-6 months for delivery of catalog products that can not catch up to demand. Electric vehicles are awaiting semiconductor chipsets and other crucial elements to battery operation that are keeping them from being scheduled for production. Ford quoted 22 weeks last fall for their electric SUVs – they are nearing 35 months now and buyers are just receiving their automobiles.

How much longer can this go on? Well into 2023 is what they are predicting. COVID-19 has continued to snarl up supply chains beginning with how materials and items are sourced. Many manufacturing facilities, both in the U.S and abroad, have enacted socially distanced workstations which reduce the workable footprint of the facility, thus slowing supply even more. It’s better than the entire place getting sick though, which happens, and they have to shut down.

Still today, many people don’t understand this or even believe that it is true. It’s true… we now live in a world where COVID has permanently changed the supply chain.

Plan For Your Porch Enclosure Project

The reality is that we are helping our customers plan out their projects much longer-term than we used to. Four years ago or less, you could take measurements, submit an order for your memory vinyl windows by Porch Life and you’d have them within 5-6 weeks. Today, our production timeline from Porch Conversions is 6-8 weeks after your order is accepted. We then need to ship them to you. If you’ve had any contractor tell you that they can’t start a project for about 8 weeks, its not because they can’t fit you into the mix – they can’t source the products needed to complete the job. That’s where we are at.

So plan ahead. Thinking about getting started on your winter outdoor living project in non-midwest states right now? You may behind the 8 ball. Right now is the time to order your winter project materials and start planning for spring project. Hit the ground running int eh spring or summer by having your materials ready to go – just in time…

According to the National Association of Home Builders, windows and doors the second hardest item to find behind lumber. Its survey found that 65% of respondents reported a shortage, with 46% reporting a serious shortage. Rightfully so, there are not many window and door manufacturers in the United States. Think of the names.. Anderson, Larson, Porch Conversions, Cascade, Marvin, Pella. We may have just covered them all! They are not likely to invest in new factories that will be unable to place human workers or be a temporary crush of orders that dies off with our inflation rates.

You are not alone… We are not alone. But your project just needs some diligent planning. That’s all!

Consider Memory Vinyl Windows

Our best advice is to join the growing list of people planning their spring/summer 2023 projects. We have many of those orders in cue and they’ll be ready in plenty of time! Replacing your windows comes with many decisions, one being which type of material you want to use for your window frames. Using vinyl for your windows has many benefits and at Porch Life, we offer a variety of customizations for your vinyl windows. But first, you may be asking “why Porch Life”? Let’s answer that basic question first.

Why Porch Life?

Experience. When placing your order for your porch windows or outdoor living conversion project, you will have some questions and concerns about the process. It requires measuring and some math. Your order is custom-made for your porch or home project – refunds are not an option once your order is underway. How will you know you’ve ordered the right product, the right color, or the right size?

Simple- experience.

Porch Life has many years of experience working with vinyl windows directly from our manufacturer. Your custom porch windows are manufactured by Porch Conversions. They are made in the USA in some of America’s top furniture manufacturing markets, such as North Carolina. Having worked with Porch Conversions on the sales side for years, our official distributorship relationship has offered us knowledge that you can’t find anywhere else.

And we’ll be honest with you. It will probably be 10 weeks or more before you see your order. But ordering from someone else won’t speed that up for you – we’re a top-tier reseller for these companies and our orders are handled with the best timelines they can offer.

A few benefits

1. We know the Memory vinyl windows and doors products inside and out
2. We are skillfully versed in the measuring techniques
3. We have helped thousands of customers with the right selections for their home project
4. We offer help over the phone to get your measurements and order put together.
5. We can manually prepare your order and invoice you. You don’t have to submit your order on our website.
6. We can add expedited production to orders to ensure production of your products is done within 15 days. Your shipping estimation will happen after that. We are one of the few window/door supplier offering this option for 10% of the order price.

At Porch Life, your quote is free, help with measuring is free and we’ll even put your order together for you.

Start by measuring your space

Vinyl windows are a top premium choice for home remodeling and home improvement projects. In and of themselves, vinyl windows offer a thermal break, minimizing heat transfer from the outside of the home to the inside. Porch Life’s Vinyl windows look great and require very little maintenance. You can extend your outdoor enjoyment further than 3 seasons, especially with a blanket or fireplace in the room. As a result of their aluminum frame and composition, there is also no need to repaint or re-stain vinyl windows since they are the same color throughout.

However, before placing an order for a memory vinyl window, the first critical step is to determine the right measurement for the new window.

How to measure your windows

1. The first thing you’ll want to do is to make sure that the window is level. Equally important is checking to make sure that the sides are plum.
2. The next thing you’ll want to do is check across the width in three locations and make note of the dimensions.
   1. Measure across the bottom.
   2. Then, measure across the middle.
   3. Also, measure across the top.
3. Equally, you’ll also want to check the height of your opening in three locations – Left, middle, and right.

When ordering your window, you’re going to want to use the smallest of the dimensions that we just took to make sure that your window is going to fit properly in the opening. You can downsize the window yourself, tell us what you want it to be, or you can give us a rough opening and we will downsize it a quarter of an inch. This will leave you with a nice eighth-inch reveal so you’ll be able to center your window up in the opening. If you have an opening that is out of square, we will have the information you can follow that will guide you on how to properly measure and submit for an out-of-square opening.

But what about my other materials

It’s true, Porch Life is only one aspect of the total equation. If you’re not just doing a porch enclosure but rather building an entirely new porch, a backyard lanai, or other enclosed structure, you have a lot of work to do before you’ll get the ball rolling. You’ll want to get realistic timelines from the concrete contractor, the lumber contractor, the carpenter, and the electrician, and depending on the scope of your project there may be others.

There are many ways to create a porch enclosure. In years past, many DIYers would create wood frames, and staple mesh or similar materials into the frames to create a porch enclosure to keep out bugs. It worked… but this method makes it difficult to create an aesthetically pleasing enclosure, keep out the dirt and weather, and repairs were expensive and cumbersome. Ultimately you probably want something that matches the design and flow of your home that will become a welcoming space for family and friends.

Today, there are so many screening and window systems that are affordable, easy to use, and help to create a lasting enclosure with excellent curb appeal.

Good luck with your projects. We’re here to help!