My Front Porch Is Looking Brand New!
I spent my weekend working on the front porch and working towards that final goal of staining the porch boards with the pine tar. I didn’t quite make it to that final goal, but y’all, my front porch is looking so good!! After my weekend projects, everything is starting to look so fresh and new and clean, and it has breathed new life into this front porch. It will be so exciting when I finally get to that final step of staining the porch boards, but on this particular project, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the process of getting from start to finish. I don’t always enjoy the process on my projects, but I just know that the big payoff at the end will be worth it. But on this project, the process has been really fun and so rewarding each step of the way.
Anyway, when I left you on Friday, I had gotten this far, but I was having trouble getting that last bit of the old, rotted fascia board off of the side of the porch.
I’m happy to report that I finally managed to get that part off without destroying anything that I didn’t want to destroy, and now the whole porch has new, freshly painted PVC fascia boards that will never rot.
I had already gotten the columns repaired and painted, and then with the new fascia boards attached and painted, I stood back to look at the progress and noticed that all of the other trim that was painted white on the front porch looked so dirty and dingy compared to the freshly painted columns and trim. I’m not sure if you can tell in this photo below, but the trim around the porch roof, the window trim, and the door trim almost looked like it was a different white than the columns.
Of course, some of that was just dirt and grime, but even after I cleaned those areas, they still looked like a different color. Here’s a wider look at the freshly painted columns compared to the rest of the white areas around the porch roof. They just looked completely different colors.
Obviously, that wouldn’t do. When I’m finished with this front porch makeover, this will be the first time since we’ve lived in this house that the front porch will be completely finished, porch skirting and all. So I want everything to look fresh and clean and new. So even though I really wanted to get to staining the porch, I decided to take my time and do this project the right way and do a thorough job. So I spent most of my Saturday painting the rest of the white trim on the front porch, including all of the trim around the roof, all of the trim around the porch ceiling, the window trim, the door trim, and the rest of the white trim on the front steps.
I’m so glad I took the time to do this because it made such a big difference. Now it all looks the same color rather than looking like there were two different white paint colors used on the front porch.
I also had to go back and redo the bottom trim around the porch. This was previously painted white, and I decided that I wanted it painted in the same Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray that is on the rest of the house. But when I painted that trim with a new can of paint, it was much cooler than the rest of the house. I don’t know if you can tell in this picture below, but the new paint looked like it had a blue undertone to it compared to the paint that has been here for several years now.
It is true that some of that color on the older paint is dirt. 😀 But even after cleaning off a section, the new paint still had a very noticeable blue undertone to it compared to the old paint. So to cancel out that blue undertone, I rummaged through my stash of paint and found a brown paint that I had used on the striped studio bathroom wall and mixed that in a little bit at a time until the new paint matched the old paint. Since I was wanting to cancel out blue undertones, I needed something on the opposite side of the color wheel, which would be orange. But it needed to be dark rather than bright, and browns are in that orange family. You can see the new mixed paint compared to the old paint (on the cleaned off section between the two white lines) below. It’s still not a perfect match, but it’s so much better.
And now I need to clean the rest of the siding on the front porch so that it all looks the same color. And of course, that has to be done before I can stain the porch boards. And while the window trim has a fresh coat of white paint, the windows are filthy, so I’ll want to clean those as well before I stain the porch.
It had been years since I did any pressure washing, cleaning, or painting on this front porch. But just to remind you of how grimy everything had gotten (thanks in large part to our humid weather here in central Texas), I want to take you back to this picture that I shared a few days ago of Tiger by the front steps. This is just…ick.
But here it is now after some pressure washing, fresh caulk, and new paint.
I just love my front porch again, and it’s not even finished yet! It was starting to looks so old and neglected, but now it’s looking brand new again.
One thing I noticed is that I don’t think I ever painted the risers on the front steps when I built these steps several years ago. After I pressure washed everything, I noticed how dingy these risers still looked. There’s no sign that I actually ever painted them. I guess at the time I thought that since I was using bright white PVC boards, they didn’t need paint. But pressure washing did little to bring them back to their original bright white color…
But now they’re painted to match everything else.
So while I didn’t get to the staining project yet, I got a ton of work done! I think I have everything painted now, and I just have a little more cleaning to do, and then I’ll be able to finish up the porch boards.
But before I do that, I needed do a little bit of wood filling over those screw holes again.
So that’s the progress on the front porch after this weekend. I’m so close to the end of this front porch project!
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Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
You should be very proud! It’s looking great!
Your porch and house look absolutely lovely and inviting—proof that hard work pays off. The neighborhood is lucky to have you, as are we.
The porch looks great! One thing always leads to another when doing home projects! I also would have repainted the older trim to match the new. It looks so fresh and clean. The piece of siding along the bottom looks like a baseboard piece and the slight difference in color looks intentional.
If you give a mouse a (crumbly) cookie…”. Amazing transformation! You are so impressive and inspiring! This is like something that would be featured in a major publication, in my opinion! (Not enough !!!s to convey how awesome.)
