Front Porch Fix- Part 1

Looking at the following photos, do you notice what's missing?  

(And I don't mean the greenery, or the seasonal decorations)

Some of the lattice work that covers beneath the porch was broken and/or rotting.  

Close up of one of the broken spots

This weekend Mike took them all down to fix them!

The first step was removing the four sections of the lattice.

While we had the lattice off, we took a good look under there.

Here's a photo...

I find it odd that the stone work that was visible wasn't just a pillar.

There are four mini walls that extend all the way back to the house (perpendicular).  

And there are basement windows under there...

I wonder if the front of the house didn't look completely different at one time-  

Why would they have put windows to the basement, just to have them covered up by the porch?  

Maybe there was no front porch?  

I wish I could find a REALLY old photo of the house...

Anyway, back to the porch... while the lattice was down, Mike re-graded the front flower beds, so that rain water won't run under the porch (and into the basement).

Next step...
Mike was able to salvage some of the lattice, but all the frames needed to be rebuilt, since they had been put together with ring shank nails that couldn't be removed without damaging them.  Plus, the originals weren't made of pressure treated wood, which we want to use since it's so close to the ground.

Thank goodness Mike now has electric in the workshop, and was able to do all of the building in there (especially since it was quite windy out last weekend!)

Rebuilding the frames

So, we're about halfway done... (left side of porch still needs to be finished)

Next we have to re-paint them, but it's too cold now.  

We added that to the list for spring!

We have another porch item on the list for the spring as well... hint: it's looking up!