New Front Door

We are making small but meaningful strides on the front of the house. If you have missed my previous post on the water damage we uncovered click here. Don’t get me wrong - my front yard still looks like an archaeological dig site but things are definitely improving! The water damage has been repaired and new stucco/cement has been applied to the front of the house. I’ve been advised by my contractor that I can’t paint the stucco for 28 days until it fully cures. Anyone ever heard of that rule? Four weeks seems a little excessive.

The wood rot behind the porch was so extensive that it was seeping up into the front door causing that to need to be replaced as well (and the door was almost 20 years old - so it was time). I didn’t really have time to shop for my “dream door” since it was kind of an emergency situation to get one on order right away. So we picked out a very standard door that was similar to what we were taking out, and our contractor finished installing the new one today. (I’m doing a little dance now, can you tell?) It’s so much more solid that the previous one - I have no doubt that we will have some energy savings with it. AND here’s the best part: this door qualifies for a tax credit as part of the stimulus package. So hopefully we will get a little money back next year on the unexpected purchase! If you are replacing windows and door this year or next, make sure that you check out the energystar.gov webpage to see if your project qualifies too!

Next up is the front porch and walkway - then I will focus on painting the door. I’m thinking a dark forest green....

Front Porch Nightmare

The current crisis at home is with our front porch. It is beautiful Italian stone, and was somewhat newly installed by the previous owners when we bought our house six and a half years ago. But over the past several years, the stones on the porch have shifted around. Ed and I have consulted with many landscapers and masons over the past two years about how to best approach the situation. The collective opinion was that the steps were never put in properly in the first place. In particular, they were built over the existing concrete foundation and inadequate drainage was provided causing everything to move, and the sides to sink over time. Just yesterday, our selected contractor began to take apart the porch in order re-build it properly. However, what we found behind the steps was that much of the water from the wet weather was draining toward the house and the wood under the door is damp and decaying. Like with any home repair - we’ve uncovered a much bigger problem than we had anticipated. Now the steps can’t go back in until the wood is ripped out and replaced and the whole thing is re-stuccoed. Everyone is saying “one week” but somehow I think this may be the tip of the iceberg.....