How fresh and nice your porch looks! I didn’t know that pvc boards would need paint but they look so much brighter now. I can’t wait for the porch staining as I have chosen to do my deck that way soon. I see you covered the screw heads on the floor boards, is that to protect them or cosmetic?
Great job as always!
This is looking great!
Looks so clean and fresh! Hope you can get the porch floor done soon so you can head inside! The weather doesn’t look good down south for the near future. Are you planning to clean the flower pots also, and maybe add some flowers or greenery in them?
If you look at the pic just above the comments, she had flowers in them last year.
I’ve already cleaned off the flower pots, and I do plan to get some flowers to put in them.
Just something to think about-PVC will need to be power washed on a regular basis. I also live in the south and most everything needs a yearly power washing. Drive around any neighborhood and you can tell who does and who doesn’t. Your project is looking great as always!
Awesome job.
Looks great! I love the color of your front door!
You are the energizer bunny for sure and for certain. I love what you got done, I’m exhausted just reading it. It looks stupendous. I cannot wait to see the pine tar paint on the boards. What a showpiece, I’m betting you guys will be sitting out there in the evenings just enjoying the cool breezes that the South sometimes blesses us with when the day is done.
Cheers to you, Matt and the Fur Babies!
I’m still gobsmacked at the skirting. It’s so perfect a match and seamless.
I didn’t know that vinyl could be painted successfully. I tried spray paint for vinyl on some garden chairs and eventually the paint chipped off. Also wondering if you’ll leave the top of the railing the tan color, or match the porch boards.
Everything does look so fresh and new again!
My shutters are PVC boards, and they’ve been painted for years. They don’t have any chips or peeling paint.
I’ll stain the handrail to match the porch.
Beautiful! Looks so fresh & new! Once you get everything cleaned up, I suggest a 2-3″ layer of much around the foundation. Even if you don’t have any plants or edging, it will keep the dirt from splashing and circulating around, and making a mess of all your hard work. Plus, it looks nicer too (bonus!). 🙂
Amazing what paint can do! Everything looks so clean and fresh.
I was also going to say the same thing about some mulch in the beds to keep the dirt from splashing up.
You’re amazing!
It’s looking amazing!! Would love to know what tricks you used to get that skirting board off? Also wonder if you already painted those new pvc skirting boards or are going to leave them as they are since you mentioned the step risers needed white paint to match the rest of the trim. To my eye they look the same white as the rest but wasn’t sure if they’d fade or yellow in some short time frame and look different?
Getting the old skirting boards off was a matter of finding the screws, which were buried beneath exterior wood filler (which dried hard like concrete), digging out the wood filer enough for the screwdriver bit to fit into the screw enough to get the screw out, finding and taking out the nails, cutting and removing all of the caulk I had used, etc. But the challenge was that it took a lot of tugging, pulling, and prying, but I didn’t want to pull with enough force to break the spacer blocks that they were attached to because those blocks are screwed into concrete. If I had broken any of those, replacing them would have been a real headache.
I’ve already painted all of the new PVC boards. I think the unpainted PVC boards are pretty when they’re new, but they seem to get dingy and stained easier if they’re not painted. My shutters are painted PVC boards, and they clean up well, unlike the unpainted PVC boards.
What a beautiful little porch! Your hard work has paid off stupendously. I hope the weather will cooperate so you can get the floor boards and step treads stained. I can’t wait to see it all finished and furnished!
The porch is beautiful. Have you ever thought of putting a rail at the very end of the porch? It always seems like somebody could step off just curious.
I considered it years ago when I did the original porch makeover, but I decided against it. It’s not high enough to require a rail, and I may end up putting steps there.
Have you tested the stain product you’re planning on using on something other than your porch? I remember someone mentioning the smell and it not absorbing very well.
I haven’t tested it. I’m just gonna go for it. It smells like a campfire, and it will absorb into any wood that is bare of sanded enough for water to soak into it. If you drop water on the wood and it soaks in, the pine tar/linseed oil will soak into it. If the water beads up, the wood needs to be sanded more.
Awesome porch. When fall comes it will be so nice for you and Matt to sit on your porch and enjoy all your hard work. Are you going to add gutters to help keep your porch redo last longer before having to stain it again in a year.
I will add gutters eventually. It’s not high on my priority list right now.
Beautiful job! Hard work, but what a transformation!
Thinking your pots would look great painted the same poppy color as the door!
I agree with De, your pots would give more great pops of that pretty pink color!
Looks terrific. I think the new color is on the front door. I must have missed when that was painted.
I know that was a ton of work, but the end result is gorgeous! You have to be so proud of yourself!
Isn’t that the way it goes, you get one thing done and then you notice something else, etc. Looks really great now. Did you repaint the ceiling where the knots were showing through too?
I did that a couple of years ago. The knots haven’t reappeared since I painted it last time and used the shellac-based primer first.
Kristi. I’m in awe of your achievements and especially making your stone facade. Absolutely amazing job!!!
Your porch project is looking so beautiful.
It’s looking fantastic, Kristi. I love your new lights and the color of your doors!
You work so hard. The porch will look grand once the staining is finished.