The Porch Project
The Porch Project

This page tells the ongoing story of our new back porch. Check back often to see how we are coming along. You can use this page to help decide when it is safe to come visit us again. This page was last updated Monday, 16-Aug-1999 09:36:20 EDT.


Prologue

The porch began with a simple goal. Since our neighborhood and back yard have lots of trees we tend to have lots of bugs, especially the blood sucking variety (i.e. lawyers). Our simple goal was to build a place where we could enjoy our yard and still maintain sufficient hemoglobin.

The initial design phase took place through much of the winter. The original plan was to start construction in the spring. Of course, all plans run into trouble eventually. Ours hit a snag when we realized that the current deck was already in violation of the zoning setbacks for our neighborhood. This meant that building a room on the deck was likely to cause serious trouble with the neighbors and possibly even the good folks at Cobb County.

In June we visited all of our neighbors and coerced them into signing a zoning variance petition to allow us to build a structure into the setback. (As some have said, we were basically saying that we knew the rules but that they shouldn't apply to us!) After two months of waiting, one of those months with a lovely pink variance sign in the yard, our variance was approved on August 12. Then on August 14th, variance and building permits in hand, we went to work.

Statistics

The original deck was 10' by 12' and extended to within 2' of the property line.

The new deck/porch will be 12' by 24' with a corner cut off to keep it almost 4' from the property line.

The Crew

Destruction

The first step was to tear down the old deck. Here are some shots of the partial destruction, after we removed the railings and a few of the floor boards. (Click on pictures to see larger versions.)

From Kitchen From West Side From East Side

Construction

The first construction phase was to construct the new deck which will be a little more than twice the size of the original deck.

From West Side From East Side From Kitchen Door The Lumber Pile (about half remaining)

Next it was time for the walls. First was the East Wall. You can already see some of the destruction to the main house roof. More of that will come when we start the porch roof.

From Just Outside Door From West Side - far From West Side - close From East Side

Next came the outside wall. Sydney's confident reaction to this phase was, "Will it fall down and hurt me?"

From West Side From East Side

Now we need a way to get up there. Here is the landing with part of the railing finished. We decided we needed a landing so that the girls could open the door without tumbling down the stairs.

Walls a roof and stairs too!

From West Side From East Side Inside Fans and Carpet Inside Again

March 4, 1999. The Hot Tub arrives!

Wall Removed Spa Internals Spa With Water Spa and Sydney

August 15, 1999. It's Finished!
Just one full year from receiving the permits. With the last coat of weather sealer on the lattice we can finally declare the project complete.

From Dining Room From Porch Door East View West View Neighbor's Yard

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