The Old Porch Project

[Dave Wagner]

For those that have helped in answering my other questions on a few other posts, just thought I would post a pics our our almost completed porch!! :) It's been a long process (past couple years), but everything is almost completely restored, stripped, and repainted....(now on to the rest of the house)

Thanks for all the help and support on here (and a few tools bought from other members!).

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=127156&d=1252241005

[phil harold]

restored or rebuilt it looks nice

ata boy!

[John Keeton]

Dave, I admire the persistence and willingness to undertake restoration and upkeep of a "painted lady." They are beautiful when appropriately done, and you are doing a spectacular job on this one. Great job on the balustrade. I have become too long in the tooth to take on such a project! But, I really enjoy seeing the ones others do. Thanks for sharing.

[Doug Carpenter]

Wow, that looks fantastic! Very nice job.

[Dave Wagner]

Yes, both, restored and rebuilt when/where needed.

I can't take credit on turning the spindles, they are NEW form a local shop (not stripped, too bad of shape for 100 years old!), along with all new railings and decking.

ALL the paint on the front part of the house under the porch has been stripped to bare wood, sanded and primed/painted. The wife has a good eye for color and is up to 9 or 10 colors total for the house!! (ouch).

Yes definitely a labor of love, we are trying to keep the old look, but with newer materials where needed. IT;s all in the details....

[John Thompson]

I absolutely love it. I just wouldn't want to be around when new paint needs to be applied down the road. :) That took some serious work and patience to arrive at and I am sure it is envied by the neighbors.

[gary Zimmel]

You've got lots of patience Dave.

And it is paying off.
Great job on the Old Porch Project..

[Jeff Monson]

Very impressive work. Patience is obviously a strongpoint of yours.

[Cliff McNeill]

Very Nice!!!!!!!

[Jim A. Moore]

I imagine you grin everytime you walk up the front walk. Great job!

[Dave Wagner]

Many people didn't realize it had all the details until they are enhanced with color, since everything on the house has been white with black shutters for probably 60 years!

Thanks all! We will start on the upper part of the front peek with all the gingerbread in the spring, should be interesting.

[Larry Fox]

Very, very impressive Dave. Keep up the good work. I love old houses and really admire and am envious of your focus and dedication.

[Dave Wagner]

I thought I would update you guys on our progress, the Porch is completed. We moved onto the front peak with stripping and painting. All the details were intact! A few cracks from drying out for 100 years. We are up to 10 colors now on it. The wife gets all the credit for colors and painting. I did most of the stripping and priming.

I have also been detailing around the windows and custom cedar shake details on the garage to match the house..
Enjoy! :)

[Bruce Page]

Wow, that is spectacular! I can only imagine what the inside looks like.

[ray hampton]

consider that great the outside looks , I do not want to see the inside

[Dave Wagner]

Thanks.
Actually, the inside is NOT that elaborate, like some Victorians. but, granted it nice and cozy. It has only about 8' ceiling, It has all the large base moldings, door and window moldings, etc, Of course previous owners painted everything! arghhh. and about 4-8 layers of wallpaper in every room and NO Crown moldings (well, until I put it up once we fix up the rooms (one by one). No Fire places or mantels.

I updated the main bath, used an old buffet for the sink, it turned out really good once I modified the top two drawers it a bit to clear the plumbing.

Slow but sure! :) As they say, a Labor of Love.

[Tom Hammond]

Great work! I have a couple questions.

What is the material for the replacement balusters? How did you paint them... did you put them on a lathe or some other device so you could spin them? What kind of paint did you use? It looks very glossy... is it an enamel?

[Dave Wagner]

We used Poplar for the spindles, i had a local company duplicate them, approx 144 of them. Still need to finishe the Stair Railings. I figured since they were going to be painted anyway why use higher end woods. Plus, the other woods would have be almost 2x the cost.

We put 2 coats of Primer/Sealer, then up to 6 different colors on each one. It is Behr Premium Plus Latex. They were All painted by hand by my Wife with small artist brushes one by one. She would do them in sections with approx. 13 spindles at a time, then I would assemble the railings and mount them.