Saturday, October 6, 2012

Screen Porch Remodel - Day 6 and a couple hours

Day six was the day that the outside was to be finished. Well, it almost got there...

The siding was put up on the deck side and the tear out on the other side began and it was decided that they would run out of time to finish it that day. We used the light mount box that was on the inside of the screen porch on the outside for a future light purchase. Some of the siding is pretty dirty from being stored in our pole building and some of it is a slightly darker color from being sheltered from the sun inside the screen porch, but it should all match up after a good washing and some sun exposure. So, here is where it stood after a complete day six.

 Deck side complete. Check!

 J in his natural state or just trying to figure out if they can complete the other side before the end of the day.

Starting the tear out of the other side before deciding to call it a day.

The next day of work came and what they thought would be a few hours ended up only taking them an hour tops. Guess that work could have been finished on day six instead of day six plus a few hours. That's all right, we got to visit with Jon for a bit before he went home. Here is the outside complete in all it's windowed, doored, and sided glory.

 You can really see the color difference in the extra pieces here, but they should clean up and match nicely.

 Lots of little cuts to go between the windows and on the corner behind the drain.

Here is the side that only took an hour to complete.

Now we look into the interior, plus a few other plan adjustments. Let's revisit our to-do list, shall we?
  • Tear out the existing screening, door, and framing
  • Remove the ratty, green, plastic carpet
  • Remove the siding that is inside the screened porch
  • Frame out the new walls with 2x6 wood so we can pack in more insulation (plus the corner beam is a 6x6 so we thought it would be better to have the wall depth match and cover the beam)
  • Install HUGE new windows (which will have a nice deep sill on the inside thanks to the 2x6 framing) and a new glass door that is bigger than the teeny tiny one we have now
  • Install siding on the outside that matches our current siding (Although, we have discussed changing out all the siding for something with more interest. We're tired of beige and white houses. That is further in the future though.)
  • Tear-out of the old plywood inside the room - nope, just going to drywall right over it
  • Additional tear out of the ceiling "siding" and all the exterior trim that can be removed
  • Run new outlets and wiring for the room since it was a screened porch and currently has one outdoor outlet
  • Move the exterior light next to the slider outside to the deck - Um, yeah. The husband kind of gave away our old light so we'll be shopping for a new one
  • Reinsulate the walls and ceiling - this will only be insulate the new walls because the original walls do have insulation
  • Drywall
  • Paint
  • Install electric underfloor heating - decided to tie into the heat duct that runs up to our youngest daughter's room
  • Find some kind of flooring that we can agree with (husband wants tile, I want cork)
  • Install a ceiling fan to keep the room cool during the warm months since there isn't any HVAC ducting to it - we'll still install a fan to keep it comfortable when the windows are open
  • Figure out some kind of table and seating arrangement (banquette, benches, round table with chairs, etc.)
  • Decorate

Friday, October 5, 2012

Screen Porch Remodel - Day 5 Follow-up

So, there was a minor detail I forgot to mention about what happened on work day five. Word of caution to all the DIYers out there. Watch your bonus helpers. Watch them very, very carefully. For that matter, depending on who they are, you may not want to let them hold or use any tools.

Someone, we won't name names, thought the J channel would be better off attached to the window frame and not the Tyvek wrapped OSB. He was adamant that his way would work best despite repeated warnings and orders to put the hammer down. Here are the results.



That is a 1 inch hole in the side of the window.

So, we fixed it. More of that silver tape from the top of the window all the way down the side of the window frame. We got lucky. The glass didn't shatter, the frame wasn't damaged more, and we didn't have to replace the whole window which would have been very, very pricey. Lesson learned by all.