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Porch Construction Completed

Now the fun part….

click on images for large version….

ken ritchie construction

Early this week Ken finished up the lattice on the lower portion of the porches, finishing off the project. The results look great, we are quite happy with the way they turned out. A definite improvement over the rotting, crooked 120 year old versions. I wonder if these will last for another 120 years.

With the construction complete, the next step is all the finish work. I plan to do that work myself later this summer and into the fall. All the posts will be wrapped with poplar and railings installed. New gingerbread will be added along with a few other embellishments.

The ceilings inside will be covered with tongue and groove pine and varnished. Pot lights will be added, along with the obligatory porch swing. Once all the finish work is complete, new shutters will be added and the whole place painted. Still have not decided on colours, but I am envisioning four or five colours will be used.

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Once the old, disgusting aluminum screen door was removed the original front door could be seen. Its in very good shape considering its age so we do not plan on replacing it, just restoring it as best we can. When the screen door was installed they hacked all the decorative trim off to fit it in place, pretty much ruining it. I don’t see much of an issue to re-create it so I will do that when the rest of the finish work is done. The door is a full 2″ thick and made of virgin pine, so it is a good candidate for restoration. Our concern is that without a storm or glass door we will freeze in the winter as this isn’t exactly a state of the art enclosure. Putting another glass door in front of this one would hide the door, so we are still looking for alternatives.

We would like to replace the glass with some stained glass, but we are still considering that.

The original mechanical door bell is still in place and works. Its an interesting feature, so we will rebuild that as well.

ken ritchie construction

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At the back of the house our little vegetable garden is filling in nicely thanks to the endless rail rain we have been having this summer. Quite a contrast from the drought we had all last year.

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A little perennial garden out back. Apparently these are yellow and white flowers.

About the Author:

I'm your host, Tim Warris, a product developer in Port Dover, Ontario. Since March of 2007 I have been documenting the construction of the former CNJ Bronx Terminal in HO scale. For my day job, I design track building tools for Fast Tracks, a small company I own and operate. Fast Tracks makes it fast and easy to hand lay your own trackwork. Stop by our website to learn more!

Posted by: Tim | 06-27-2008 | 09:06 AM
Posted in: Our Old House | Picture of the Day

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