Front Porch
Photos From the Year 2000
Old photographs rediscovered more than 25 years later capture the first transformation of the front porch at House 173.
And looking the other way:
Finding the Old Porch Photos
The other day I came across some actual photographs taken during that first porch remodel, probably back around '99 or 2000. This was long before House 173 became a blog and back when taking pictures meant remembering to have a camera handy, and then paying to get the film developed. So there aren't hundreds of progress shots like there would be today. There are just these few.
They've apparently been sitting around for more than 25 years, never making it onto the blog. So I scanned them, cleaned them up as best I could, and figured it was finally time to give them a home here. They're not great photographs, but at this point they're little pieces of 173's history.
A British porch is a musty, forbidding non-room in which to fling a sodden umbrella or a muddy pair of boots; a guard against the elements and strangers. By contrast the good ol' American front porch seems to stand for positivity and openness; a platform from which to welcome or wave farewell; a place where things of significance could happen. - Dan Stevens
What the Porch Looked Like Back Then
As is so often the case, I don't have any actual "before" pictures of the porch. I keep looking around for some but the fact is - we just didn't take a lot of pictures back then - we just couldn't afford it. But I do have this one:
Sure, a good bit of the work was done, the wall had been stripped of all its paint, I had installed a new ceiling and a fan to go with it, but what you may notice is the low wall beneath the windows was white. When we first got 173 the entire porch was white (including the ceiling) - except the floor which was that old-school gorgeous porch greenish blue!
The First Front Porch Remodel
The lower walls back in the day were thin plywood. They had been painted white and, as is the case with most painted plywood, the paint had (and wood) was rife with small cracks. You can see in this next picture I had removed the old plywood, insulated (obviously you can't see that!) and installed new plywood.
And here's a good look at the wall - completely stripped of paint!:
Here's some porch-related posts - front and back!
∙ The Front Porch - New Windows and Doors Dec 4, 2011
∙ At Long Last - Front Porch Reveal Aug 6, 2013
∙ The Back Porch Megapost June 4, 2020
∙ Shoe Rack for the Back Porch April 13, 2019
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You might also like 812 The Home: The Back Porch
The next step was installing bead board paneling on the short walls. This is the same stuff I put on the ceiling.
The original ceiling was a beautiful tongue and groove, but it had been painted many times over and was peeling and gatoring. My shoulders just wouldn't be able to strip all of that, so I went over it with the paneling. Turned out great and still looks great!
Oh, and somewhere in the middle of all this I discovered that installing ceiling paneling overhead with a hammer and nails is an excellent way to reconsider your life choices. After fighting with it long enough, I finally got aggravated, put down the hammer, stormed off to Sears and bought my very first nail gun, a Craftsman.
I didn't know it at the time, but that little episode probably changed the way I did projects at 173 from then on. Funny how one frustrating afternoon can justify a tool purchase for the next 25-plus years.
The Porch Takes Shape
And when it was all over, the front porch at 173 ended up looking like this:
And looking the other way:
Looking at these pictures now, more than 25 years later, I'm struck by how much has changed, and how much hasn't. The windows are gone, the colors have changed more than once, and the porch has been remodeled again since these pictures were taken. But that beadboard is still there, the ceiling is still holding up, and the porch is still one of our favorite parts of 173.
You can read about those changes in the Front Porch Interior Megapost!
I'm glad these old pictures turned up. They may have spent a couple decades tucked away in a box somewhere, but now this little piece of House 173 history is finally where it belongs.
Hey, thanks for stopping by and we'll see you next time!
Six pictures of an entire porch remodel. That's how you know this happened before smartphones. 😂
Back then you didn't take 40 shots of fresh caulk. You took one picture, hoped nobody blinked, and found out two weeks later.
My favorite part, though, was getting frustrated with the project and driving to Sears for a nail gun.
Some people cool off with a walk.
George bought power tools.
Honestly, I respect that. - Someone Who Remembers Film
Frequently Asked Questions
When was the first front porch remodel at House 173?
The first major front porch remodel took place around 1999 or 2000, only a few years after House 173 was purchased in 1997. Because this work happened before the House 173 blog, and before digital photography became routine, the surviving documentation consists mainly of a handful of old photographs.
What improvements were made during the first porch remodel?
The project included stripping old paint from the walls, replacing deteriorated plywood beneath the windows, adding insulation, installing new beadboard-style paneling on the lower walls and covering the old tongue-and-groove ceiling with matching paneling. A ceiling fan was also installed.
Why was the original porch ceiling covered instead of restored?
The original tongue-and-groove ceiling had accumulated many layers of paint that were peeling and heavily alligatored. Stripping an entire ceiling overhead would have been extremely labor-intensive, so paneling was installed over the original material instead. More than two decades later, that solution has held up remarkably well.
Why did the front porch eventually need another remodel?
The biggest problem was the original windows. Although the inward-opening windows gave the porch a breezy, traditional appearance, they were old and increasingly difficult to weatherproof. Water eventually stained the paneling below them, helping drive the later replacement of the windows and another porch renovation.
Are old renovation photographs worth saving?
Absolutely. Even photographs that seemed ordinary when they were taken can eventually become valuable records of a home's history. They can document previous materials, construction details, room arrangements and changes that may otherwise be forgotten, especially for projects completed before blogs and smartphones made photographing every step commonplace.
Keywords
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