Slowly but surely I’m getting closer to this porch makeover so I can take a break from work in this Central Texas heat and focus on an interior project for the rest of the summer. But I won’t stop until I reach my goal of finishing the porch.
The good news is that I have finished repairing the columns and they now have a new coat of white paint. The bad news is that I still haven’t finished the fascias around the porch over the new baseboard. BUT I WANT!! I promise I will. And I promise I won’t put it off just to irritate you. I just do projects because I feel inspired to so I can keep the momentum going, and I felt inspired to do the much easier task of repairing and repainting these columns. I’m having a hard time getting rid of the last rotten baseboard. So if I force myself to do that, I’ll lose my motivation and momentum. But I promise I’ll get it done before I finish these outdoor projects and head indoors for the rest of the summer.
Anyway, this is what the columns looked like when I showed you the progress a few days ago…
I had removed many of the rotted and spongy areas around the bases of these columns and then used wood hardener to strengthen the wood around the remaining holes. Then I used Bondo Wood Filler to fill the holes and Plastic Wood Exterior Wood Filler for any small cracks. Once everything was dry, I sanded them smooth, gave them a coat of Zinsser BIN shellac-based primer, and finished them off with two coats of Sherwin Williams Duration paint in Extra White (i.e. the paint straight from the can).
I am very pleased with the progress and am so relieved that at this point I decided to repair the existing columns rather than completely replace them. Completely redesigning them would have been a huge project, and I may have to do that in the future. But I think I’ve at least bought myself a few more years before I have to go down that path. And these can have an indefinite lifespan if I give them a new coat of paint every year to protect the wood from rain.
I need to touch up the paint a few more times, and then I’ll finish the fascia boards (let’s hope I can figure out how to get the siding off), and then I’ll put up new tape lights, stain the porch boards, and call it a day. Honestly, I’d like to keep going because I’ve really enjoyed working outside and making progress on these outdoor projects, but as the temperature rises I find myself slowing down with progress. But I’ll definitely be working on more outdoor projects once I’m done with the storage space and the temperature drops again in the fall. Of course I also want to start with the winter garden, so let’s see how it goes.
So while the porch is still unfinished and I still have a few projects I want to finish, I want to remind you all how far this porch has come. I know many of you have been with me since we moved into this house. But even though I’m the one who did the work and saw the whole thing from start to present, I’m still shocked when I come across pictures that show how that front porch area started when we bought the house. That’s exactly how I felt a few days ago when I was scrolling through these old pictures.
As a reminder, here’s what the porch looked like the day we bought the house…
I will never forget the first time my mother saw our house and walked through it for the first time. She was really worried. She knew I would be doing most of it on my own since Matt couldn’t help me at all, and with equal parts fear, horror, and concern in her eyes and voice, she asked me, “Kristi, is it you?” secure about it? Are you secure Can you do that?”
And with confidence that came not from experience but from naivety and ignorance, I said, “I’m sure! I know I can do this!” I actually wasn’t sure if I could do it. I wasn’t at all sure if I could do it. But I was sure I wanted to try it.
Now look at her. She’s still not finished, but my goodness, she’s come a long way since the day I was handed the keys and she was ours.
Once I finish the rest of these porch projects and put all my tools away, I’ll take some new photos of the street and show you some more comparison pictures of what it looked like then and now. And once the fall weather arrives, I’m hoping to start at least a little landscaping. Now that the porch baseboard is finished, I feel really motivated to create some planting beds and plant some plants in the ground. And I’m still looking for the perfect water feature for the breakfast room windows. I’ve made great progress, but there’s still so much to do!
