Porch Painting Progress

Lately, we've had a renewed zeal for home improvement (ha!) and some cooperative weather, so we've been tackling some of those outdoor projects we've otherwise put off for too long. In particular, we've paid a lot of attention to our porches. If you'll recall, we reconstructed both our back porch and our front porch last year. Our contractor used treated lumber for all of our new framing, so we had to wait a bit for the wood to cure before painting. After staring at raw, unfinished wood for a year, we decided* enough was enough and it was time to pretty things up a bit.

*Okay, by "we" I mean "Kendra." She seriously kicked me in my butt to get back aboard the home improvement bandwagon. I have spent the last year content with the current state of the Country Estate, which I would describe as thoroughly adequate. She, on the other hand, is always planning the next move--which is not a bad thing--and has no contentment with "thoroughly adequate." I've had my come-to-Jesus moment, though, and am back to work and fired up to get things done around the house. Until Mizzou football season starts, anyway.

While we haven't quite finished the painting on the porches, we are making solid progress. Some of the painting on the back porch will have to wait to accommodate our new garden, but we should knock out the bulk of it by next weekend. Here is a shot of the stairs and decking leading down to the patio:


Everything in white is newly painted. Okay, I know that doesn't look like much, but it is a pain to paint those damn spindles, and I'm glad that job is done. We will be painting the steps and floor a red color to match our front porch, which, by the way, now looks like this:


I just realized we didn't get a good "before" shot of the front porch, but let me tell you--there is a huge difference between now and then. Most of the stone columns you see in the picture above were buckling out, causing major structural issues. Due to this issue--or perhaps causing it--there was a giant hole in the ground under the porch, which I'm sure just pooled water, causing more movement, and further destabilizing the area. I'm no structural engineer, but that's my theory and it makes sense to me. To remedy the situation, our contractor propped up the porch roof with lumber, and then tore out the rest of the porch structure. He cleaned and re-laid the stones, rebuilt the frame under the floor (which was pretty well rotted and bounced when you tried to walk on it), and replaced/reused the old floorboards. He also filled in the hole under the porch to get water away from the house. The result is a porch that is structurally sound, safe to walk on, and pleasing (we think) to look at. Last week, after the powerwashing, we were able to finish painting the raw wood. Now, all that's left is to put on some lattice around the bottom and plant a few shrubs. We're crossing our fingers to get that finished by the end of July.

Powerwashing Momma

Just because I'm nearly 6 months pregnant doesn't mean I'm not willing to get my hands a little dirty (or wet).





I spent the better part of last Sunday afternoon powerwashing the front and back porches and some of our window trim in preparation for painting (hopefully this weekend if it stays dry). The fella from Sherwin Williams SWORE to me that the paint I bought was "self-priming" (in fact, he refused to sell me primer), so two coats should do it. Then we can put up the lattice on the front porch and FINALLY start landscaping. I also washed the back patio so we can re-level some of the stones and sweep some new sand into the spaces between the pavers.



And, of course, I also took time out to play with my favorite little guy!

Happy Fourth of July.