The House: Repairing The Front Porch

Although we did get a great deal on our house, there were a few things wrong with it that we could live when we bought. Those things have been on a list of things to do ever since we got back from Arizona in November 2012.  Repairing, or redoing, the front porch is one of those things.

The issues with the porch include rails that wiggle and threaten to fall over when you set something on it, such as a glass of water; rough sawn boards nailed up to comply with code to get a VA loan to buy the house; and steps that were built in a rather unusual way, and made them dangerous.

Whoever built this porch didn’t do a good job of it to begin with. The wood planks that make up the rails were nailed to the uprights without cutting any angles on the ends of them. Every time my oldest grandson comes over, he tries to sit on this rail, and we have to tell him not to. It’s not that I don’t want him sitting on the porch, it’s just that these rails are rotten and it wouldn’t take much to break them. I just didn’t want him to get hurt.

The rough sawn boards used as rails to comply with code have really been getting under my skin. They are ugly, and just look like “poor white trash” to me. I have no other way to describe it. I love my house and where I live, but I am so glad to be getting rid of this particular aspect of my porch. It is, after all, the very first thing people see when they come to my house. You know, that whole first impression thing.

Last of all, the steps to the front porch are dangerous. Fabgrandpa has already fallen once while bringing in the groceries. He could have broken his neck, not to mention those expensive eggs. (can you believe $4.80 for a doz and a half of eggs???). The bottom step wiggles, so for someone who has balance issues, it is very dangerous. And the top step? We have not been able to figure out what the original builder was going for. That step is sort of curved, the result of trying to nail two skinny boards to a rounded top stair riser. And none of the three steps is wide enough for an adult foot to stand on.

So, our neighborhood handy-man came today to start work on making the improvements to the porch. I’ll show you the finished porch when he is done with the job tomorrow. I had wanted to extend the porch past the window to the right of the front door, and add a handicap accessible ramp, but the added cost made that part of the job unrealistic for us at this time. We can always add that later if we need to.

Does your house need any functional or cosmetic work done? What would you do first on your list of to do’s?