You know how you get excited about a project and get after it for a couple of weeks . . . and then you sort of drift away from it to go do other stuff like mow or watch TV? Such is the way of a project we started Memorial Day weekend: a redo of the east porch off the 1972 entry. Read on to catch up on this somewhat pokey project.
For the last six years, this is what you've seen if you approached the 1972 front door. We haven't used this door since the 2012 courtyard door was installed so it's been a bit misleading to strangers, guests and the occasional delivery man.
When the construction crew added the brick to the courtyard, they created two brick pillars and added simple 4x4 posts to support the existing eave over the door. They nailed on some hastily prepared trim, added the old corbels, and sent us a bill for a day's work. We've been looking forward to doing something to spiff it up since then.
First step, of course, was demolition. Scott used a hammer and chisel to loosen the glue and remove the nails.
With the trim stripped away, we were left with a blank slate.
After some pondering, Scott decided to build boxes around the support posts, using 1x8 pine from good ol' Home Depot.
I didn't take many photos of the wood being trimmed the correct length. Nor did I get any photos of each edge being mitered so the corners of the box fit together snugly. Please use your imagination. Also, pretend I took photos of myself giving two coats of primer to each side of each board.
To give Scott something to nail each side of the box to, he installed some furring strips to each face of the post.
As you know, there is one hard and fast rule for noTTafarm home improvement projects: a new power tool is necessary. This time, Scott was happy to finally justify the need for a biscuit joiner. He found a suitable Porter-Cable model at Menard's, and used it to cut intermittent slots along each of the mitered edges of the box pieces. When glued into the slots, the wood biscuits are received into a second board, therefore joining two boards together.
This photo shows the south post half-way clad with the box. You can see the slots along the edges which will receive biscuits to complete the box.
Once the four boards were connected, Scott used strap clamps to hold them together while the glue dried. He used the pneumatic nailer pretty liberally, too.
Once the boxes were up, the railing was temporarily placed (resting on chunks of wood.) We found the railing during an excursion Memorial Day weekend at Omaha's A&R Salvage. This panel - one of several they had in stock - happened to be the exact width needed to span the space between the two brick pillars. We were told that this railing was salvaged from the old Witherspoon mansion, a landmark of the Regency neighborhood until it was destroyed by fire in 2009.
Using leftover pieces of the 1x8 pine, Scott crafted some chunky trim for the base and top of each post. He then painted the finished boxes with two coats of SW 6203 Spare White. We were lucky enough to have leftovers from the original 2013 paint job; I just had to take it in and have the nice lady at Sherwin Williams remove a thick layer of congealed paint from the surface and give it a spin on the can shaker.
Two weeks after its start, the project was about 90% complete. This is when the aforementioned period of distraction began.
Finally, today (July 29) the railing was permanently attached to the brick pillars. Scott did have to fix one of the railing brackets but it just took a little searching in the basement for bolts and a little work from the hammer drill to get the job done.
Ta Da!
I may be ta-da-ing a little too soon. We still need to power wash the railing and perhaps give it a coat of black spray paint. I also have plans to add a little color (stay tuned for that!) And, hopefully next year, we'll have a larger project to replace that 1972 door with a spiffy new window.
Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!
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