Porch Skirting Options – Paint, Lattice or Stone?

Theresa P

So, since you asked… I really think this is an opportunity to bring some of the stone across the front of the house. If you could add stone here and then also do some sort of hardscaping in front of the studio with your leftover stone or cover the foundation under the studio with the same stone veneer that you use on the porch, you could really balance the stone out and make it look integral to the overall house. I love the stone, especially now that it’s painted.

But, if you don’t do stone, I vote for the very simple vertical skirting/slats. I feel like lattice or the more decorative skirting will get lost down there, since it the space is so short (only a couple of feet, as opposed to about 3 feet in the pictures with the lattice and more decorative skirting).

Lastly, I do think you could just paint it black.

Whatever you do, maybe think about the house overall and not just the porch? What does the foundation look like in front of the game room and in front of the studio? I can’t remember.

Your progress is amazing! Great job!

Carrie

Cutting the stone down should just require a wet saw. We removed a brick wall in our house and I toyed with the idea of cutting the bricks down and using them as a backsplash. My husband used a wet saw to cut the faces off the bricks to about 1/2″ thick and it worked well. My husband’s family lays brick for a living so we borrowed theirs, but I’m pretty sure you can rent them from Lowes or Home Depot. It’s not really any more difficult than cutting tile with them. I think your porch would look great with the same stone that’s on the rest of your house, and it wouldn’t require further maintenance like painting the concrete or using lattice will. Once you have landscaping in place, getting in there to repaint the concrete or lattice in the future is going to be a pain.

Jennie

I’d say stone but it would have to be something that looks similar to the stone you already have. You wouldn’t want it to clash. It would also give you some balance to that side of the house continuing on with stone. If you can’t find any close in color or style and using the stone you already have will cost too much then my 2nd vote would be to paint. Love the progress!

I also wanted to mention my next door neighbor redid his stairs and porch stoop leading up to his house last year with cedar. He didn’t tear out any concrete. He somehow built the stairs right over the existing stairs and landing. He also stained it a dark color. It looks incredible and changed his house dramatically. As a neighbor it was so exciting to see the daily progress, as I imagine your neighbors are doing. I know you were talking about tearing out your stairs but thought I’d mention he built over his and no one would even know it. Just a thought, if I could save you some trouble of tearing the old out 🙂

Matt "The Hubs" Linauer

I vote for painting the concrete black, and putting up the lattice. Kinda old fashioned like that.

janpartist

Did you notice that the first two example photos are both dark green lattice and not dark painted foundations? Just thought that was sort of funny.

I think you should not consider this as a porch option but as a whole house option. You should consider which option would compliment your whole house and not just the front porch and then go with that.

Your house is sort of a little bungalow. I think that lattice is more suitable for a more Victorian or Gothic Revival style home. The skirting would probably be ok but I think that either the painted or stone would work best with the whole house.

Southern Susie

While I love the look of white lattice, I’ve found that it can be high maintenance – especially with the installation of new landscaping. My vote is for faux stone – low/no maintenance, and it would look the best as you wait for your landscaping to be installed. Another consideration is that it might be easier to tie stone into whatever you do with your steps…

Sandy Basso

I would be hesitant to put lattice. If you put wood all the way down to the earth you risk subterranean termites. I’m not an expert on this but I recall on my own house being told not to have wood all the way down to the ground.

Michelle @ Eamonn & Jack

ack – I just realized you said this in your last paragraph 🙁

Anyways – I vote for anything but the stone. You already have a bunch of stone on the the front of your house, and it think if the size/pattern of the new stone doesn’t match the old it will look odd, and too much.

dione

I lean towards the stone because it’ll tie in with the rest of the house. It would be low maintenance, bug resistant, and would look great with or without landscaping. Next option would be paint it black and forget it.

MB

I like the different things you can do with lattice. You said you are not a fan of the typical diamond lattice. Home Depot carries some really beautiful vinyl lattice you can order online. If you go to the manufacturer’s website, they can make a custom request.
Love everything you are doing to the porch!

