Porch Foundation

Now that our south porch has been removed, it's time to start the rebuilding process. The first thing that needs to be done is to have a solid foundation on which to build the new porch. Just like when we had our front porch renovated, we'd need to have concrete footings under the stone columns.

Here comes Earl!

Digging the holes for the concrete pilings under our stone pillars.

Putting the forms together.

With the help of Earl from Earl's Excavating and Eric from Roffers Concrete Construction, we are ready for the next phase in our porch rebuild.

The form is ready for concrete.

The truck is here!

One wheelbarrow full at a time, the forms get filled up with concrete.

Jacob the Foreman watching to make sure the job's done right.

Porch Demo

The porch on the south side of our home has been in need of serious repairs since long before we moved in. After having Pat Drury of Drury Designs take a look, he confirmed what we'd been fearing all along: we'd have to do a complete demo and rebuild.

The old porch after demo had begun.
The sagging gutter and the beadboard underneath has been removed.

The square pillars will be replaced with round ones, to match the front porch.
The square ones will be reused in a unique way...

We weren't that brokenhearted about it, simply because it was in bad enough shape that it likely would have cost more money to repair it than it would have to start over. Furthermore, the porch wasn't original to the house, so we saw this as an opportunity to match our newly completed front porch.

We attempted to get historic preservation tax credits through the Wisconsin Historical Society for the repairs to this porch -- and the other large projects this year, however, they did not approve our application.  Since the porch was added to the house during the "historical period of significance" the WHS mandated that it must be restored to the style it was when we purchased the house, instead of the historically accurate design that Pat drew up for us.  It is a shame that the state is so rigid in their views because this new porch will fit the design of the house better and not look like it was added as an afterthought.

Removing the old metal roof. 

The porch is gone!

This area is going to be seeing a lot of activity in the next few weeks...

We will keep you updated on the reconstruction as it happens!

Front Porch Recap

Since we never recapped all the work that was completed on the front porch, here is a short post that sums it all up.  Age, water damage and dry rot had caught up with the porch and it was in dire need of attention.  Pat Drury and his team did a spectacular job of restoring back to its grandeur.

The restored porch after all of last year's projects.

The leaning porch columns were taken down, new footings were poured, and the block was restacked as they were originally.  Weak areas of the porch were reinforced from underneath and rotted wood along the top and bottom edges was replaced as needed.  The metal roof was removed and replaced with a dimensional shingle that more closely resembles the slate on the turret.  Lastly the broken steps were removed and new concrete steps were poured.  This was quite a summer project -- now on to the next one!