Timber Porch Build W.I.P

[markblue777]

Hey all,
not posted on here recently as been doing various bits and bobs. However, thought I would give a quick update on what is going on with the porch.

It is pretty much there now. The pics below are a little old now as have done a couple bits out the front (including starting the landscaping of the front garden, well the misses is mainly doing that)

Really you could call it finished as it is just the trim work going up now (I installed the built in show rack but no pics yet and needs trimming and finishing)

Anyway, here are a few shots so you can see what it is like now

Exterior trim work

a little old now as I have put the side fascia on and that has neatened it up even more (just the front left to do and the dry verge)

A couple interior shots of the walls painted (after plastering, never again will i attempt plastering, easier to pay someone; definitely did not enjoy that job.)

Lino laid

(I have a couple bits of skirting on now as well but need to finish the rest.)

More images will come soon as bits are completed

Thanks for reading
Mark

 

[Bm101]

Hope you scribed those internal skirting joints Mark. Looks good mate. You should be proud of yourself.

 

[markblue777]

Thanks Bm,

Is it nest to scribe or mitre internal joints? are scribed less likely to open up?

Cheers
Mark

 

[Bm101]

I think internal corners are scribed more for the reason that generally it's unheard of to have a straight line/angle between walls and floor and your internal corner. In reality, houses are not 'square'. So the scribed joints will be true to the real angles. You can mark out the true angles and mitre them and that works fine on the horizontal plane as long as your floor is perfectly level not so much on the vertical. You're contending with a 3 angle cut so to speak. In a small space like your porch, If you've already cut your skirting I'd leave it personally but I'm no carpenter. I think it applies more along longer lengths of skirting. By scribing the joints you're fitting the skirting to the real angles of the house rather than some theoretical 90 degree. This was explained to me by a proper carpenter over several pints of guinness years ago with much head scratching on my part as he tried to describe scribing. Then he drew it and the light went on straight away. Its a bit like cutting coving where you have to do it upside down and back to front. After 3 days I still couldn't get my head round it. I could do it but everytime I went to cut a bit I had to turn my brain off because it couldn't accept the cut was right if I thought about it.

Edit, over time that'll end up with your joints less likely to move and crack so it's a movement issue too.

Hopefully someone who knows what they are doing will be along to explain properly.

 

[markblue777]

ah yeah makes sense really. I need to get the skirting so open to discussion haha.

 

[Bm101]

Youtube it fella. It's not hard to do. Depends what you want of course to match your house, but it's a good argument for mdf simple pattern skirting in my humble opinion.

 

[markblue777]

well i have a chamfered design when the silver tape is infront of the door so will go matching with that just deciding on the width at the moment as wondering to beef it up or go with what is there as the moment.

 

[markblue777]

Hey All,
Here are a few more pics of the build from the inside. The inside is not far off now (90% complete really just need some paint on the skirting, door frame and window frames and sills and put up the coat hangers (yet to find ones we like yet), and need to fit some trim in some places but not sure what I am using yet (it is to cover the plaster stop bead ends as I did not take into account when framing and setting things up but you learn by your mistakes and it is not a major one). So overall I think I will call this done and will just update a pic of when it is all painted inside.

Skirting in

Built in shoe rack all painted (just some caulking left to do)

Shoe rack actually being used for shoes

Left to do is fascia on the front of the porch, soffit install at the front and dry verge install. Once that is done (hopefully this weekend if the weather holds out) then this W.I.P will be complete and then can get on with the landscaping out the front and install of guttering and working where that will run off too.

Cheers for reading
Mark

 

[Bm101]

Thanks for posting Mark. I've enjoyed this wip. I keep the peepers open now for a blue porch when I drive home your way.
One thing I'd say, and it's just my experience and sorry if I'm teaching the sucking of eggs etc. Might you be better using a mastic rather than caulk? Where you have a fair bit of temperature change you might find caulk is a bit more prone to cracking over time. Might be someone who does this for a living can clarify and tell me why I'm wrong and I'd be pleased to learn. I've just found it to not hold up that well. Intumescent mastic is used as a fire sealent for a variety of uses but it also has a high movement rate. Its stretchy. Again a professional might say I'm doing summat wrong but I like it. It's a little dear but cheaper than doing it all again in 2 years time, My experience with caulk at least.

If you use caulk or mastic with masking tape you might find you get an irritating line the thickness of the tape when you remove it. Never tried it with caulk so I don't know if it works but with mastic get a little plant spray bottle and fill with water, add some fairy liquid. Your looking to get a 'degreaser' so not too much soap. Scientific measurement is a 'squidge' Get a teaspoon with a handle just the right size and curve for your joint and required bead. Oooh, and loads of old rag/kitchen roll to hand too. Pack any big gaps with rag or newspaper it's cheaper than mastic.
Mastic an even line all the way round your joints. Getting an even and steady amount will save you hassle later. Then give it all a spray. Get your spoon, hold it by the eaty end and using the handle start at a corner, push the mastic into the joints and draw down the line keeping it at the same angle. As the excess mastic builds up on the spoon, wipe it off, then start again above where you removed it to maintain your nice smooth finish. Always draw it away from corners. Once you're all done you can give it a light spray again if where you're masticing is dusty to protect it. Leave it all to dry out and wipe it all down with a damp sponge. A few times if you've added too much soap the first time you try it lol. If you do it right, and you will, very quickly, you wont have much excess left at all. Second time you probably won't have any. Wait till it dries and get a sharp razor blade to remove any exess gently.
There you go, you need never use masking tape again except for keeping the kids quiet. Perfect masticing skills learnt in 10 minutes. That means more time for mastication.