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Lumber-Composites-Lattice/Acurio-Latticeworks/N-5yc1vZbqnaZ4q7

Justin

Normally, I think that lattice always looks cheap, but some of the photos you posted make lattice and skirting look really nice.

That said, you don’t have a lot of it. There’s what, maybe two feet in height at most? Seems like overkill and you’ll just cover most of it.

I think I’d start off by painting it a neutral color (which will freshen it up and you can live with it for a bit). When you go to do the landscaping, you could replace that bed divider (bricks??) with a nice low stone wall…maybe a foot or so, then once you fill the bed with plantings, you’ll probably cover the remaining foot. If you wanted to try it out now, you could even just have a couple of yards of fill delivered and mound it like a little hill within the existing planting bed to see how the elevation looks.

Either way, I think I’d save the hardscaping for the walk and/or a wall rather than trying to veneer the porch. You’ll also get better drainage if you don’t block the gap you created behind the skirting board.

KathieB

since the space isn’t very high (around 16-18″, right?) lattice or the stone would be a large investment for something that won’t show much once you install the landscaping. IF you decide to “paint”, may I suggest you investigate acid stains instead. They bond with the cement and don’t peel or flake, so you would have one less maintenance task in the future. Also, the stain might not prevent you from adding stone in the future…worth checking out.

I know that whatever you choose will be perfect!

Deb

Since I live in an area with these things and I think you have them there as well, I would stay away from wood because of the termite issues. the stone would look great, or paint for now.

Jackie B.

It looks like those “lines” in the concrete are the same size as the siding on the house. If you painted the concrete the color of your siding it would appear that it was really was siding. Just a thought.

Karen

I don’t see the point of going to the effort and expense of buying a different stone, only to paint it a single flat color to match the existing stone. Covering up the various colors in the stone defeats the purpose, IMO.

With the wider steps, new landscaping, decorative porch columns, wood porch, blue ceiling, a swing or chairs, etc….. it might start to get too busy looking since it’s a low profile house to begin with.

Sometimes less is more. I’d paint it a dark color and let it be a backdrop for other projects that will bring more color and interest.

Carrie

You could stencil stone or brick on the cement and then seal it. You would get the look without the real stone.

Kim

Kristi, if you do lattice I would read this article before proceeding. It was very helpful when we replaced the lattice around our porch. You’re incredibly talented. The porch looks great!

Also, I’m working on the wooden spoon art you posted earlier. All I have left to do is paint it, and it looks amazing. Thank you!

http://www.oldhouseguy.com/porch-skirting/

Lena

This is more what dark painted would look like on your house vs. the 2 inspirations you posted which both have some sort of lattice painted dark (first is diagonal and the 2nd is vertical slats).

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b9/da/6e/b9da6e8bed5a45681e96a706d11a6f36–exterior-house-colors-exterior-paint.jpg

Laurie

How about stacked stone (the thin ones made for facades such as AirStone)?

Catherine from Michigan

For certain, the stone. Next, dark paint.

Jeannie

I vote for paint. Space isn’t all that large & will be mostly covered by landscaping. Love all the options but simple is my choice. You can do fancier down the road.

Love what you’ve done. Gorgeous work. You rock!

Jane

A few comments:
1. Because of the drain holes on edge of porch you might want to consider water running down the surface of concrete you plan to cover.
2. Planting in front of white lattice might cause a huge headache as you may be constantly hosing it off or repainting.
3. You may choose to use leftover stones to build a raised accessible veggie/flower bed somewhere in your yard that both Matt and you could easily tend.

Jana

Kristi, unless the stone vener matches the stone on the house, it will look odd. Since Matt actually expressed a preference (he almost never does), I’d listen ;-). I’d use a composit wood lattice, either style, only I would paint it the color of your house. I think a black background would be too stong of a contrast. Maybe paint the concrete a darker or lighter gray than the lattice. You don’t want to draw attention to that area. You’ve got a strong, welcoming focus to your front door. Plus it’s easier maintence. I’d hate to see dust, mud etc on white wood near the ground. If you do decide to use wood lattice or panels etc, please use composite wood. It holds up so much better than pressure treated wood.

