Adding a Veranda or Deck to Your Log Cabin

Log cabins provide endless possibilities when it comes to expanding your living space. Decks make great social gathering areas, balconies take full advantage of limited spaces while verandas and porches can become inviting retreats.

By adding outdoor areas, you will become closer to the natural surroundings surrounding your log home.

Function

Log cabins boast an attractive rustic aesthetic while remaining warm and welcoming, and can serve as primary residences, vacation homes, home offices or guest houses. Additionally, these spaces make ideal playrooms for children while being an excellent venue to host friends and family for parties and gatherings. One popular method to increase living space while still keeping its unique character intact is adding verandas or decks onto these homes.

Verandas are roofed structures that extend from the exterior of a home or building and feature narrow logs for an open and airy aesthetic. Their use creates additional outdoor living space within homes or buildings.

Verandas offer an ideal place to take in nature from within your own home, but in summer they can become challenging to use due to the sun’s intense heat – as its direct rays cause it to heat up adjacent rooms as well. Meanwhile, without heating a veranda becomes cold and unusable.

Decks offer greater versatility than verandas, from ground level construction to elevated construction with stairs and railings, constructed out of wood, stone, brick or concrete and even stained to match your cabin’s exterior color palette. In addition, they can serve as patios, pool decks or outdoor kitchens.

Addition of a deck is one of the easiest, cost-effective ways to expand livable space in your log cabin. In comparison to other structural upgrades like sheds or sunrooms, decks provide maximum square footage at minimal expense. Care must be taken when designing its layout to ensure safety and functionality.

Plan7Architect makes planning your deck easy and straightforward. This program enables you to easily create accurate 2D floor plans, convert them into 3D models quickly, import terrain data for planning on sloped land, configure roof pitch settings, add balconies and simulate lighting conditions all year-long – giving you greater clarity, confidence and control during construction.

Design

Decks have long been one of the go-to methods of increasing living space in log cabins, and remain one of the most versatile and cost-effective ways. When spending money on this addition, however, make sure it serves its intended function well while complementing its architecture.

One of the key decisions when designing your deck is selecting its railing type. Log homes typically utilize whole or partial logs as railing posts for an organic, timeless and of-the-land aesthetic that perfectly blends in with mountain scenery. Traditional wood rails complement this style perfectly; modern decks often opt for vinyl and composite materials which don’t match up well against this natural color of logs and could create bulky visual clutter that detracts from mountain views.

Railing selection is also of great significance when selecting the look and feel of your deck. A simple square/round railing looks best with log cabins while more intricate baluster designs add elegance and sophistication. To give a rustic vibe, metal railings may also work – these don’t have to be made out of wrought iron but may instead consist of steel painted with earth tones such as bronze, black or rust colors can do nicely as long as the shade complements its surroundings and landscape perfectly.

Another effective strategy for deck maintenance is installing gutters that divert rainwater away from your log home, instead of allowing it to splash back onto it and cause significant damage over time. Installing such gutters can prevent splashback of rainwater back onto its source – something which rainwater alone may do without getting out.

For those seeking a more formal addition to their log home, verandas may make for the ideal extension. Verandas tend to be larger than balconies and usually include roofs – more like porches than balconies – providing protection from elements and providing space for relaxing and socialising. Historically, verandas were constructed as protection from elements as well as providing places where residents could unwind and entertain themselves.

Materials

Verandas conjure up images of elegant Spanish outdoor living spaces where you might serve iced tea to your guests among citrus trees. Although this architectural feature dates back centuries, its popularity in America rose during the 1800s as a means to deal with extreme summer heat before air conditioning became widespread.

Verandas and porches can be built using various materials, depending on the architectural style of your house. For instance, California mission-revival homes tend to employ similar adobe floors and railings in their veranda construction; New Orleans townhouses might feature distinctive iron filigree railings.

At the core of selecting materials for a veranda is sun protection: an enclosure with louvered railings offers flexibility as the sun shifts throughout the day, but will not provide privacy and protection equivalent to that provided by solid porch structures.

Verandas and pergolas are open-air structures designed to offer shade and privacy while providing views of your cabin’s surrounding natural scenery. While both have similar purposes, a veranda usually encompasses more than one side while pergolas do not.

If you opt to install a veranda on your home, the first step will be determining its ideal setup: stand-alone or connected with the house through front and back porches. Furthermore, depending on personal taste you should also determine whether or not a roof would be desirable for it.

Verandas can be constructed on any flat surface, though more commonly they’re built onto slopes to take advantage of views or provide space for seating and dining areas. Cantilevering can often be an efficient means of building on slopes as it allows larger spans without necessitating additional posts in the ground – perfect if your log cabin sits atop a mountainside.

Installation

Verandas and decks are among the best ways to extend the living space of a log cabin, offering outdoor relaxation without sacrificing privacy or weather protection. There are various materials you can choose from for their construction; ultimately it all comes down to what kind of look and purpose they serve for.

Verandas were traditionally employed as an alternative to windows to help people cope with extreme summer heat before air conditioning was invented. Adorned with ornate ironwork, verandas can still be seen today in New Orleans Creole townhouse-style homes as well as contemporary log home designs; their popularity stems largely from offering more living outdoor space than a standard porch and being easier to maintain than its counterpart.

Verandas may come with some downsides (including overheating on hot days), but they can add greatly to the look and feel of your log cabin, particularly when combined with cozy fireplace or comfortable seating options. Verandas provide ideal spots for reading, conversing with friends, or simply admiring nature’s splendor.

A pergola is an open structure similar to a veranda, and can serve as either the primary focus of your landscaping or frame a view. A pergola can make for great entertaining space – its simple decor options enable guests to easily show off the greenery around it.

Wood pergolas are an excellent choice, though you should carefully consider your local climate when making your decision. Hemlock and spruce may be better options in colder regions while pine is more appropriate in warmer or continental climates. Pine is also less expensive than other materials; its natural chinking properties allow it to help seal off gaps between logs for increased insulation in a cabin.