Front Door Porticos in Wilmington, DE

A gable portico has two roof slopes that meet at a ridge, with a triangular front face. That triangle, the pediment, can be closed and trimmed flat, or left open to reveal a curved or flat ceiling beneath it, and it is the part that gives a gable portico its formal look. Because the ridge stands taller than the eaves, a gable needs height above the door: room between the top of the door trim and whatever is overhead, whether that is a second-floor window or the eave of the main roof. On a tall wall, a gable can be built steep to echo the main roof.

A hip portico slopes back toward the house on all three open sides, so it has no triangular front. On a portico more than twice as wide as it is deep, a hip sits lower against the wall than a gable of the same pitch, and it is the natural match for a house whose main roof is hipped. The corners where the slopes meet take more framing cuts, and the roof surface is finished along each hip line.

Columns support the portico, so their material is a structural choice as well as a visual one. In a PVC-wrapped column, a wood or steel post carries the load, and the wrap only dresses it. The wrap does not rot, and it comes white and smooth. A structural aluminum column is load-bearing in its own right, light and rot-proof, with a factory finish. A stain-grade hardwood column gives the look of real wood grain at the front door; it needs a finish to protect it outdoors, and finishing is left to your painter. Column caps and bases are chosen to match the house's trim.

A few things at the entry shape a portico before any style is chosen. The wall it fastens to comes first. On a sided house, the siding is cut back so the portico's back rafter plate fastens to the wall framing; on brick, how it attaches is checked at the estimate. Then the stoop: the columns transfer the roof's weight to whatever they stand on, so the stoop or steps are inspected first. If they can't carry columns, new footings and who pours them are planned at the estimate before the design goes further.

Rotted entry trim or columns are rebuilt as exterior wood rot repair.

A roof over a back deck is its own job.

On a one-story or story-and-a-half house in Claymont or Wilmington, the front door may sit on a plain concrete stoop with the main eave not far above it. A tall gable has nowhere to go on a front like that. A hip portico, or a low gable tucked under the eave line, fits it better.

The tight space also decides the pitch. The portico roof has to meet the wall far enough below the main eave to leave room for its flashing, and still slope enough to shed water. On a low front, the pitch ends up as a compromise between those two needs.