Annie

Personally I hate lattice. I’ve been working to remove it from my house and fence for the last couple of years. I feel you have more than enough stone . Paint would be my choice. If you are going to have landscaping which will eventually cover it I can’t see spending the money on lattice or stone. Everything looks great. I’ll be using your column tutorial in the next few weeks. Thank you!!!!!!

Lisa

I actually thought it was concrete block under your porch. Another option is stucco it smooth and paint it. I don’t like the wood option. In AZ any wood next to the ground invites termites, and it akways gets muddy with rain. I say paint for a quick fix, or stone to aid in the transition of stone on the left. It looks great! I love the white skirting board.

Christine Czarnecki

The eye is drawn to lighter colors before dark. I am not sure you want to draw the eye to your porch foundation. You have put in so much work to add such much more beautiful architectural delights on your front elevation! I think you want to move the eye up the house quickly and not have it rest on a light-colored stone covered foundation.

I think that a coat of charcoal paint or concrete stain will tell you if you like it, but please hold off doing something else until after you get your steps and rails built and painted.

And do think about simple layered foundation plantings. Closest to the house, plant broad leaf evergreen shrubs, and then in front of that, leave room for bulbs and maybe annuals. Daffodils and narcissus will naturalize and come up every year without a second thought. You can also plant some cyclamen in the front before Christmas, then replace those with primroses or impatiens for spring color. In the fall, put in some chrysanthemums.

I think will find it more cheerful to look at living, blooming things at your foundation base than looking at an elaborate foundation treatment.

Please consider saving your hard won Austin stone for a planter in front of your breakfast room or somewhere else on the right side of the house. That will complement its use on the left and look more balanced.

chiflipper

Black paint…because eventually you will have plantings. I would save the old stones for a mailbox column or newel posts for the new stairs.

Andrea

I agree with painting (and I love natural stone). With porch furniture, potted plants, and foundation shrubs I think simpler will be beautiful. If you decide later you want to add wood (despite higher maintenance and potential dirtiness) you always can. Wonderful work, once again, Kristi!!!

~vee

My first thought, while the porch was coming together, was that the front fascia piece should have been stained (not painted white) so that the porch wouldn’t have such an abrupt border. Now that it’s painted white, I think you should also paint the cement white to continue the color visually. AND, the BEST PART? Embrace the plank marks in the cement! They can give you the look of the continuation of wood without the work – I’d be tempted to paint it out white and then go back on the “seams” with a little darker paint to mimic a shadow! You’ll get the quaint look of wood with the durability of concrete – especially being so close to the ground 🙂

Cyd

The comments about white getting dirty are right on. I am mystified with the suggestions of painting it black, however. A stark color will also get dirty. Not all dirt and debris is dark, and black will NOT hide it. Medium is always best for hiding dirt. In our area, however no one paints a foundation unless they’re trying to hide an oops.

Judy

If you do some treatment on the porch foundation, won’t it look off with the rest of the house foundation being left as is? The examples you gave appeared to cover the entire front of those homes. It seems to me that it might look choppy to just do something to the porch foundation. I vote for waiting and just letting the landscaping do the job for you.

Tracy

I imagine curving mounded flower beds. I dislike completely flat flower beds very much. They need movement and dimension. So in my mind the foundation will disappear once landscaping is in. So my vote is just freshen up for the time being until landscaping, then decide, and move on to another fun project!

Lulu

ever think about steps running the full length of the porch?
https://hookedonhouses.net/2009/04/29/sarah-jessica-parker-matthew-brodericks-hamptons-house/

Char

I agree with Matt. Paint it black to ground the house, and put removable lattice panels. Make the lattice in a frame and attach with wing nuts. This way you can remove to repaint or clean every 5 years or so.

Rebecca Neustel

Have you thought about using a very dark green, like Benjamin Moore Salamander or Wallet Green and maybe darkening it with a little black? I guess you wouldn’t want to use a brick veneer since you have stone on the house, but I think the look of old brick is gorgeous on a porch.