How To Finish Off the Underside of an Oak Porch
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"Oak Porch - Underneath Roofing Options"

How To Finish Off the Underside of an Oak Porch

You’ve had your oak porch installed, and you’re now sat on the porch seat (if you have one), or you’re stood underneath it, and you look up to the underside of the roof. What do you want to see?

There is no ‘correct’ way to finish off the underside part of an oak porch roof, it really is down to personal preference.

Porch Roofing Battens

When the porch is being installed, and roof is going on, the rafters are fit to the ridge (the very top part of the porch that runs from front to back) from the horizontal timbers that run from the top of the front posts to the top of the back posts.

These can be seen when looking up, and are rather lovely!

The roofer will then fit battens across the rafters. They will then attach the slates, or tiles, or whatever the roofing material is, to the battens and when they get to the top they’ll fit ridge tiles along the top of the ridge.

Many people choose to not have anything on the underside and this is option 1.

When choosing this option, oak battens can be supplied, if required.

If you don’t want to look up and see the back of the roof tiles and battens, you have a couple more options.

Before the battens are fit to the rafters, fully finished (usually with 2 coats of Osmo Polyx UV Oil) oak tongue and groove boards can be fit horizontally, on the top of the rafters. These are supplied in both full lengths, and shorter lengths. If they are in smaller lengths, they are cut so that they join up to the next one above a rafter. The battens and slates, or tiles, will then fit on top of them.

Then, when looking at the underside of the roof, oak boards can be seen between the rafters, like the photo’s above.

Porch Roof Alternatives

If you’d like a painted finish, a weather-proof board can be fit on top of the rafters, in the same way the oak boards are. This can be painted prior to installation. However, it can also be repainted in years to come relatively easily.

There are many other options of the type of board. Plywood would be an option, or painted softwood boards.

Whatever you decide to have, it’s best to know BEFORE the roofing is done.

The oak boards and weatherboard could, technically be fit after the roof has been installed, but they would need to be installed between the rafters. The finish wouldn’t be as cohesive though.

If you’re thinking of having lighting installed in the porch, either a pendant light, or down lighters, the wiring etc can be hidden whilst installing the roof.

25 September 2023
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James Thorogood
James Thorogood

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As the owner of a local joinery business, Robert Davis Joinery, I have had the pleasure of using Oak by Design on several occasions over the last 8 years. They have produced bespoke interior products for me including Oak doors and timber moldings. The staff in the office and the workshop are always very helpful and friendly and the standard of the workmanship and materials are always of a very high quality.

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From the initial quotation right through to the delivery and after service Joanne has been brilliant and given me an excellent product. I have just ordered another porch for another project from them and I will continue to do so for future projects . Thomas and Bell Building Contractors Ltd

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Great personal service to ensure we got what we needed specific to our personal requirements. Quality is outstanding and there was a helping hand there all the way. The porch we ended up with was not cheap but having looked at others the quality of the Oak by design product shines through. Very pleased with the result and the complements from both neighbours and our builders keep coming.

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Great service from start to finish, Joanne was great help. Designs were spot on and so happy with the porch. 10/10. Fully recommend.

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On behalf of Shears PHG Our customer was looking at having an oak porch built for their property in the West Midlands we got in contact with Joanne at Oak by Design and she was really helpful, always friendly on the phone and polite nothing was too much trouble. Joanne kept us up to date through every stage and our customer is really pleased with the results of the Porch it looks great and we wouldn’t hesitate to use them again in the future

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My client was looking for ways in which to make his conversion (of an early seventies house into a period family farmhouse) “stand out from the crowd”. whilst maintaining a commercial eye on his expenditure, as the house was being converted for resale profit. Making the choice to meet with Richard and explore possibilities for incorporating some Real solid Oak features into his plans proved to be the making of the project. By taking lots of advice from Richard on both the size and structure of the components we were able to incorporate three key features. The beautiful and bold roof trusses and purlins for the open plan kitchen are simply a joy to behold. The stunning full height gable window which is directly glazed into the large framework can be appreciated from both the the kerbside and of course from within the cosy snug on the ground floor or the amazing first floor main bedroom where we incorporated some additional exposed roof beams just purely for effect. All in all it is fair to say that these significant choices certainly created the wow factor my client was looking for. Having managed to pre sell the property well before completion it in itself demonstrates the benefits of keeping these sorts of real oak features as part of a modern build. I have no hesitation whatsoever is saying that if anyone is looking to get advice and is serious about investing in quality oak products they should have no need to look further than Oak by Design. Thanks again Richard for all your help , guidance and continued support which is a credit to you and the craftsmen you employ.

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I firstly used oak by design a couple of years ago for an open oak porch. They were extremely helpful and everything was delivered on time to the highest quality. The porch went together with the oak dowels provided and looked great when it was all slated in. They have also supplied me with a oak beam for a fireplace natural random finish and it looks good.

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On behalf of John Docherty: Oak By Design were a great company to deal with; helpful, knowledgeable, professional. The quality of the oak supplied to us for our bespoke porch was first class. Nothing was too much trouble for this company, and we will definitely be using this wonderful company again in 2022.

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We are ‘over the moon’ with our beautiful oak porch made by Oakbydesign .From our initial enquiry to delivery and installation the service and attention to detail has been outstanding! A very big thank you to Joanne who was so helpful and friendly from start to finish which made the whole process such a pleasure. Highly recommend anyone looking for an oak porch to choose Oakbydesign . Yvonne Grant.

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Having lived with our porch for over 2 years I can honestly say it’s the best addition to our house we ever made. Not only does it look fantastic the quality is outstanding. I love that it keeps the mud out of the hall and provides a seating area to remove muddy boots.

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We worked with Jamie from Oak By Design on a super project near Wetherby. There was plenty of oak in this design for the team to really show their worth - and they did. The attention to detail was excellent. If anything was not quite how the client wanted it, they were straight back to attend to this. The customer care was superb. We look forward to working with Oak By Design on another project soon.

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Oak by Design were extremely helpful at all stages of my project from helping and advising me to choose the most appropriate beam through to advice on fixing the beam. They were extremely patient with changes to my beam dimension requirements finally providing a solution to suit my project. They provided photographs on completion of the beam prior to dispatch to ensure that my requirements had been met. I was extremely impressed by the quality and finish of the beam which has become the focal point for my fireplace project. Oak by Design provided customer care of the highest quality and I would highly recommend their services.

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Fantastic staff with fantastic craftsmanship. Great communication and always on the ball. I would highly recommend oak by design, I don’t think you could get a better quality oak porch anywhere. Extremely pleased with ours , always getting compliments from fellow villagers