---
title: "How to Build a Screened Porch: Steps, Code Rules, Permit"
description: "How to build a screened porch step by step, from footings and floor framing to the roof, screens, guards and stairs, with the code rules inspectors check and the permit."
url: https://yespermit.com/how-to-build-a-screened-porch/
updated: 2026-10-13
language: en-US
---

# How to build a screened porch

A screened porch is a roofed porch with screen walls. Dig footings below the frost line, frame a floor built for 40 pounds per square foot, set posts and headers, frame and flash the roof, then install the screens, a real guard where the floor is over 30 inches up, and code-compliant stairs. Footings, framing and the final are inspected under a permit.

*Updated October 13, 2026. Every regulatory fact below links to its official source.*

## Key facts

- Screening an existing deck is the third route, and it is still a new porch for the city: Mound requires a building permit to convert an existing deck into a porch.[^7]
- Porch footings must be sized to carry all the roof and floor loads, so plan on the deck's footings and beams being checked against the new roof, not just reused.[^1]
- In Minneapolis, a bedroom's required emergency escape window may not open onto a screened porch, and bathroom windows that open onto a screened or enclosed porch no longer count for natural ventilation.[^3]
- New Prague treats screen and three-season porches as part of the house for zoning: they must meet the setbacks for principal structures in the district.[^2]
- Minneapolis requires building permits for all porches, screen porches included, and Hawthorn Woods requires a permit before any screen porch construction.[^3][^6]

**We handle the permit. You build.** All-in, until approved: $399 (Fall 2026 launch price, valid through November 30, 2026; regular price $499), approved or your money back ([conditions](https://yespermit.com/guarantee/)): [order](https://yespermit.com/all-in/). Prefer to file it yourself? [Permit Kit](https://yespermit.com/permit-kit/), $349.

## Choose the kind of screened porch first

"Screened porch" covers two quite different builds, and the choice changes the whole project:

- **A raised screened porch** has its own floor framing on footings, a roof and screened walls. It is built like any porch: Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, requires the floor to carry a 40 pound per square foot live load plus a 10 pound per square foot dead load[^1].
- **A screen enclosure on a patio slab** is a roof on posts with screens between them. It falls under the patio cover rules: one story, 12 feet at most, with the longer wall and one more wall at least 65 percent open below 6 feet 8 inches, filled with insect screening, thin approved plastic or code-compliant glass[^4].

Screening an existing deck is the third route, and it is still a new porch for the city: Mound requires a building permit to convert an existing deck into a porch[^7]. Porch footings must be sized to carry all the roof and floor loads[^1], so plan on the deck's footings and beams being checked against the new roof, not just reused.

## Look at the house wall before you design

A screened porch covers windows and doors, and the code cares where they lead. In Minneapolis, a bedroom's required emergency escape window may not open onto a screened porch, and bathroom windows that open onto a screened or enclosed porch no longer count for natural ventilation[^3]. Windows needed only for light and ventilation may open onto a patio-type structure that keeps the 65 percent openness rule[^3]. Golden Valley warns that a porch addition may affect the emergency egress and the natural light and ventilation requirements of the rooms it is attached to[^5].

## Materials

- **Footings**: concrete, sized for the roof and floor loads[^1].
- **Framing**: approved decay-resistant or treated wood wherever the framing is left exposed[^1].
- **Fasteners in treated wood**: hot-dip zinc-coated galvanized steel, stainless steel, silicon bronze or copper[^1].
- **Roof**: rafters with collar ties or a ridge beam, or engineered trusses, sheathing, flashing and roofing[^1].
- **Screens**, screen doors, and tempered glass wherever glazing is in a hazardous location[^1].

## Step by step

### Lay out the porch and check the setbacks

Mark the porch on your certificate of survey and on the ground. New Prague treats screen and three-season porches as part of the house for zoning: they must meet the setbacks for principal structures in the district[^2].

### Dig and inspect the footings

Footings go at or below the minimum frost depth, 42 inches in Inver Grove Heights, and are sized to carry the roof and floor loads[^1]. The inspector sees them after the holes are dug and before the concrete is poured[^1]. Hawthorn Woods, Illinois, goes further and requires a continuous concrete foundation for screen porches connected to the house[^6].

### Frame the floor

Set the beams on the posts and footings, then the joists. Floor boards depend on joist spacing: 2-inch decking at 24 inches on center, 5/4 inch decking at 16 inches on center[^1]. A cantilevered floor of the house may not carry the porch without special structural design[^1].

### Raise the posts and headers

Frame the walls as posts with headers over the screened openings. The headers are sized on your cross section: Inver Grove Heights asks for the header sizes supporting the window and screened openings[^1].

### Frame the roof and flash it

Rafters without ceiling joists, as in a vaulted porch ceiling, need collar ties or a ridge beam supported by a wall or girder truss[^1]. Install step and kickout flashing wherever the porch roof meets a vertical wall of the house[^1]. If you use engineered trusses, keep the truss layout and specifications for the plan reviewer[^1]; Hawthorn Woods requires them signed and sealed by an engineer[^6].

### Call the framing inspection

Wiring goes in first: when the porch has electrical work, the rough-in is inspected before the framing inspection[^1][^2]. New Prague notes that electrical work needs its own permit[^2].

