Watersealing the Porch- Finished

The front porch watersealing is done, and I got around to taking "after" photos...

AFTER

BEFORE

It's one of those jobs that isn't hugely noticeable, but still necessary!








I freshened up the decor out there too...

New cushions

Mike's parents gave us this little cafe set

I didn't notice until now how well the
pitcher & glasses go out here!

My parents gave us the tea cart

 

A gift from my goddaughter, the birdfeeder's
colors go perfectly with the house!

...which goes nicely with our door mat!

Check out the shadow of the birdcage...

An old watering can for the front step

And our historically correct flag is flying!

Watersealing the Porch

This has been on our To Do List for a while...













Watersealing the front porch...

See how dry & gray it looks?

It's a far cry from where it was two years ago during the home inspection (see it here)

We bought the sealant and roller, I had even washed down the porch back in May!  But between rain and life, we didn't get around to it until last weekend!

It was too hot to do more heavy lifting of tree stumps/branches, or to work in the attic.  So, we figured this was a good (and shaded) project to get off the list!

First we cleared off the porch furniture... pretty much just put it out in the front yard!

Next, we scrubbed down the porch with a broom & water (again).  And waited about 3 hours for it to dry completely. 

Then we applied the sealant.  Mike used a long handled roller.  I did the edges & around the columns with a brush.

I love the color variation in the wood!

It was all going so smoothly, until we ran out... with just the middle and the steps to go.  This is so typical for us!

So close... yet so far!

But, no problem... we took the kids to the movies :) and stopped at Lowe's on the way home to pick up another can of sealant.

So, we've finished it up and I've dragged the porch furniture back up.

Updated: Here are the After photos!

Catching Up- May 2013

We've had a super busy May- including a Disney trip and a family wedding, resulting in far fewer house updates than usual!
While we have lots of house stuff planned to get done in June, here are some odds & ends that we did get done this month!


We picked up some hanging plants to decorate the front porch.







I also hung up the birdcage that my brother got me for Christmas...

Just this past weekend, I gave the wicker furniture a quick clean up with a fresh coat of paint.  But before I put the furniture on there I was hoping to get the wood flooring sealed.  I had already scrubbed it down to prepare it, but it seems like it's been raining just before or during every free weekend we've had since!  So, that's on the list for June!

Our gardens are now blooming... so I've been taking photos to make into prints to add to my hallway art collection.

Speaking of artwork...
For Mother's Day, my mom and I got to treat ourselves to some antiquing, while Mike & my dad watched the kids.  We found a couple of great little shops that we hadn't been to before.  One of them had this oil painting (by a local artist) for $20.





It was unframed, but the colors were perfect for our bedroom and I knew I had some old frames up in the attic.  So that made a fun artwork update for the bedroom!



More artwork that we're finishing up is from our Disney trip...

At the Magic Kingdom, we had silhouettes done of the boys.  It's incredible to see the guy cut out their profiles so quickly!  And definitely a bargain at only $8 per person!
You get two silhouettes of each person, so I'm framing & hanging one and putting the other in their baby books.

You can buy frames there, but the only ones offered were plastic- and I knew I had 5x7 wood frames in the attic that would look better!  I've already painted them black.
I'll update with photos of them once they are hung!

Porch Problem

We didn't realize it immediately after, but following Hurricane Sandy, we noticed we had an issue with the ceiling of the front porch.

It started warping... So much so, that a bird was able to make a nest in the space!

And then the crown molding started popping...

Obviously, not good.

Mike took a couple of boards down to take a look.








We discovered that there are a lot of holes & cracks letting cold air through the siding of the house (you can see a couple in the photo-->).








We left it open for a few rains, just to make sure there weren't any leaks.

Mike got up there with some foam insulation and filled in those holes and cracks.

No wonder I could feel a draft over by my corner cabinet!





After nailing the boards back into place, and repairing the crown molding, it's looking good as new!

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!

Almost Silent Night

My Christmas gift arrived a few days early- a new camera!

So, I ran outside to take some night shots of the house with the candles in the windows- since they didn't come out when I tried with my old point & shoot.  (Bear with me- I'm in the process of figuring out the best settings for different shots!)

Check out that crazy sky! 

Soon after I took this we had a torrential downpour with thunder (hence the title of this post) & lightening.  It got so windy that the tree on the porch was knocked over!

Porch tree and candle

Good thing I already snapped photos of it!

Porch tree at night

  

Candle and tree through window






Our other photos and posts about this year's Christmas decorations can be seen here and here.

And one last random photo- these guys crossed in front of the school bus the other morning! You can see five of them in the photo- there were seven in all!