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porch & exterior, part 1:
building the posts
stacking the deck
Sometimes, renovating a
house is like an archaeological dig. The demolition phase usually involves
an odd find or maybe layers of paint of questionable color. As you go, you
slowly piece together the history of what came before.
In the case of the porch,
we have surmised two things: 1) the previous owner was stupid and 2) the
previous owner was lazy. Put those things together, and you have what we
laughingly refer to as "The Porch".
Oh, it's a nice porch,
don't get me wrong. Or rather, it was. But after they got done
"renovating" (into a deck, apparently was the idea), it became a poor imitation of its
former self. Not that we actually
know what it looked like before -- it's not like we have pictures or
something. But we do know what the house model looked like from old Sears
catalogs (have I mentioned lately that I love Google?) and based on the
relics left behind, we can certainly imagine what it looked like.
So what happened? Well, we
believe there was probably a dry rot issue that was the catalyst for the
"renovation". Judging from the lack of care and
maintenance elsewhere, it seems the most obvious answer. Hard to say
how extensive the problem was, though it must've been pretty bad to
motivate them to replace the entire porch rather than simply boarding over
it as would seem the usual M.O. And they just couldn't be bothered to do it right or, heaven forbid,
well.
The first pictures we saw
online of the house actually show the porch under construction. By the
time we actually saw it in person, it was finished. Which is to say that
it had stairs and could support the weight of people.
The two main support posts, instead of
a finished plinth design with the small geometric detail that was most
likely there before, were left as the unfinished 6x6's that were probably
the core of the original columns. No finished exterior to protect them
from the elements or contribute to the overall design of the house. And
those funky boxes at the top? Apparently, that was their attempt at
capitals. Or possibly, birds' nests.
The rest of the porch was
finished with manufactured decking materials, which, while not altogether
bad, isn't really appropriate on a, you know, porch. Of course, it
would help they'd used deck screws because nails? Don't work. And
don't even get me started on the half-assed use of stock wrought-iron
railings for the stair railings instead of matching the wooden banisters
that run around the rest of the porch.
So, while we didn't have
the money to entirely scrap the porch and start all over, we figured we'd
take down the railings and modify them to more closely match the Craftsman
style, build finished exteriors for the two main supports, and four
half-posts at the top and bottom of the stairs to give it all a more
cohesive look.
Keep in mind that we cut
all the pieces with a circular saw, handsaw, plastic miter box, and
jigsaw. And that every single piece had to be custom cut and fit because
of all the weird dimensions and natural settling of the house.
Bet you're impressed now,
huh?
We're not done, yet --
still have the banisters to build, the lower posts to bolt into the
stairs, and all of the railings to install. And right now, everything's
just been primed and painted to protect it during the winter. When
we paint the house, we'll paint the porch and all the pieces so it looks
like it was always there. But we're quite proud of how this project turned
out and it's made a big difference in the curb appeal of the house. |
