How to Find Your Perfect Mobile Home Porch: Style, Size, and Cost

The Bryant family just moved into their new mobile home, and one of their favorite places to enjoy is none other than their front porch. When the Bryant’s have family or friends over, they like to enjoy the weather with a drink during the day and watch the stars glimmer at night. During the summer days they love their covered porch because it keeps the sun from burning their skin while allowing a cooling breeze to blow through. It has been 1 year since the Bryant’s moved in, and they are already making lifelong memories in their “favorite room,” their front porch.

Are you looking for a porch of your own? Let talk about sizes, styles, and costs to help you figure out what you might want, but first, let us start by mentioning that decks and porches aren’t quite the same thing. Did you know that porches are at least partially covered while decks are not? Take a look at the picture featured above. The staircase on the left leads to a deck, and the covered area by the front door is a porch. Now that you can see the difference, let’s build a better understanding overall by diving into some of the most popular mobile home porches and possibly find your perfect porch!

Pricing Porches

Most people are going to pay about $50-60 per square foot for their porch. Most of the time, we are going to see the bill come in around $5,000 for a small porch and $10,000 for a medium porch. Those prices aren’t the whole story because some folks can spend as little as $25 per square foot at the low end or as much as $225 per square foot on the high end. The variance in price per square foot is mostly from what materials you choose and what kind of features you want added to your porch…in other words, rare wood floors and ceiling fans are ultimately going to cost you more than a cement slab and a bare tin roof.

Small sized porches are your typical front or back door porch with a little sitting area which doubles as a covered entryway. If you think of a small 80 square foot porch, that would actually be enough room for an outdoor couch, chair, and end table. The perfect amount of space to get nice and cozy!

A medium sized porch is more like the size of a typical living room, believe it or not, with plenty of room to entertain your guests. While you are spending more money, it would be like getting an extra room for your house, and often, it is well worth it as this can add value back into your home! There is just something about sitting outside, slowly waking while cuddling up to your favorite cup of coffee (or tea or over-caffeinated energy drink, we don’t judge).

Porch Styles

The first thing to ask yourself about your porch is, do you want to add it on after delivery, or do you want the porch built as part of the home? Adding a porch on after delivery gives you almost unlimited choices as to what you can do with your porch with the cost typically being the only limiting factor. A bonus is you aren’t worried about making porch decisions while you are trying to get through all of your decisions concerning your home. That can be enough in and of itself! If you choose to add a porch after delivery, just make sure you use a reputable contractor, because a porch installed incorrectly can become a kite in a storm, and cause damage when it rips away from your home. We wouldn’t want that for you, so we just want to reiterate that a properly installed porch shouldn’t budge except in the worst storms (when no structure is safe).

Getting a porch as part of the build has its advantages too! You won’t wait for the porch to be built after your home is delivered, and the porch is seamless with the rest of the house. Since the porch was part of the original design, it is guaranteed to look great, and there are several houses we sell that come with a beautiful porch as a standard feature!

If you decide to add a porch later, you have some more choices such as straight or wrap-around. Most folks are going to choose a straight porch that connects with just one side of the house. These single side porches are less expensive and easier to install, plus they offer all the space you are going to need!

Yet other folks love the wrap-around porches. But what exactly is a wrap-around porch? It is when you have a porch that wraps around at least one corner of your house so that that porch is connected to two or more sides of the house. They are beautiful and break up the space nicely.

In addition to how many sides of the house your porch touches, you can also decide to have an open porch or an enclosed porch. An open porch will allow the most air movement (because it’s open!) to take full advantage of the breeze. An enclosed porch is covered with wall, window, or screen. The screens are great for keeping those annoying bugs out and windows are fabulous in essentially making your porch a three-season room. Just remember, the more you make the porch friendly in the coldest months, the less friendly it will be in the summer months.

Can I Finance My Porch with My Home?

Are you wondering if financing a porch is possible? In many cases, you can finance your porch! Some loans (but not all loans) allow financing for your porch. Be sure to talk to your sales representative for more details about how to get your porch financed with your home. They will be more than happy to help you with any questions you may have concerning this topic, as well as any other pending questions you may have!

So that’s it: How to Find Your Perfect Mobile Home Porch: Style, Size, and Cost. If you have any further questions we would love to chat with you on our Facebook page or through our Contact Form.