The Porch
So, earlier this summer, we decided it was time to rebuild the aging (and rotting!) porch. From what we could tell, this was the original porch and original decking. It’s been here since the house was built - which was 1901 (or 1909, there is debate on this). Unfortunately much of the porch decking has succumbed to weather damage and more importantly the support beams where they tie into the masonry have rotted resulting in significant structural failures. (Read: the porch is falling apart!).
Month: July 2020
To give you an idea.. here are some of the before pictures:
Ok. So before we can start anything - we need to be sure we have the decking. Here’s the Porch decking all bundled up prior to it’s trek across the country to Brooklyn!
This is our Douglas Fir porch decking. It’s a thing of beauty (underneath the sheathing!)
So the decking arrived (a week and a half later from when the decking was bundled) and it’s ready to begin!
The first thing to do was to tear up the old decking.. which I thought was going to be the easiest part. Apparently when they built these older homes, they used very large (and now, thoroughly rusty!) nails. Needless to say, it took a lot longer to pull off the decking than I originally anticipated.
Look at the old beams - they don’t make these size beams any longer. They are massive!
This was a good day worth of work - just to get the smaller side of the porch decking removed.
Notice, the leftmost beam had fallen due to rot. Replacing this one was going to require some new foundational concrete given the span is so long.
So it begins.. the long, arduous task of rebuilding.. Starting from the part of the porch that wraps around to the front and working around to the front side of the porch. While these pictures are fairly sequential.. the span of time here is about 1 month.
Month: August 2020
Framing the front of 431 E 19th St Brooklyn
Framing the corner of the porch of 431 E 19th St. Here I am enlisting the help of Leo Josse - who was a master helper!
And lo and behold - the framing is done!! Phew. That was not easy. Take a look at how it turned out!
And now after months of framing in the summer heat - we get to the fun part.. we’re laying the porch decking! We used 2.5” face Douglas fir to match the historical sizing of the original floor boarding. It’s not easy to find that size plank and had to use a lumber yard in Oregon to get it fulfilled. (A big shout out to Pat from Altrufir, https://www.dougfirflooring.com - he was incredibly helpful in getting the right decking for our project).
And completing the middle section of the decking (up until the point where we run out of wood!). Note, Elissa taking a much needed break after all that drilling.
For those who are astute.. you’ll notice that in one of the photos above the decking only gets to the middle of the front door. So, long story short, I made a pretty sizable mistake in my calculations for the 10’ long planks - essentially I didn’t order enough. We ultimately needed 110 10’ boards, I had originally ordered only 60 (I blame Excel!) And of course, when I called Pat to get more, they were right in the middle of the west coast wildfires and the mill was closed down. Talk about bad timing.
So exactly two months later from when I called in my Hail Mary to Pat and we’re back on track with the 2nd order of Douglas fir. It was touch and go - after the wildfires, the mill had to close down to to Covid, this cost us another 2-3 weeks. I looked back in my email, I emailed Pat on Sept 7th (when we should have been wrapping up the project) and we took delivery of the 2nd order on Nov 7th. Ouch. A little later and we would have been in full on snow mode and that would have made finishing the porch a bit more difficult. In the end it all worked out.
Thanks again Pat for saving the day!
This is the additional decking (all bundled) that I had to order due to my miscalculation. A real lesson learned in “count twice, cut once”.
This is the porch completed except for a few end pieces and before we sanded. Looks good right? It’s dirty since part of the porch has been exposed to the elements for a few months while we waited for the rest of the wood. Notice how the color of the wood is different for the new section starting middle of the front door. Cool right? Sanding will fix all that.
Next up.. sanding and priming!
And we’re done (well almost).
The question is do we keep it like this or do we paint the decking? If we were keeping with the style of the other historic homes in the neighborhood we would paint it. I think we should leave it just the way it is.. what do you think??
Special shout out to the following folks who made this all happen…
Alberto Barzola - who chipped in to help with the framing and didn’t know what he was getting himself into when he asked what I was doing one Saturday morning. I think I scared him back to the Dominican Republic. Thanks Alberto!
Leo Josse - for helping in multiple stages both in the framing and the decking construction. I think the particularly loud sounds of the nail hammer have turned him off construction for good! Thanks Leo!
Ezra and Sylvie Josse - for tirelessly providing me water whenever I needed it. Thanks guys!
Piper Josse - who I would find invariably looking out the front door window wondering what the heck was going on!!
Elissa Josse - who came to my rescue halfway through the project to lend a hand (and her keen eye for detail). No job was too large or too small for her, anywhere from under porch refuse clearing, to corner cut sawing, to helping me shave down beams when I messed up the leveling. I can also say that she is now the master of the Dewalt Impact Driver as she got a crash course in tongue-n-groove deck installation. I wouldn’t have been able to do this project if it wasn’t for her. Thanks babe!
Thanks everyone.. and if folks are interested in the materials and tools used in this project here is a list.
Materials
Douglas Fir from Altrufir.com (Porch Decking)
Pressure treated lumber from Dykes Lumber (for the porch framing)
Simpsons Beam hangers (lots of them)
500lbs of Fast drying concrete (for the single post under the long span beam)
Lots of nails and deck screws
Tools (In order of importance)
Dewalt Sliding Compound Miter Saw (DWS779) - The workhorse of the entire project. Most helpful with the porch decking and cutting the mitered angles. Note: I ended up modding this to make it more like the DWS780 by adding a light upgrade kit. The difference between the two saws is like $300 and the light is the only real difference. The upgrade kit cost roughly $60 and a little bit tinkering and wiring and you have an upgraded saw.
Milwaukee Cordless Nail Palmer - This was invaluable for nailing all the joists and beams. Saved me from hammering. Not many companies make a cordless nail palmer - so I highly recommended especially if you don’t want to deal with an air compressor.
Dewalt 20V MAX Impact Driver (DCF888B) - We had two of these bad boys so Elissa and I could work twice as fast. This was used solely to drive in the porch decking screws. A must have!
Dewalt Cordless 20V Circular Saw (DCS570) - The main tool for demo-ing the porch.
An assortment of rubber mallets, crowbars, bear claws and hammers - These came in handy for everything like pulling out old nails, old decking, stripped screw heads.. you name it, these were super handy!
Dewalt Cordless Jigsaw (DCS334P) - For the finer cuts in life.
Bosch Self-Leveling Cross-Line Red-Beam Laser Level - I really wanted this to work better than it did. Not great for outdoor use.
On the docket for next summer: The Back Deck. This is going to be the pièce de résistance!! Until then!