That is pretty much how things have been since moving in. This house calls for many projects! We had our apartment for a week still after we got the keys to the house. So our original plan was to pain the inside during that week before we moved everything in. But then we decided we were going to redo the drywall, since painting over this awful texturing job would be kind of silly. Then we decided that was going to be way too big of a project. So we went with the front porch.
Well, actually we went with the plumbing since we didn't have any water the first week until we (by "we" I mean "my dad") could fix the major leak under the house. And the other leaks he discovered while crawling around under there.
But anyway, we decided the front porch would be our first project. Relatively simple, not too expensive, and it would give the house an instant facelift so we could see some lovely results right away.
"Simple." "Inexpensive." Hah, this house had the last laugh. Not for the last time I am sure! Here is what we were dealing with. Really closed-in, uneven and scary steps, vinyl floor tiles. Really lovely, I tell you! (I wish I had taken some actual before photos!!)
We were just going to rip of the floor tiles and whatever was underneath and then replace the decking with some nice new cedar. Ben and my brother got to work ripping off the old half-wall that was enclosing the porch.
When we discovered that the support beams that were supposedly holding up the roofline were just swinging in the breeze.
Hm. Problem numero uno. Well, guess we'll have to get some more support in there! Then they ripped up the vinyl tiles. And the plywood under that. And the lovely tongue-in-groove decking under that (pretty, but I'm sure covered with lead paint and full of dry rot).
When we discovered that the support under the decking was also shot.
Very weak and soft. Problem numero dos. So now, not only are we replacing the decking, we are also replacing all of the support beams. Whew! Well, the boys got to work. And at the end of the day half of the porch was floor-less and the vertical support beams were just swingin around. We tried to use a jack to get the roofline where it was supposed to be (it had somehow settled and was a little lower than it should have been....how could that have happened?!?!), but it almost killed Kevin and Ben, so we kind of just shimmied a 2x4 under the roof and hoped the house wouldn't collapse.
This was all done the day after we got the keys, mind you. We were a little worried, as we had to move everything into the house the next weekend. Without a porch and without stairs, that seemed a little scary! Every day that next week, I had to drive by the house to make sure that wonky 2x4 was still doing its job of holding up the roof. Every day I expected to see a disaster, but it just hung out there, holding things up! That 2x4 deserves a medal.
The next weekend, my dad came up to help us out as well. Saturday, the guys went to work on replacing more support beams and putting in the decking and making stairs. And by Sunday, when we had some (AMAZING) friends from church over to help us move....we still had no stairs. We did at least have part of a porch to walk on!
These pictures are of the work they did on Saturday...I was too busy moving on Sunday to take any pictures! But you get the idea :)
 |
| This was just at the beginning of the weekend... |
So after we got everything moved in (...to the garage, since there were no steps to the house yet!) my daddio got our plumbing fixed and I was finally able to get some things cleaned and we could take showers and flush the toilet! Yahoo! And then it was our home, no turning back now! No nice clean lead-paint-free apartment to go to!
We were exhausted after moving all weekend, but were still able to enjoy being in OUR HOME!! The following weekend, the boys finished the porch and the weekend after that we stained it. So now here is what it looks like now! Everyone in the neighborhood knows the drug dealers are gone, since we are in here fixin things up now!
 |
| Oh yeah, new door too! Ain't it purty?!! |
And a side-by-side before and after, for your viewing pleasure.
All in all, we spent about $1000 on the new front porch. But it should have cost us more. If you live in the Portland area and are in need of building supplies, you MUST check out Building Material Resources in Sherwood. We paid $.98 per lineal foot for the 2x6 cedar decking (and they had lots of 6-foot boards, which is exactly what we needed so we didn't have to cut them and had an easier time transporting them). For comparison, most home improvement/lumber places charge around $15 for a 12-foot board, which comes out to $1.25 per lineal foot. Which doesn't sound like that much more, but when you realize that we needed like 360 lineal feet, we saved about $100. And it is beautiful material and they have a really helpful staff there. I'm going back there soon to look for trim!
No comments:
Post a Comment