### Build the guard and the stairs

Screens are not a guard. Inver Grove Heights and New Prague both state that screening alone is not an approved guardrail[^1][^2]. Where the floor is more than 30 inches above grade, build a guard at least 36 inches high with openings a 4-inch sphere cannot pass[^1]. Stairs need treads of at least 10 inches, risers of 7 3/4 inches at most, uniform within 3/8 inch, and a width of at least 36 inches[^1]. A landing is required at the top of exterior stairs with a total rise over 30 inches, except on screen porches where the only door at the top is a screen door that does not swing out over the stairs[^1].

### Hang the screens and the doors

Fit the screens in the openings once the framing is approved. On a slab enclosure, keep the openness rule in mind: insect screening, approved plastic no thicker than 0.125 inch, or code-compliant glass[^4].

### Pass the final inspection

The final comes when the structure is complete[^1]. Until then, the stamped plans and survey stay on site and the inspection record card stays posted on an exterior wall of the porch[^1].

## Mistakes to avoid

- Counting the screens as the railing[^1][^2].
- Putting a bedroom's escape window behind the porch[^3].
- Screening a deck without checking its footings for the new roof[^1][^7].
- Leaving out the kickout flashing where the roof meets the house wall[^1].
- Adding windows and heat later without asking: Golden Valley may require energy calculations for spaces that will be heated[^5].

## Do you need a permit to build a screened porch?

Yes. Minneapolis requires building permits for all porches, screen porches included[^3], and Hawthorn Woods requires a permit before any screen porch construction[^6]. The screened porch permit page lists what the application contains, the inspections and real fees.

## How we can help

With the All-in offer, the paperwork side is done for your address: the city's porch rules with links, the survey-based site plan, the floor plan, section and elevations for the permit application, the forms and the fee, then our team's review and follow-up until the permit is approved. You build the porch.

## Common questions

### Can I screen in my existing deck?

Possibly, but it is a new porch for the city. Mound, Minnesota, requires a building permit to convert an existing deck into a porch, and Inver Grove Heights requires porch footings sized to carry all the roof and floor loads, so the deck's footings and framing must be checked against the new roof.

### Do screens count as a guardrail?

No. Inver Grove Heights and New Prague, Minnesota, both state that screening alone is not an approved guardrail. Above 30 inches from grade you need a guard at least 36 inches high that a 4-inch sphere cannot pass.

### Do I need a landing at the porch door?

Exterior stairs with a total rise over 30 inches need a landing at the top in Inver Grove Heights, but not on a screen porch where the only door at the top of the stairs is a screen door that does not swing out over the stairway.

### Can my bedroom window open onto the screened porch?

Not as the required emergency escape window in Minneapolis, which does not allow a bedroom escape window to open onto a screened porch. Plan the porch around those windows or add another compliant escape opening.

## Get it done

**We handle the permit. You build.** All-in, until approved: $399 (Fall 2026 launch price, valid through November 30, 2026; regular price $499), approved or your money back ([conditions](https://yespermit.com/guarantee/)): [order](https://yespermit.com/all-in/). Prefer to file it yourself? [Permit Kit](https://yespermit.com/permit-kit/), $349.

## Sources

[^1]: [City of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, Screened Porch, 3 and 4 Season Porch Building Guidelines](https://ighmn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14747/Screened-Porch-3-and-4-Season-Porch-Handout), checked October 13, 2026.
[^2]: [City of New Prague, Minnesota, 3 Season Porches, Building and Zoning Requirements (2023)](https://newpraguemn.gov/vertical/sites/%7BAD7ECB62-2C5E-4BA0-8F19-1426026AFA3E%7D/uploads/3_Season_Porch_Handout_2023.pdf), checked October 13, 2026.
[^3]: [City of Minneapolis, Construction Code Services, Porches at single-family and two-family dwellings (updated 06/2025)](https://www.minneapolismn.gov/media/-www-content-assets/documents/Porches.pdf), checked October 13, 2026.
[^4]: [Tazewell County, Illinois, Community Development, Helpful Building Guidelines, Patio Covers and Porches (2018 IRC Appendix AH, September 2021)](https://tazewell-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Handout-Patio-Covers-Porches.pdf), checked October 13, 2026.
[^5]: [City of Golden Valley, Minnesota, Additions, Screened and Three Season Porches handout](https://www.goldenvalleymn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/794/additions-porches-handout-PDF), checked October 13, 2026.
[^6]: [Village of Hawthorn Woods, Illinois, Building Department, Screen Porch Requirements (10/10/25)](https://vhw.org/DocumentCenter/View/314), checked October 13, 2026.
[^7]: [City of Mound, Minnesota, Porches building permit handout (SAFEbuilt)](https://cityofmound.com/Documents/Departments/City%20Planning%20Building%20Permits%20and%20Inspections/Building%20or%20Electrical%20Permits/Permit%20Handouts/Porch.pdf), checked October 13, 2026.

---

Source page: https://yespermit.com/how-to-build-a-screened-porch/ · YesPermit, sold by LACANGEL GROUP SAS, 1 rue Marguerin, 75014 Paris, France. Prices in US dollars, taxes included. YesPermit prepares permit applications; it is not an architect, engineer or law firm, and the city or county decides on every permit. Site summary for AI assistants: https://yespermit.com/llms.txt