Carport Conundrum: The Roof

While we were working on getting the carport columns redone, we wanted to redo the deck as well.

Originally the surface was an asphalt roof that had far exceeded its life. It was sloped so the water would run off the north and south sides and into rain gutters. The surface was also pretty cracked, and we were sure that water was getting inside. The wrought iron railings were also in bad shape and would never hold if someone leaned against them.

A photo taken from last year, long before we started any construction
on this side of the house.

The railings have been removed, as have the gutters and other pieces of trim.

The black rubber roof has been removed, and you can see the water damage.

New wood has been added to support the new rubber roof being put on.

The new roof is coming along!

Just about done!

The new roof is sloped so that rainwater will run off the west side only, and it will drip directly onto the grass below. We should no longer have a need for gutters on the carport. This is great news! No gutters to clean or maintain. The more low maintenance things we have with this house, the better.

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!

The Perch of the Porch

In addition to all of the structural work that has been completed on our porch, another part of this summer's restoration was directed at the porch roof.  For years the porch roof was metal sealed with aluminum paint.  Over time this roof had seen its fair share of wear and tear, and time had taken its toll on the metal roof.  It had been patched and repaired a few times over the years, but it was now in need of replacement.

The hideous metal roof could be seen plainly from space. 

One feature of the old metal roof was a ridge that traveled along its distance, near the edge.  The purpose of the ridge was to collect the rainwater and divert it to one of three holes in the roof that fed normal downspouts.  This probably worked well for years, but through aging, the ridge had weak spots where water was seeping through and damaging the wooden structure underneath.

The old metal roof being removed.

One of the pieces of the ridge was actually marked with the date it was installed.  Pat from Drury Designs snapped a picture and saved the board for us to keep.  It is a pretty neat piece of history from our home.

Rolling out the tar paper and placing the bundles of shingles.

Instead of installing a new metal roof, we opted to have shingles installed.  This way it would more closely match the existing roof on the main part of the house.  Since a portion of the porch roof wraps around the turret, conventional shingles were not a good fit.  With Pat's advice, we choose a line of shingles that provided a more textured look and would allow the roofer to cut the shingles to lay properly along the roof's radius.

Roofing begins.

Since the main part of our roof was already dark shingles, we chose a color that would blend well. When it comes time to repair the main roof we will use the same shingles.  The new porch roof looks amazing, and the eye-sore of the metal roof is like a long lost memory.

After the new roof has been completed.