Front Porch Series, Part Three

He says:

So, we wanted to include some stonework on this porch.  We like the look of stone column bases, but we also like to do everything ourselves when possible.  The need was for a simple, DIY friendly way to create the stone look.  Now, every big box home improvement store in the world has a stonework display by the front door...but the employees never have any clue what it is, how it installs, or how to order it.  Fail.  After lots of research, we discovered M-Rock.  

Pictures are worth a thousand words, but the phone call clinched the deal.  The people are knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful.  About $1,000 bought everything for the porch and some extra for some future projects.  For something new to us, online videos are always appreciated, and M-Rock has one:

The truck pulled up 4 days later and work began.

I can't say enough nice things about this company and their products.  One or two notes that I wished I would have known:

1.  A regular pine "6x6" post is sized like all pine lumber, smaller.  It's actually 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 ".  A cedar or other decorative post is actually a full 6x6".  The M-Rock product is designed for a full 6x6" post.  In order to use it, I had to add a strip of pressure treated 1/2" ply to two sides of the posts to make up the size difference.  I nailed them on with galvanized ring-shank nails.

2.  The post top caps are a little "vague", they are molded for a very loose fit.  They are to be installed with polyurethane construction adhesive (which is terribly nasty stuff) and you have to use a lot of it.  So, use masking tape to protect the top of the column, and use more tape to hold the cap in place while the adhesive dries.

She Says:

I really love how this turned out!  We wanted the look of stacked stone, and no mortar to mess with.  Very cool product.

Front Porch Series, Part Two

He says:

After the six big posts were installed and cured, we proceeded to cut and install the major beams of the gable section.  

These are two 2x8's laminated together to make 4x8" beams.  This is the basic framework of the gable, eventually the new front door will be placed in the center of the gable section to make a grand entrance.  Once the beams were in place, we installed the ridge beam, a 16 ft long 2x8.  In the below photo, you can see the temporary holder for the ridge beam...when you are working with big heavy pieces of lumber alone, you tend to make a lot of "holders" for things.

Then came the rafters.

And we have a gable.  

  

Front Porch Series, Part One

He says:

After removing the ugly slab we had a blank canvas to work with, and could design the porch of our dreams.  The house is a little barn-ish without a porch, so we were excited about giving it a pretty face.  We were also excited to have someplace to sit and watch it rain.  That's like our #1 favorite leisure activity, watching rain.  You should try it.

She Says:

Watching it rain is awesome.  Don't knock until you try it.

He Says:

We looked at roughly 5,000 porch photos on the web, but the one we kept coming back to was the photo on the Hardie Siding display at the local Lowe's.  It's difficult to find a high res photo of it, but here it is:

The elements we like are:

1.  Gable on left framing front entrance

2.  Exposed "craftsman" bracing

3.  Stonework pillars

Planning began on this obviously large project.  The total floor area is about 350 sq. ft, with over 400 sq. ft of shingled roof.  To make things more interesting, we don't have the time or budget to completely replace the roof, so the new roof has to be integrated into the existing house roof.  Hmm.  I'll also add here that I am by nature paranoid about things leaking.  

The framework of the porch is as simple as I can possibly make it.  6 pressure-treated posts, 6x6" in size, support the floor and roof.  The floor is built on 2x10" pressure-treated joists and rims, and consists of standard decking boards.  2x8" pine beams support 2x6" pine rafters, holding up 15/32" ply roof deck.  Asphalt shingles go on top.  Simple, no?  Let's begin with a "before" photo:

Step one:  Dig holes, install posts.

Thank goodness for a tractor and friend willing to help on a Saturday.  If you are contemplating a similar project note a few things:  We set the posts 48" deep in 12" diameter holes.  This left room for 120 lbs (3 x 40lb bags) of concrete per hole.  Although local contractors often pour dry cement into these types of holes and let the moisture in the soil cure it, I don't.  We mixed the Quickcrete in my awesome little Kobalt brand cement mixer.  The easy way to mix is to cut a slit into the side of the bag and dump the entire bag into the mixer.  Run the mixer for a few seconds and it magically empties the bag.  Stop the mixer and easily remove the now-empty bag.  Viola.

