We had a quiet winter and spring while Steve rehabbed his shoulder, but amazingly a lot was accomplished.
The front porch was completed in mid-December.
It’s gorgeous.
At 8 feet deep and 36 feet long, it’s the perfect porch for a southern home, actually it’s perfect for any home! We have some finishing touches to do: prime/paint the railings, stain the floor, add some trim pieces…
Here’s the before:
and the current:
It’s been nicknamed the “porch to nowhere” by a delivery driver, as there is no front door. In time we will add an entry door, where the double windows are, but currently that’s where our kitchen sink is and I’m not giving that up until the new kitchen is in.
The addition, that connects the existing house and the garage, was dried in (footings, floor, walls, roof) by our builder mid-December.
The front side:
The back side:
I had lined up rough plumbing and electric to start shortly thereafter but things got delayed, first with the holidays and then by a snowstorm.
We had a little advanced warning so we stocked the pantry and fridge, apparently like every other person in the area:
and prepared for the worst.
We woke up to 9 inches of snow. It was beautiful!
My parents happened to be here at the time, on their annual Holiday visit, and witnessed the complete and utter standstill this part of the country comes to during a snow event. It took three days to melt and get things back up and running.
Finally in early March both electric and plumbing were roughed in and everything passed inspection! (This picture was taken from the doorway where you enter the house from the garage.) We had to put this project on hold as the next step was exterior siding and soffits, that definitely takes two people and Steve was still out of commission.
The 5 panel wooden door you see is from the original house. It was the swinging door between the dining room and kitchen. One side was stained and the other side was painted with at least 5 coats that I lovingly (and sometimes not so lovingly) stripped and scraped, for the better part of a week, all so could re-purpose it as the pocket door to this bathroom. The wood grain is beautiful so I’d love to stain it but all the other doors will be painted. Paint or stain? I’m still deciding.
We don’t lack for projects with this house, so while the addition was on hold, I moved on and began the demo work of the dining room.
First to go were the french doors that separated the dining room and family room.
(I plan to re-purpose one of these as the pantry door.) The door frame you see to the right is where the swinging door was.
After I removed the doors I started in on the tongue and groove walls.
I am standing in the hallway next to the stairs. The plywood is covering where the original front door was. To the left is the dining room and to the right is the family room.
I only did interior walls as it was still cold.
Next came the demo of the family room walls and the mantle.
Then I removed the face brick on the fireplace.
The demo of the chimney is on hold until we tear out the ceiling.
When finished these two rooms become our laundry room and master bedroom.
One last update and the most important of all!
Steve’s shoulder rehab has gone really well. He worked so hard at his therapy all winter and spring, completely adhered to his restrictions and it paid off.
At his appointment in mid-April, the surgeon told Steve that his shoulder was well healed and, aside from pull starting an engine, he was given the go ahead to resume work on the house!
That’s 10 weeks ahead of schedule!
Two days later he was back working on the house! Wait until you see what we’ve been up to, but that’s for another post!
Keep it simple and always do it with sass!
Kim
I cannot believe how different it looks. Your front porch looks AMAZING!!!!! Cant wait to see what you are working on next!
It’ll really be cool when we have a front door and can walk into and out of the house onto the porch. We’ll use it a whole lot more, but we love it!!! Can’t wait to share with you all!!