Tips and Benefits of Building a Breezeway on Your Home
This type of home addition is a combination of a covered porch and an outdoor hallway. Breezeways have a host of benefits and can be an easy way to improve storage, traffic flow and even safety in your home. Building a breezeway could be a DIY project, but depending on the layout of your garage and roofline this addition may also require the expertise of a contractor.
What Is a Breezeway?
A breezeway is basically a room or hallway built between your detached garage and a side entranceway. Normally the walls are left off or only partially framed in and the flooring may be similar to a patio or sitting on a concrete pad or wood frame.
What Can a Breezeway Be Used For?
This is entirely up to your lifestyle, but many people use a breezeway for exterior storage or seasonal overflow. It's also a great place to create a room for large pets or even design a covered outdoor dining area. Install a hot tub, use it as a mudroom or simply add grandeur and character to your home's exterior with a well-built breezeway.
How Is a Breezeway Constructed?
This is entirely up to you, but is often dictated by the current lay out of your property. If the area between your garage and side entrance is paved or covered in patio stones, you simply need to build the roof over top to create a breezeway.
With porch pillars, wood trusses and a plywood roof deck covered in shingles that match your existing roof, you'll have a breezeway up in no time.
Maybe the space between those two fixtures is more uneven, rocky or otherwise unusable. In that case, it makes sense to build a wooden frame across the area. With 4x4 or 6x6 posts installed into the ground or heavy duty deck piers you can then create a foundation for the breezeway.
Cover the wood frame with plywood and your choice of flooring or simply use wooden deck board as your breezeway floor. Remember to use flooring that will withstand the exposure. Ceramic and stone tile works well.
What Are the Elements of a Well Designed Breezeway?
You'll need plenty of storage space. Shelving on any available wall space is essential. If that isn't practical, build a closet or standalone shelving instead. Also racks, hooks and other methods of storage are helpful.
You can incorporate a wall into the corner of your breezeway easily. Frame it with 2x4s and cover with plywood before applying exterior grade stucco to both sides. This will provide a durable, attractive finish and the perfect place for your storage set up.
Wire up some outlets and lighting for the breezeway as well. Run conduit along the roofline and include exterior grade GFI outlets on any walls. You'll also need to put in switches for the lighting. Don't worry about heating or cooling in this area, although a ceiling fan is a nice addition.
Consider how your family will use this new space and include the elements you'll need to make that happen. Trim the fascia of the breezeway roof and invest in decorative pillars to give this home addition character and charm. A breezeway is a simple renovation project that can add plenty of practical, usable and attractive space to your home.
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