Fixing my bad back porch

[Manalto]

Phil, I hope you realize that my teasing is just that. I appreciate your interest and knowledge, particularly when it comes to safety. I hope if you see something amiss in any of my photos you will let me know with equivalent enthusiasm. The fact that the properties got mixed up is almost irrelevant, the important thing is everything is coming along nicely (and the nightmare apartment has been left behind)!

[Willa]

It was a very productive day. The interior stuff involving John is now 99.5% done. I have some long days with a paint brush ahead.

One of the major issues in the porch was that there were gaps, large gaps between the ceiling and walls, and in the corners where the tongue and groove boards met. There were strong drafts here:

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The most basic solution was to fill or cover them with...something ? At the best the gaps were 1/4" wide - in the worst spot, that had the most ceiling sinkage and old water damage a portion of the gap was over 2 1/2" wide. The lumberyard had some MDF cove molding that was large enough to do the trick. Personally, I think MDF is a horrible product. This stuff chipped and dinged even when handled gently. However, it filled the space well, and will be inoffensive when painted. There was smaller molding in a similar profile in finger jointed pine that filled in the corner gaps.

All those light colored spots ? Wood filler. The t&g wood was recycled from somewhere, then in my use that terrible wood siding was nailed into that. Result: many, many nail holes to fill. This pic is just a start:

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The wall with the windows has some obvious deviation where it bows out a little, creating a gap by the floor on that wall. I scored some antique baseboard at the ReStore last year for dirt cheap - like $ 3.00 for a 10' board. While it was probably unconventional to use it in a back porch on tongue and groove boards, it also helped to fill in the gaps at the bottom. Quarter round was added on the worst wall to completely fill the gap between the wall and the floor:

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There was an opening cut into the ceiling to access the attic area. After much ruminating about making a door that could be easily opened and closed I realized this was kind of pointless. There are no ducts in the attic or anything else that would need to be regularly accessed. A cover was made that could be screwed on and off. John had a scrap of plywood, I had the last of the antique trim to make it look more finished, and like an obvious opening:

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Installing the cabinet turned out to be very easy. It already had a backing board. It was missing the strip inside the upper cabinets, which it would be hung from. It seemed pointless to raise the upper to create a 5" high area from the lower. Angle brackets were used to secure the upper, and basic L brackets now hold the lower section securely. I still can't believe I scored this for $ 150.00 (CAN):

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(The green strip is a board that is mounted to the underside of the upper. Why is it green ? I guess that whoever salvaged these had a green board laying around. I plan to make the edge non-green at some point.)

John also fixed the terrible basement door. It always closed funny - in a shaky, frail way. That area was such a mess I really didn't look to closely to investigate. The issue was that while the bottom hinge was a nice old original hinge, the upper hinge was a tiny, rusty, bent cabinet hinge, nailed on in a most precarious fashion. It took some wrangling to undo and redo, but now the door is a normal door again. It is completely filthy with gouges and missing paint - but that can get stripped and repainted.

It's such a relief to have this room be functional, with no outstanding issues now. I plan to swap out the light fixture, but that's not urgent. Whew !

[phil]

Phil, I hope you realize that my teasing is just that. I appreciate your interest and knowledge, particularly when it comes to safety. I hope if you see something amiss in any of my photos you will let me know with equivalent enthusiasm. The fact that the properties got mixed up is almost irrelevant, the important thing is everything is coming along nicely (and the nightmare apartment has been left behind)!

I was freaking out about the stairs in the pic but as you pointed out. It wasn't any part of Willa's house. I just get confused easily. If I start seeing little green monsters just tell me they are friendly ones

I had back stairs that had little blocks like that under the treads. it was only about 5 steps but there was sort of a hole underneath. last summer I finally replaced them during my roofing project. I just decided it was too dangerous so I delayed things and got it fixed. I was so worried they would just let go suddenly. My neighbor had the same situation and I remember one day he went to work and fell right through. neither of ours were so high and steep, but wow the guy really took a spill even though it was only a few feet.