Cheers Chris

If anyone from the Plumbers Guild turns up asking questions, you never saw me.

 

[Graham Orm]

Mastic outside, caulk inside. You can't paint mastic but you can caulk.

 

[Bm101]

Don't want to seem argumentative (really), but I've painted over mastic many times and it's held fine Graham.

 

[Graham Orm]

Don't want to seem argumentative (really), but I've painted over mastic many times and it's held fine Graham.

No prob, each to their own.

 

[Bm101]

 

[markblue777]

So another update.

Here is the fascia and soffit installed on the front.
I put some little white caps on the screws since this picture so makes it look a bit cleaner now; well I think so.

I need to put some sealant to hide the little gap between the soffit and fascia (well I don't really but it will make it look cleaner and i'm fussy like that)

I then need to get the dry verge system and get that installed and that will be that.

A lick of paint around the door frame for a nice white gloss finish (and then again around the windows as they are looking a little dirty now)

I have tomorrow off now so a nice 4 day weekend and I am hoping to get the outside fully done including changing the guttering and fascia on the lower part of the house and also getting the landscaping done (so flattening the soil and grading then weed fabric down and gravel down, as long as we can get it delivered)

More pictures should follow after the weekend and hopefully with it done as long as the weather stays nice (or at least dont rain)

Cheers
Mark

 

[Halo Jones]

Good luck on getting it finished. Up here we are forecast snow over the weekend :roll:

 

[markblue777]

so far the forecast is looking alright down here at the moment, so fingers crossed it stays that way

 

[markblue777]

So the long weekend came and went.

I managed to get the fascia and guttering done but did not get all the landscaping complete.

The stone we wanted for the driveway was a special order so we could not get it on the Friday so after that news I put the grading and landscape work on hold, there was no point laying the weed fabric as it just risked getting ripped. However, we got a little pond area done complete with cat platform and tunnel. The stone should be with us tomorrow so here is hoping that I can get all the front finished tomorrow.

The fascia and guttering went fairly smoothly apart from the fact that the fascia that held the guttering was 200mm width instead of 150mm, the part I measured for above the porch and around the corner was 150mm so I had to take a dash down the selco to get the right size, although I could not cut it to the length I needed as it would not fit in the car so I had to put a couple bits up to finish the run (it is not too bad as the guttering hides the join so it is not as obvious).

Did have an issue that I will detail with a pic further down.
Fascia on without guttering

The front with the guttering fitted

the corner that caused a nightmare!

The finished corner

The photo refereed to as a nightmare was as such because in trying to take it off the misses said the roof was moving a bit as she was watching. Turns out that they had nailed the cement board to the fascia so the fascia was in fact supporting some of the corner of the roof. I got to a certain stage of removing the old fascia and then had the make a couple of supports to hold the roof as it originally was and then basically box it in with the new fascia.

The old fascia was also sitting on the wall that allowed moisture not to escape and therefore made some of the mortar behind the fascia fail. So I had to clean up a few bricks and re-bed them in and do a bit of re-pointing. I also had to re do some of the verge's motor (you may be able to see in the photo)

As there was now a gap between the new fascia I had to put some spray foam to ensure no birds decided to make the roof space there a home (venting is dealt with at the front of the house). This was of caused trimmed and I actually even gave it a lick of paint to allow it to blend in white a little more.

I still need to get the guttering on the porch (just deciding how I am going to run it off so want that settled before drilling any holes) and I have to get and fit the dry verge system so not to much left.

bonus shot of the front garden work

one of the cats sitting on the tunnel

The decking boards give 2 functions to keep the soil off the house and to give the cats a tunnel to sleep in and something to walk about on as well. The sun hits the area in the afternoon so they usually sit on it and get their tan on haha. The tunnel is open on all sides so there are 3 openings/exits.

Cheers for reading. Hopefully by Sunday the front landscaping should be done and maybe even the dry verge as well, depending on how things go.
Cheers
Mark

 

[markblue777]

Hi All,
Not been on here for a while, other commitments and all. However thought I would pop on and show the front with the driveway now in place

Still have to do the guttering and dry verge on the porch but it keeps getting put off due to other bits (Just redecorated the kitchen at the weekend).

I will get an updated pic of the internal as that is all complete now and in full use.


Now my next stage is to get the plans drawn up for the extension and get some quotes on how much it is to get me a water right building so I can do the innards myself

Cheers
Mark

 

[Bm101]

Looks very tidy Mark. You should be proud of yourself mate. Get yourself down the pub for a pint or two over the weekend and have a break for a couple of days mate. ccasion5:
(BTW. If you are in need of a reliable roofer for the extension nearer the time, send me a pm fella. The Mrs cousins hubby is a good guy and in Enfield. He's doing my loft extension if I can ever beat the plans out of the architect. No pressure and only if you need it of course.)

Well done fella
Chris

 

[markblue777]

Cheers Chris,
Yeah may well need one to be honest. May even have to get him around to advise on a couple of bits and give us a quote. I wanna get quotes for as a whole and myself project managing and getting the various trades in.