Front Porch
And looking the other way:
The other day I came across some actual photographs taken during the first porch remodel, probably back about '99 or 2000. They never made the blog, so I scanned them and present them here!
A British porch is a musty, forbidding non-room in which to fling a sodden umbrella or a muddy pair of boots; a guard against the elements and strangers. By contrast the good ol' American front porch seems to stand for positivity and openness; a platform from which to welcome or wave farewell; a place where things of significance could happen. - Dan Stevens
In the Beginning
As is so often the case, I don't have any actual "before" pictures of the porch. I keep looking around for some but the fact is - we just didn't take a lot of pictures back then - we just couldn't afford it. But I do have this one:
Sure, a good bit of the work was done, the wall had been stripped of all its paint, I had installed a new ceiling and a fan to go with it, but what you may notice is the low wall beneath the windows was white. When we first got 173 the entire porch was white (including the ceiling) - except the floor which was that old-school gorgeous porch greenish blue!
The First Remodel
The lower walls back in the day were thin plywood. They had been painted white and, as is the case with most painted plywood, the paint had (and wood) was rife with small cracks. You can see in this next picture I had removed the old plywood, insulated (obviously you can't see that!) and installed new plywood.
And here's a good look at the wall - completely stripped of paint!:
Here's some porch-related posts - front and back!
∙ The Front Porch - New Windows and Doors Dec 4, 2011
∙ At Long Last - Front Porch Reveal Aug 6, 2013
∙ The Back Porch Megapost June 4, 2020
∙ Shoe Rack for the Back Porch April 13, 2019
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You might also like 812 The Home: The Back Porch
The next step was installing bead board paneling on the short walls. This is the same stuff I put on the ceiling.
The original ceiling was a beautiful tongue and groove, but it had been painted many times over and was peeling and gatoring. My shoulders just wouldn't be able to strip all of that, so I went over it with the paneling. Turned out great and still looks great!
Oh, and by the way, it was in the middle of trying to use a hammer and nails to install the ceiling paneling when I got so frustrated that I stormed off to Sears and picked up my very first nail gun - a Craftsman! You can see it in a few pictures here.
And when it was all over, the front porch at 173 ended up looking like this:
And looking the other way:
It looked beautiful! The windows opened to the inside and gave it all a very breezy feel. But those windows were old, very old, and they leaked like the proverbial sieve. The paneling beneath the windows ended up with water stains, and it became increasingly difficult to keep the weather out. All of which lead to the second front porch remodel 2013, but you can read about that in the Front Porch Interior Megapost!
Hey, thanks for stopping by and we'll see you next time!
