Day 3: Front Porch Project

Well it has been a long time since we have been able to work on the Front Porch Project.  Last time we worked on it was in November!  Way too long!
You can see day 1 here and day 2 here.

Here it is almost 7 months later are we are only now just getting back to it.  We have had many excuses to not be working on it.. I say excuses because it's mostly because we are lazy and haven't done it.. but other reasons include the weather and money.. but really.. we were just lazy.  So now we are getting back to it and our goal is to have it done soon so that we can actually enjoy it this summer/fall.   Let's hope we can pull it off!

So back to it.. This weekend we worked on fixing the roof line.  It had fallen/sagged/drooped.. a few inches on the right side of the peak.
You can kind of see it here


Here it is from the outside


The roof line on the right side dropped about almost 4 inches..

Now i don't have any pictures of the process of jacking it back into place as it was a bit nerve-racking.

We used a 2x6 and a 2x4 screwed together to reach the top of the peak to about 5 inches above the floor.  We then placed a car jack under the boards and slowly jacked up the roof line.  Eric then secured the right side of the roof up with more screws and then i placed the 2x4 which you see below under the right  side of the peak.  We then released the jack and removed the long board and i then screwed in the new 2x4 to help hold the roof line up in place.





You can really see the difference in that last picture.

I had really hoped for rain on Sunday to see if we had any leaking. You would figure the one time I really want rain and it doesn't. A day or two before we had an 80% chance.. well.. i'll just have to wait.

We did buy some roofing caulk and as soon as I can I will climb up on the roof and put new caulking along the edge where the roof meets the house and hopefully seal it up real tight.

Next we need to bring in a header to go along the top of the brick wall and we are thinking we will add another board at the peak to make it a bit stronger. Then we will replace some of the joists and add a few more to support the new ceiling.

Previously:
$7 (spray paint)

adding:
$39 New battery for the cordless drill
$12 Caulking

Total: $58

Hopefully I'll have more to update you on sooner rather than later!

I'll leave you with a picture of my Poe dog.. he'll be turning 1 soon!!

Day 2: Front Porch Project

So why is it that every time I want to start a "little" project.. where I think it I could get it done quickly it always ends up a "BIG" project and more time and money has to be spent? I blame Bob..

Bob is Eric's grandpa whose house we are living in now.

So this weekend we spent more time on the front porch project.
After looking at options for insulation and looking at the ceiling some more it was decided that the ceiling had to come down. So that was this weekends project. And whooboy it was a dirty one!

Remember the ceiling...  ?

So much dust, dirt, debris and other stuff fell on our heads. We went through 4 or 5 face masks so we didn't breath in too much of that crap.

Husband working on removing the last board from the ceiling

This is how it turned out!  Not too bad i suppose... 

Then we started to survey the damage.

Ugg.. well this will obviously need to be replaced..  The cross beam is completely rotted and we will be putting a new one in.

old water damage

We found somethings nest.....

A nest.. fortunately already vacated.

The bone? we found in the nest!  Looks like a rib bone.. of what I have no clue!

So things we will be working on next...

Replacing that rotted beam.  Adding more as the beams are like 3 feet apart!  So we will add more for the support of the new ceiling.   Jacking up the roof....  So I don't have a picture and I will try to take one before we start working on it.. but the roof is sagging at the peak by 4 or 5 inches so we are going to jack it back up so it's level and add more supports so it doesn't start to sag again.
Then install the insulation and hang the new ceiling!

not much.. not much at all...

Hopefully the temperatures don't drop to much too soon so that we can get this work done before it gets too cold and before I need to paint.. but there are always space heaters!

Till next time!

Total: still only $7 but that is going to change pretty quickly!

Day 1: Front Porch Project

I have been wanting to tackle the front porch for a long time and finally I decided it was time. I had been talking about it for the past week and this weekend it was decided to get it going. So I got myself and Eric out from in front of our computers and got us working.

We have a pretty decent front porch. The main draw back for me is that it is pink.. Yes you read that right, my front porch is painted PINK! ugg. I had bought some light gray paint last year and was planning on painting but that never happened so now that is the plan. Some clean up and some paint and viola! A pretty shiny area where we can have a sit and relax.....
Or so I thought.

Ever since we moved in the porch has been a catch all. For empty boxes from things we purchased, broken stuff, stuff we mean to get rid of, recycling and who knows what else. Essentially it was a disaster!




So first off I had to clear it all out. A few things were put away in the basement where they belonged in the first place but never made it but a few feet past the front door. A few more went to the attic. A lot was put out with the trash and I bundled up all the cardboard to take to recycling.. wherever that may be. (I'll look that up later) But we got it cleaned off.

Next was the ceiling. When we moved in a few years ago I had wanted to start working on the porch and we removed the gold shag carpet and the ceiling tiles. The ceiling titles are like the same material that is used in drop ceilings. They were all nailed to the ceiling and we pulled them down. But we never went back to remove all the nails. So that was next on the list.

After removing all the nails there was some crown molding that had to come down too because we are/maybe/who knows going to just put up some new stuff over the old since it is so damaged from when that roof leaked. (That leak was fortunately fixed before we moved in.. thank goodness). Once a new ceiling goes up we are just going to use the old crown molding.. least that is the idea. We'll see what happens.

While that doesn't seem like much for one day it was plenty for my back. Ugg..
However I think I will sleep well tonight.

The progress:

So much better!

Damaged ceiling:

Next: Eric wants to see about insulating above the ceiling. That means cutting a few areas out that are bad and some access holes and spraying insulation! Yay for warm porch! We will then be figuring out what we are going to put up over what remains of the old ragged ceiling and get it hung and painted! Likely some bead board or some kind of paneling.. Cheap is the motto here!

Can't wait!

So far: $7 for spray paint (I'll show you what that is for later!)
**I'm not including the cost of the paint that was purchased last year.

Total: $7 and a sore back!