The Back Porch....Gone, but Not Forgotten!

The Back Porch

Well, the construction is coming along. With the roof being torn off it made no sense to keep the back "porch". It was very leaky and closed off the back entrance to the yard.  So...we decided to remove it. I like it more because it lets in more light to the kitchen. Removing the bushes helped a lot too.

Before the porch was removed

After, from about the same view.

Here you can see the entire space (no bushes)

It will be so nice in the summer to come out here and watch the kids play

Another view from in between the houses

We are hoping to eventually have a fire pit out in the back yard area. Since it is right out the kitchen door, I think we will be using it a lot.

Chimney...No More

No More Chimney!

I guess the chimney had to go. It served no purpose and it actually made the roof hang over and extra 2 feet. I have added some pictures so you can see what a difference it has made. Without the chimney we can put some bigger windows in the kitchen. At first we thought we would do it later, but when the roof started getting fixed, it made no sense to keep it. 

Before.....

After...We will remove the rest when we replace the windows in the kitchen

Back side of the house.

In the last picture you can see The chimney is down and the new roof is on. It has taken a few days to remove the old roof because there were 3 layers on it. The first layer was wood shakes. We also have been working on removing a lot of the overgrown landscaping.

Now the fun starts..The inside work will really be picking up.  S

The Porch

The Original Porch is back on....kinda.

We have been seeing a lot of progress lately with the house. We are trying desperately to get it buttoned up tight before the snow starts falling. Then we can start working on the inside. I went ahead and added the old picture circa 1910? so you can get an idea of what the original porch looked like. We are not quite done with it yet, but it is getting there. The new porch is a little wider and they haven't finished the gable end yet, but it is starting to look like the original porch.

Photo taken in 1910?

Beginning of the Porch

The posts are up...

You can see that we stained the floor a dark color to protect it from the elements. I will probably end up painting it one day. You can tell we also primed the new siding. 

I searched a few salvage places for old posts but I couldn't find 4 that were the same and in good enough shape. I would really have liked to have reused old posts...but what are ya gonna do? 

View from Westfield Blvd.


Oh! And if anyone knows where I can get any of the gingerbread trim...I am open to suggestions!

Next Week.... we will have a new roof. I can't wait to share those photos.