The Projects Never End

Over Labor Day weekend, we decided we should probably address the porch area next to the stairs. We were getting concerned that if the weather were to wear on that area for another winter, our mail man might fall through the porch. That would not be good.

Here's the only "before" photo that I took, and I took this back in the spring. Believe it or not, that step looked worse just before we addressed it.



We went to Lowe's and got two pieces of lumber for less than six bucks (and had them cut), and we put those in front of the old piece (we ripped off the white piece that was a weird, jointed piece—the lip, and we also ripped off the quarter-round that rested on the top concrete step). We also shot some foam in there under the rotted stuff (to help support the wood). (We have no skills for replacing individual boards.)



Then, we used some wood putty on the deep gouges (I ripped out some of the rotted stuff), caulked all the cracks, and painted. You can see that we, obviously, need to paint the rest of the porch (and house), but this needed to happen . . . and now. One project at a time, folks.



This will most likely only be a temporary fix. We'll probably have to replace all of the wood on the porch at some point in the next few years. It's not pretty under that paint. Not at all.



An old house is a money pit! We did this project for under 20 bucks, I'd say (we had paint, caulk, and deck screws from prior projects, so the only thing we really had to go buy was the two pieces of lumber and the foam).

Soon, I plan to schluff off the black paint and rust on the hand rails and repaint those.

Yesterday, I watched a smug, little chipmunk come out and run back into the siding beneath our bay window. There's not much in this world that is more maddening than that.