Front porch coziness

The best time to be on the front porch is late summer/early fall. I decided to repaint the floor, which was not in bad shape, but the new paint sure brightened things up. Then we added some inexpensive area carpets to make it a little more cozy. Finally, we had a receptacle installed. It's nice having power on the porch. We bought a small art glass lamp for the table. Looking forward to hanging some Halloween lights in the windows, and then having a second Christmas tree out here.

Porch Overhang

I've been looking forward to finally getting this section of the house done. It's a lot of work, but it's coming together nicely. The rafter tails and header board clean up very well with my infrared paint stripper, the wainscoting attaches easily, and the paint job looks excellent. I decided to "box in" the wainscoting with moldings up against the header board and on each side of the rafter tails. This gives it a very clean look. Since this is the main entrance to the house, and you can see this area up close, I'm taking my time and really doing everything as neatly as possible.

Pantry window, corner board & roof bracket

I finally stripped and painted the window, corner board, and roof bracket next to the deck. Things are really coming together on the south side of the house. The last and biggest project on this side will be removing the aluminum soffit, stripping and painting the rafter tails…and then attaching the wainscoting.

That will wait until next spring, and we'll get a new gutter at the same time.

Back at it August 2012

So great to be back working on the house. We've been busy with landscaping, assembling swing sets, pools, etc. I've looked forward to finally siding the south side of the house that connects to the deck. I'm able to side right over the existing Hardie Board. I back primed the first 3 courses since there can be occasional splashing on the deck during heavy rain storms. This really brings everything together. Now, the entire house has cedar siding. 

Side door overhang

Since we bought the house, we always thought the side door entrance needed an overhang. My design was to have the brackets match the existing roof brackets, the pitch and width match the house, and a wainscoting ceiling to match the porch ceiling. Jerry cut into the siding with a skill saw, and never cracked a piece of siding. Everything fit into place perfectly. He did an amazing job. The ceiling light matches the two lights on the porch as well.

It really looks like it has always been there. Which was the idea.

One side down, one to go...

Today I finished the eves on the west side of the front dormer. The wainscoting and moldings are all installed, and everything is painted. The open eves add so much to the character of the house. It was great weather to be on the roof. Aiming to finish the other side tomorrow.

Labor Day Weekend 2010

We finally started tackling the eves on the front dormer. Jerry and I installed the wainscoting and moldings in the peak. Now all 3 peaks on the house are completely finished. The remaining work on the eves can now be done without having to pull a ladder up onto the roof. After almost two years, we finally removed the toe jacks from the roof!