[Gothichome]

Willa, is that ever a difference, well done, by both you and your carpenter friend.

[phil]

Found it.
https://observerxtra.com/2019/10/31/res ... mpetition/
Elmira’s not so far away from you Willa. Found a link to the shows.
https://www.hometowin.ca/
This makes me sad , they had an opportunity to restore this correctly and retain its charm, but no, they chose the easy way and gutted and pillaged the interior.

I haven't watched the episodes but I can tell from the pics in the links that it does not look good.Check out those crummy replacement windows.

I mean, these tv folks can't help it - they literally do not know any better.

The thing about "reality" "decorating" "entertainment" shows like this, is that their bottom line is about viewers - and the show's budget. Canadian T.V. is made on a much smaller budget than US shows. Therefore lots of shoddy cover ups and cut corners happen. They don't have the time or budget to do anything approaching restoration. Plus what the sponsors/advertisers contribute must be promoted and showcased. If you look at these programs as propaganda the meanings become clear.

there is lots of good restoration work on you tube but you have to wade through and many aren't professionally made. The odd one is very informative. The made for TV shows are just silly garbage to fill space between commercials. most are reality drama shows. They lead people to think restoration of a house is a short job involving a bunch of contractors but we know better

[Manalto]

TV has done a thorough job of homogenizing North American tastes. There's a blandness and predictability to everything and then, every once in a while, a fad appears, like Barn This and Farmhouse That. I don't suppose it's any different from the Early American trend my mother subscribed to when I was a kid. It seems like it's just human nature to follow the pack.

[Gothichome]

I tried to watch the first episode, just got mad, really mad when the designers were brainstorming. ‘Well we would like to pay homage to the age and Victorian style of the house, but we need to get ride of the old stodgy trim and replace it with modern contemporary trim.’ ‘And the floors, we need to update these old wood floors they look worn out and shabby, we could replace them with modern aged look composite flooring.’
I just turned it off, I almost took up to religion, just so I could pray for their souls.

[Willa]

The porch is now primed. I had to use the horrible stinky draggy oil primer on the boards and sections of boards that had never been painted, so the tannin wouldn't bleed through(it was tinted light yellow). I used adhesion primer (water based) on the rest.

The boards are true tongue and groove, not shiplap. They were definitely utility grade back in the day with lots of knots. Whoever painted and varnished the boards also had a real utility grade attitude as I have dug out at least a dozen paintbrush hairs from the first painter.

The primer revealed even more holes to fill - and a few stray nails from the ugly paneling that were missed. The ceiling boards are all pretty alligatored and lumpy. I bought the widest brush from Dollarama. I really had to scrub away to get the primer in the grooves between the boards. I kept some backer rod handy and filled in more drafty areas.

It is starting to look more cohesive, with the moldings painted out.

Now for the hard part: selecting paint colors !

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[Manalto]

The porch is now primed...Now for the hard part: selecting paint colors !

It's much easier to visualize the finished room with primer on it, isn't it?

Years ago I found a book that suggested choosing paint colors to complement the natural light according to the compass direction of the room. In other words, north facing rooms would call for warm colors and west-facing rooms, cool colors. It has some logic to it and I have found it to be a good starting point for choosing colors.

[1918ColonialRevival]

I've enjoyed watching your porch come together. Hopefully you're seeing light at the end of the tunnel and can soon enjoy the fruits of your hard work.

Amateurishly built back porches were apparently a thing in the mid 20th Century. My grandmother's house had a back porch tacked onto it sometime in the 1940s. I think my uncle, who spent most of his life drunk, was the one who built it. The whole porch was a downhill slope. I would wager that one end was a good 5"- 6" higher than the other end. The slope was such that when I was a kid, I would let my Matchbox cars go from the high end and they would quickly roll down to the other end where her washer sat.

The new crown moulding looks nice, too. One thing I learned about crown moulding imperfections. It will stick out like a sore thumb when you are holding it at eye level, but when it's installed, filled, primed, and painted, you won't even notice it.