What did you do in your shop today?

Finished my sister's front porch today. She still has some painting to do, but I'm finished. Started this last summer rebuilding the decking and supports, railings and hand rails were done this fall. Happy to have this one behind me. Numerous issues and design changes were time killers.

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Finished my sister's front porch today. She still has some painting to do, but I'm finished. Started this last summer rebuilding the decking and supports, railings and hand rails were done this fall. Happy to have this one behind me. Numerous issues and design changes were time killers.

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Looks great! I’ve watched enough home improvement shows to know your project could have been quite complicated! Congrats! Chuck
 
Looks great! I’ve watched enough home improvement shows to know your project could have been quite complicated! Congrats! Chuck
Yep, old house, nothing square, nothing straight, nothing lined up with anything else. Insufficient supports under decking, every piece custom cut. Good thing was that no permit was required so I could make railing at the proper height to fit archetecturally with window height.

A big improvement from the tongue and groove decking and the wrought iron supports/railing that I replaced.
 
Finished my sister's front porch today. She still has some painting to do, but I'm finished. Started this last summer rebuilding the decking and supports, railings and hand rails were done this fall. Happy to have this one behind me. Numerous issues and design changes were time killers.

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Looks awesome! The little ones like that can be 3x the work of the large ones. I like that detail of the handrails on the steps.
Hope those gutter drains aren't dumping the storm water under there or all the new work will be old again in no time.
 
Looks awesome! The little ones like that can be 3x the work of the large ones. I like that detail of the handrails on the steps.
Hope those gutter drains aren't dumping the storm water under there or all the new work will be old again in no time.
Thanks, struggled for a while with step rails/handrails design. Finally hit me the way to tie it in with the rest was to duplicate the short railing and add the higher handrail.

The gutter drains have extensions that push the water away from the house towards the street. They were just tucked away so I wasn't tripping over them. Good point though, need to call my sister and remind her to reposition them!
 
Looks really nice, like it belongs. Did you have to install additional joists under the deck to make it more solid? That's always fun. And working with that Trex type decking takes a little experimentation.
 
Thanks Doug.

Joists had variable spacing from about 16-18 inches but at least they were 2x10. Several also had twist. Ended up blocking them every 3 ft or so and added joist hangers.

The decking is 5/4 pressure treated with solid stain. I would have liked to use some Trex (or similar) but it wasn't in the budget, and would have needed to completely redo joists - I think 12" joist spacing is the max for the synthetic deck.

Also would have loved to use a "plastic" railing system for simplicity, but sister really didn't like the plastic look. She was right, looks much better with the wood, even if it was more time consuming to build.
 
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@trc65 - looks great, well done! And be glad Trex wasn't in the budget - I hate the stuff! We just ripped off the Trex from our front porches and replaced with traditional tongue and groove pine (painted of course). Maybe Trex works better in cooler areas, but down here it just soaks up and radiates heat - not comfortable to walk on without shoes - and the hot/cool cycling causes warping/bowing and pulling away from joists (allowing moisture in to rot the joists - I think I posted pictures earlier this year of joists I was replacing on the back steps). Those steps and back porch still need Trex replacement, then we'll be done with it forever.
 
@trc65 - looks great, well done! And be glad Trex wasn't in the budget - I hate the stuff! We just ripped off the Trex from our front porches and replaced with traditional tongue and groove pine (painted of course). Maybe Trex works better in cooler areas, but down here it just soaks up and radiates heat - not comfortable to walk on without shoes - and the hot/cool cycling causes warping/bowing and pulling away from joists (allowing moisture in to rot the joists - I think I posted pictures earlier this year of joists I was replacing on the back steps). Those steps and back porch still need Trex replacement, then we'll be done with it forever.
I've got a little bit of Trex on a walkway to the garage, but it doesn't get any afternoon sun. Gets hot, but not had any problems with it.

My new love-hate is with PVC trim. Love how it cuts, easy to install with adhesive, but the dust from cutting sticks to and imbeds in everything. Didn't have an air compressor with me, and couldn't get the dust off myself, my clothes or anything else it touched or landed on. At least I was outside cutting it instead of inside making a mess.
 
Why does it look like a gap around the outlet box?
@Gdurfey, they make oversized cover plates that would cover that without patching around it. Or, I could make you one that fits. Tell me what kind of wood you want it to be, and look for it about Christmas time. All you need to do is pay the postage.

@Mr. Peet , My concern is all the missing screws on the drywall................ Jerry (in Tucson)
 
Finished my sister's front porch today. She still has some painting to do, but I'm finished. Started this last summer rebuilding the decking and supports, railings and hand rails were done this fall. Happy to have this one behind me. Numerous issues and design changes were time killers.

View attachment 233442

View attachment 233443
Great job Tim. Don't see a "before" pic, but I can imagine this is a huge improvement!
 
I've got a little bit of Trex on a walkway to the garage, but it doesn't get any afternoon sun. Gets hot, but not had any problems with it.

My new love-hate is with PVC trim. Love how it cuts, easy to install with adhesive, but the dust from cutting sticks to and imbeds in everything. Didn't have an air compressor with me, and couldn't get the dust off myself, my clothes or anything else it touched or landed on. At least I was outside cutting it instead of inside making a mess.
I have yet to find some "alternate" to wood that I like. Well, except for plaster (my nod to @Mike1950 ). Got some trim from the reuse store recently. to make the boss lady some picture frames. Did not notice that one was "something other than wood". Put it on the miter saw and it melted. Only "alternate to wood" product I have had any use for is Flexible Molding. For all it's downfalls of not being wood - if ya gotta go around a curve or arch - it's the cat's meow! Never used it myself, but for a couple of buildings - it has been indispensable. 35 years ago when I first had to use it (base and capital trim around some formed round concrete columns of varying diameters - 18" up to 30"), it was very hard to source, had few options, and was mightily expensive. Now not so hard to find, have quite a few more options, but is still mightily expensive.
 
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