Front Porch Makeover

One of the things about this house that I love/hate most is the large wrap around porch on the front of the house. The Front Porch Makeover repair of the tongue and groove floor has been an on going project for 2 solid years.  We replaced, repaired and pieced boards in five foot sections at a time.  I compare it to working in a coal mine, because there was so much dust, dirt and yes stuff that looked like coal falling from inside the walls.  IT WAS AWFUL! After a day of working on it, I indeed looked and felt like I had been in a coal mine. (Note: I grew up on a tobacco farm which was worse)

When I finished the last coat of paint, I literary jump for joy and ended up in the bed for two days nursing pulled muscles in the front of my legs.  John shot the picture and then deleted it by accident. Sorry, there will be no re- shoot, just imagine an overweight 54 year old jumping 2 feet off the ground and hobbling to the bed with her ice pack. LIFE’S A BEACH!

Anyway, except for a short punch list IT IS DONE.  Let’s take a look at a Really Before shot of the front of the house and porch. Pretty scary stuff… oh and BTW if you type my address into Goggle Maps, the street view of my house is even scarier than this. It truly looks like a haunted house. BOO!

This shot was taken the day it was purchased at auction by a really brave man who needed a “project”.  He told us at closing that he thought the house had great potential and he loved the setting. He also admitted that it was a much bigger project than he thought. Isn’t that so often the case with all of our projects? I really admire him and appreciate all that he indured to restore this house. Check out Old House Renovation to view more pictures of the pitiful condition of the house.

Here is a picture of workmen replacing the roof and columns on the porch. Everything was replaced except the floor.  🙁  He told me that he had to leave something for us to do…

In this picture, you will see a large hole where we started ripping out boards.  This section of the porch, right off the steps had a terrible patch job. Someone just took a saw to it and cut out a large square where the boards were rotten and replaced it with tongue and groove wall paneling. Word has it that the postman fell through the porch delivering the mail. We removed all of that, shored up the support beams and replaced with new flooring.

The other problem was the patch job at the front of the porch. Someone took a saw to this as well, all the way down the front of the porch. If you look closely near the gray boards, you can see the line or seam that ran down the entire length of the porch allowing rain to seep into the crawl space and cause a moisture problem. This had to be fixed and the only way to do it was to replace the entire board. My original plan was to salvage as much of the old boards as possible, using a staggering piecing method. Well, low and behold, the tongue and groove boards sold today are just a tad bit more narrow. I learned very quickly that when it comes to carpentry, a little bit off, creates a BIG problem.

This was the last section to be ripped out and replaced. Our contractor friend did this section. He also put additional support beams underneath which will allow us to get more life out of this section. It did however, had to be scraped, sanded and painted. Paint is Benjamin Moore, Chelsey Gray, oil based enamel.

Enough of boring you with my misery, take a look at this section of the porch now…

This little cozy corner of the porch is incredibly comfortable and relaxing. And  ever single piece of furniture and accessories show here, were nifty thrift-ed, purchased at yard sales, packed away or made from scratch. Here’s the breakdown:

• Wicker was purchased at neighborhood yard sale for $5.00 a piece and spray painted black.
• Circular rug was $3.50 at Goodwill.
• Tall plant stand was $5.00 at neighborhood yard sale. Fall flowers were $2.00 from Michaels.
• Wagon planter was saved from a Lesley purging episode.
• Pillow was made from fabric and stuffing on hand.
• It’s Fall Ya’ll pillow slip was made from the the load of burlap given to me by my dad and stenciled in black.
• Basket of wooden fruit was a Goodwill deal at just $2.50
• Aluminum cake stand was $3.00 at Habitat.
• Wooden drawer was a yard sale deal at .50 and holds a fabric checkers game from Cracker Barrel.

This entire look for$36.50! Trust me, I had to salvage and scavenge! No mo money!  Treated tongue and groove flooring is expensive!

Here is a sneak peak of what is around the corner. It is an outdoor dining room!     Stay tuned for the details and for some really easy and inexpensive burlap tutorials.  Until next time, remember this tip: Plan your decorating projects in advance. This way you can snap up those awesome deals and create beautiful and functional looks for less.  Now, where’s that ice pack…