Porch and door help

3 years ago

Hi everyone, we have a 1920s style semi which we've done a lot of work on over the years. The last areas for attention are the hall porch and drive. Our porch was originally a brick vestibule? and some of our neighbours have left this open. My husband is keen to create a warm storage area for coats & boots etc. The walls are bare brick, and the floor is tiled with a bit of a late 80s tile, with an awful exterior door with frosted glass. I'd like to keep the internal original door, maybe giving it a lick of paint and maybe replace the glass? What should I do about the flooring? Our hall is wooden floor. Should I keep the brick walls or plaster? I was thinking of doing that to make it warmer in winter and maybe pop some panelling on? I'm looking for a curved exterior door (this example is a composite door) but cannot for the life of me find anywhere that sells this sort of thing. I've seen plenty of regular doors put into a curved frame but I do think this looks better? I'm open to thoughts though? Outside our house I'm hoping to just tarmac the whole lot with a cobble edge? I just want something simple and cheap! Plus easy to maintain. Half our drive is block paving and a space which was originally a flower bed but is now a small builders yard!! Any ideas on what I can do with it all I'd be very grateful 😊

Featured Answer

E D

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

From an aesthetic point of view, having your lovely original front door as the point of entrance and keeping the porch area open (like your neighbours’) is arguably better and how it was originally designed and intended.

From a practical point of view I appreciate it‘s possibly a benefit having it closed off.

However, is there any way you can use your actual hallway for storage of some coats etc so you can leave it open and bring it back to its former glory?

With regards to your front garden, personally I wouldn’t tarmac ’the whole lot’. Maybe just the drive if necessary, but I would certainly create some kind of garden with lots of plants.

It‘s a lovely house which I feel deserves ‘kerb appeal’.

Just my opinion though. 🙂

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Comments (10)

Colette
Original Author
3 years ago
Here is the door I like!! But can't find anywhere
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Sonia
3 years ago
Hi Colette, lovely period home. I agree the door at the front rather detracts from the style of the house. Houses in the 20s and 30s tend to have an open curved porch with the front door within the porch, that is how it would have originally been. Mine is a 30s house and is like that.

If you do not want to reinstate it as it was and need the porch, I would put some flooring down (black and white tiles were popular then). I wonder if there are tiles under the current flooring?

i think the double doors in your pic may be bespoke? I’ve not seen anything like it at the usual door retailers.

Whatever you decide on the front garden, do leave pockets for planting. Black tarmac with no plants to soften it is pretty grim and not cheap if done properly. How about adding to the block paving? As you already have it you can extend over to the other side?
mii2
3 years ago
The boots and coats that you have currently stored in the porch area are not aesthetically pleasing to the eye hence the installation of frosted glass by the previous owner? It would be a pity to do expensive work to the entrance to your home to have the same pile of coats and boots as the welcome but I can see with having a dog the current arrangement works well for dog walking. Would it be possible to install an electric garage door that allows you entrance and exit to that area where the muddy boot room and waterproofs can be housed. This would keep these items not on show. Also have you thought about switching the doors? Having the attractive original door on the outside of the porch and a glass inner door. This may work in the current door frame but may need a joiner to change the doorframe to suit your door. You could then also alter the window arrangement to install plain glass or have a stained glass infill to match the front windows.
mii2
3 years ago
Also no planting within the front garden seriously dents kerb appeal -avoid the garage forecourt look!
Colette
Original Author
3 years ago
Hi everyone, OK I'll just provide a bit more info about the drive, I agree it looks awful, it did have a huge flowerbed alongside crazy paving which we removed as the plants were not to our taste and it did need weeding alot! The plan would be to cover the whole drive in another covering of some kind - I'm thinking tarmac as I'm guessing that might be cost effective but I am I am planning a raised flower bed in the corner. I am open to other ideas for drives that are cost effective! Yes the porch is untidy, my husband is a builder and stores outdoor coats and boots in the porch... he is keen on keeping a porch! He is very practical and Im more athestics, we can usually agree eventually. I didn't think he'd budge on the porch but if we get rid of half the coats and make an entrance via the garage that might work better or at least be an option! He does want a new garage door! Fingers crossed! :)
Sonia
3 years ago
I have an electric garage door as there was no way I was heaving a heavy door! Best thing ever, it did add £400 to the cost of our door but worth it. My sister has two doors to her garage (used just for storage) so maybe an option? Just chucking ideas at you!
PRO
i-architect
3 years ago
Hi!

The doors you like are lovely and you'll be able to get something like that made for you - you'd have to go the bespoke route for those. I doubt you'll find something off-the-shelf that would fit. So they might be quite pricey but could be worth it.

It should be easy to swap out the tiles for another tile that is more stylish.

Just adding plasterboard isn't going to make it much warmer - you would need to add some insulation to get much thermal improvement, plus add in a radiator if you really want it to be warm enough, for example to dry coats after a wet walk.

For paving a drive, just be aware that you may need planning permission - if you want to increase the hard landscaped area over a certain amount (can't remember the exact amount off the top of my head but it will be mentioned in permitted development planning documents somewhere). Also you need to deal with the surface water drainage properly - which usually means using porous tarmac or block paving or running off to a land drain within your garden so it soaks away - this is to reduce flooding and over-loading drainage systems.

ED makes a lot of sense suggesting that you might find better storage space inside the hall. Having a carpenter create slide out storage for shoes, coats and bags under the stairs can work really well.

Hope this all helps,

Jane, i-architect.co.uk
daliaelsokari
3 years ago
Bring it into the house! I’d been thinking about this lately too and have finally done it! Plaster the walls and put something nice and colourful and get hubby (ince hes w builder) to put in a proper shoe cupboard and opposite that a rack - like the ones I Ikea where it has wheels on the other side of the wall - minimalism with a nice coat of paint and a lovely white shoe cupboard will look lovely. Put the same flooring as the rest of the house and put your ‘front’ door (not the frosted one, the main one) to serve as your actual front door and put the frosted one - or of you can afford it a double door to the ‘cloak room’. The only issue is you might get cold int he winter of it’s not well insulated. Not finished yet but I’m painting it a soft yellow.
InstructUK Resources
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
As previously mentioned, you will need to have a pair of doors with curved frame etc bespoke made, just find a company you trust and ask for a quote? They will also be able to include 'faux' leading to match your other fan light windows.

You could plasterboard the inside of the porch to cover up the bricks but you won't gain anything thermally unless you dry line the walls and maybe add a radiator of some sort under the window by the inner front door? For me, I would leave the bricks as they are.

Replace your current floor tile (as previously mentioned) with some lovely black and whites, though you may fine a nice surprise under the tiles you have, wood is a good solution but impractical for wear and tear plus getting wet will just end up ruining the wood unless you go for a hardwood parquet with a tough finish?

Have you tried pressure washing your drive to breath new life into those weather soiled bricks? You will be amazed how good they will look when clean and save a lot of money and hassle too. I personally am not a fan of tarmac, it looks to impersonal and industrial. The garden area could be brought back to life by using slate chippings and it will allow you to plant anywhere you like without more construction work? With the money you save, you could treat your garage to a new electric door to match the colour of your new front door entrance?