The Country Cottage

Staining The Front Door – Exterior Side

Front door exterior side before staining and sealing. If you look closely, there are watermarks at the bottom due to condensation.

Close up photo of the water stains on the bottom.

I decided to apply wood conditioner ahead of staining and after sanding the exterior side of the door. In hindsight, I wish I would not have used the conditioner because I think it made the wood accept the stain less evenly that I expected.

Finishing Back Porch Soffit

We had about 3-4 rows of tongue and groove car siding that we needed to install to finish the back porch soffit. Rick and MLM worked on this while I was working my day job. It was a hair raising experience due to the back porch being so high off the ground.

Back porch soffit before being finished.

The back porch soffit is finished. All that is left is to put up trim around the outside.

Polyurethane on Tongue & Groove Wall Plank (aka Car Siding)

Each evening, we would work on preparing tongue and groove boards for the ceilings of the porches. we needed to finish the back deck ceiling and start/complete the front porch ceiling. We applied three coats of polyurethane to the boards before putting them up because it was way easier to seal them on the ground than looking up or working above our heads.

In order to finish the porch ceiling, we ordered 55 boards of car siding.

Car siding after wiping down and sanding the boards.

More boards. it was back breaking to work them up on the floor. So, instead, we moved them to the saw horses and then back to the floor to dry.

MLM would sand each board using a hand sander after each coat of polyurethane. He also helped wipe them down before we applied the next coat of polyurethane.

More And More Joists

The joists across the front went up much faster than the joists across the back. We didn’t have to climb up and down ladders. Rick would fasten the joist next to the house and I attached the joist on the side near the road. the only thing that slowed us down was running out of nails. Rick did a very good job in calculating the treated lumber order to minimize waste.

We are starting to put joists across the front.

Lots and lots of joists. Until we ran out of nails after getting nearly getting the ent from done.

Baby, the golden retriever, walks across ply boards that we laid down across the joists on the back.

Outside Plate Goes on Deck

In order to put the deck on, we need to put up an outside plate around the entire exterior of the deck/porch. To connect each board to the post, two lag bolts were used. we had to make sure to level each board very carefully.

Izzy, the corgi, was providing some extra supervision.

Porch Joists Go Up – Lower Half

The next step is that we needed to hang the joists across the entire deck/porch area. It was wonderful that Rick watched a video that had a couple of pro tips for us to use, especially on the high part across the back.

Rick and Laura on their respective ladders attaching a joist. MLM took the photo.

Half way done across the back. MLM started timing us. It took us an average of 12-15 minutes per joist from start to finish.

16 Foot Corner Post Goes Up

In order to complete the walk around side of the porch/deck, we needed to install two additional posts. One of them sits right on top of the retaining wall and the other one, the corner post, sits on top of the back walk out concrete patio or apron.

Lifting up a 16 foot pole was a major task, considering our resources (two adults and a teenager) on hand.

Back corner post. 16 foot of challenge to overcome.

We almost had it set and our communication skipped a little, which resulted in us dropping the entire pole. Thank goodness no one was hurt in the process. We decided to get right back at it and try again….the second attempt was successful. Yay!

The guys (and the post) after we overcame the hurdles we ran into.

Still Picking Up Rocks

Rocks, rocks and more rocks. They are simply everywhere!!!!! You can’t really mow grass without tearing up a mower from hitting them. The clay dirt makes it hard to grow anything. So, we have to put a layer of topsoil down anyway. In preparation for that, we need to remove the biggest rocks that will poke through the topsoil.

Cool view of the house from up on the hill by the hay barn.

The big rocks that are in awkward places, like close to pipes or the foundation or fence, require additional leverage to get them in the bucket.

Faceplate Installed on House

The next step to getting the porch built is installing a face plate against the house. We purchased treated lumber for the job. We were given some tips about how to do the installation. We were told this is the hardest and most important part of adding a porch. The pressure to make and keep it level is not to be underestimated.

MLM learned how to drill holes for the boards to fit on/over the bolts.

If you zoom in on the photo, Rick has written ‘his’ on the board. Notice that is the successfully installed board on a complicated section of the house (i.e. multiple pipes to fit the board over).

Rick wrote ‘hers’ on the board that did NOT work and had to be redone. Notice all the holes across it. I played along, because why not use a little humor while working your butts off.

MLM adding washers and nuts to the bolts.

It was tricky holding up the boards while on a ladder to fit them across the back, but it will be worth it when we get to enjoy the back porch!

Porch Post on West Side

Rick and MLM installed porch posts on the concrete piers down the west side of the house. I couldn’t help because I needed to run to Springfield, MIssouri to get my sewing machine serviced. It was very important that each post be plumb.