The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

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The Good:  We now have a rebuilt front porch that can  be decorated for the season.


The Bad:  This indoor/outdoor carpet that was on the porch floor.

The Ugly: 


Pull up a chair, pour yourself something to drink and I'll tell you the story.
When we bought the cottage, we knew the porch floor had a "soft spot".  It was at the top of the "to-do" list, so shortly after arriving, we peeled back the carpet and had a look.  It wasn't pretty, as you can see above.  There was also paneling on the sides of the porch.  I didn't like the look.

So, it was pryed off to expose this:
Seeing that rotted beadboard broke my heart!
And this:
Fortunately, the wasps were long gone!
Next. some of the floor was opened up and the extent of the damage was apparent:

The job was getting bigger by the minute.......time to call the professionals!  
The demolition continued:
Our contractor was able to save us some money by salvaging what we had. The cedar siding was carefully removed and saved and much of the tongue-in-groove flooring was still solid.  This was good news, since replacing cedar siding and tongue-in-groove flooring is expensive.  

Here's what the porch looked like halfway through the job:
Stairs & columns removed, roofed jacked-up & braced, and a little bit of flooring still there!
But, it got better!
New footings.
Framing.
Flooring.
New beadboard.  Remember the paneling??
And a 'shout-out' to the guys who made it happen!
 They also saved the columns.
The only thing left to do? Paint!  The salvaged floor needed some scraping and the steps needed a good scrubbing.  OK, 3 things:  scrub, scrape, and paint.  Not to bad, all things considered!  Rest assured that we will not be replacing the carpet.  Our best guess is that the carpet was a big part of the problem.  Rain and snow soaked into it and then soaked into the wood.  After years of this, the wood just rotted. I'll be sweeping off the snow regularly this winter!

The porch is now solid.  I'm looking forward to decorating it for the holidays and relaxing on it next spring and summer.

The Trick-or-Treaters will be safe on our porch.

From our house to yours...
Have a Safe and Happy Halloween!



Linking to Amaze Me Monday.

Comments

  1. Karren HallerNovember 2, 2014 at 8:33 AM

    Hi Ann, boy you guys are doing amazing things with your little cottage, and you have some great contractors to work with, I might add, hard to find. I love how the porch turned out!!! Great job. Thanks for stopping by to share on WW, would love for you to stop by my Weekend Linky and share any of your posts.

    Wishing you a great week, Karren

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnnNovember 2, 2014 at 6:12 PM

      Thank you, Karren. We are never bored! LOL

      Delete
  2. JoAnneNovember 2, 2014 at 7:54 PM

    Your porch is really cute, Ann! I'm sure you are enjoying it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joy@aVintageGreenNovember 2, 2014 at 10:59 PM

    Good save Ann, you kept the look of your home when you had your porch repaired. Following, will be back to visit again.
    Joy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnnNovember 3, 2014 at 10:40 AM

      Thank you, Joy. My mantra as we work is, "save the integrity of this house"! So glad you'll be back, I have lots to share!
      Ann

      Delete

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