Mix your concrete to the consistency of runny oatmeal.  Note that we are using bungee cords to hold levels tight onto the post all during the pouring process, and that we are using wooden stakes pounded into the ground to support the big posts via 2x4 diagonals.  Allow the concrete to cure at least 24 hours.  

One.

Two.

ThreeFourFiveSix.

She Says:

HoneyDo has spent a lot of time designing this porch, both structurally and architecturally.  As usual, I say, "What about adding this *insert difficult detail* or that *insert impossible feat*?"  He gives me a long, sideways glance, then figures out a way to make it work.  He's awesome like that.

I can't wait for you to see more of it!

Front Porch Demolition: The Prequel

He says:

The house came equipped with a slab.  No, we don't really know why, it was apparently someone's idea of a front porch, but why you would build one like this is beyond us.  It was a giant concrete block.  It must have been terribly expensive to do like this, and it had the fantastic feature of sloping toward the house...so all the water it collected sat against the front of the house.  Wonderful.

She Says:

In addition, our homeowner's insurance agent took one look at this thing and said, "No Way."  He insisted that the "porch" had to have a railing.  Now we had no intention of keeping this thing, let alone spending time and money putting a railing on it (how would you even do that anyway?  Talk about putting lipstick on a pig!)  So we halted progress inside and turned our attention to The Slab.

He Says:

In the above photo, I have removed the steps from the front and we're ready to demolish it.  Demo on this, however, is no small matter.  Being made of 4-6" thick aged concrete with rebar, we needed a very large tool.  Enter the skid loader.

A skid loader is a utility tractor that has many types of interchangeable implements that are carried on articulated arms in front.  For this job, we needed a power jackhammer and a scooper bucket.  A trip to the rental company, $300, and we had it for 24 hours.

We broke the slab into little pieces and scooped them into a pile at the edge of the yard.  It made a big pile.  It took about 6 hours of steady work to fully remove the slab, but when we were done, we had room for a new (proper) porch and we could start to repair the water damage the slab had caused.

Next step - design and build a front porch.

Sunday Sunshine

Our weekly reminder of why we took on this crazy project:

Sunrise view out our front door :)

DIY: Staining the Back Porch

She Says:

Once HoneyDo finished building the back porch, I stepped in with the stain.

In Canyon Brown.

Before staining a deck or porch, the wood surface has to be cleaned.  Older surfaces need a good cleaning and stripping.  Because the porch is new construction, the prep work for the stain was pretty easy.  

A sweep up of the pine needles (I love having pine needles to sweep!):

Light sanding of the wood with 60 grit on the sander:  

Wipe down with a damp cloth:

And let it dry:

Apply the stain with a brush.  The trick with stain (just like with paint) is to maintain a wet edge so you don't get a dark line.  Let dry for 24 hours; no one should walk on it.  I guess this guy couldn't read the wet paint sign...

I came back and gave it a second coat because we wanted the color a little darker:

One stained back porch: done.

Sorry about the dust- you never can really get rid of the dust when you're living in a reno.  We'll finish up this project by painting the banister and under the step, but that will have to wait until the front porch is done and ready for paint.

The Ramp

He says:

So, I'm not proud of this one.  Here's what happened:  We sold our previous house and moved into the reno, and a few things needed immediate attention, such as no water, no hot water, no bathroom, etc.  In the midst of this mad thrash to achieve habitation, some things were pushed aside.  Like the ramp.

You can see the original stairs to enter the back door down below.  They were rotted beyond hope.  I had to replace the back door, and so, not having a way to safely enter the house, when I removed the old door, I made it into a ramp.  I figured it would buy me a few days to fix the plumbing, etc., then I could fashion a permanent solution.  

The ramp stayed in place for some time.  A refrigerator was rolled up it.  So were lots of building materials.  Eventually, however, all of this weight took its toll.  Although I had made a 2x4 frame to strengthen it to buy some more time, it had to go.  So, a new porch was designed and built.

The new porch bridges the gap between the carport foundation and the house foundation.  Various protrusions on the carport slab required some juggling of lumber sizes.  

I think she likes it.  The two posts are the beginning of the stairs down to the back yard.  Here they are finished:

So, the ramp is banished, and we are happy.