Problematic porch

Before

This house had a deep front porch with a two-person swing. John and I would sit on it as we talked through ideas for the project, enjoying the view and speaking to neighbors who walked by. 

We knew the porch needed some repair, but soon discovered that it was a big and dangerous mess. When we pulled off the soffit, we found broken rafters that were poorly repaired and rotted boards. Some of the rafters were not nailed in place, but merely resting on what we thought was a support beam. Only it turns out that it was not a beam, but a box. A box that we did not believe was sufficient to carry the weight of the porch roof, and certainly not the additional weight of two people on a porch swing.

What we first saw when we pulled off soffit.

Knowing all this, we concluded that the porch roof could not be adequately repaired. So, off it went. On a Friday afternoon, John, Evan and crew figured a way to flip the roof off the front of the house so that it would not squish the plants in front bed. By evening all the debris was cleaned up and in the EBOX dumpster. 

We have reassured the neighbors that we will be putting back a new, sturdy and period-appropriate front porch. And it will have a porch swing that can confidently hold two people.

When finished, the porch will have new, period-appropriate columns.