Replacing the porch

Stephen, one of my brothers, came over Saturday morning and started work on replacing the tongue and groove flooring on the front porch of the house.

Stephen puts down flooring for a living -- carpet, wood, vinyl, tile -- but the tongue and groove flooring he does is usually not outdoors. But since my house was built in 1849, there are specific design and building issues that need to be followed .... including the way the front porch flooring was done. Staying with tongue and groove was historically correct for the house.

The previous homeowner had used pine boards and did not prime them .... that's why it cupped and did not last that long. The wood we are using this time is fir and we put primer on all sides. That should make it last a lot longer.

And one tiny little thing I forgot to mention ... It was effing hot Saturday. [Click on pic at right to read how hot.] It was so hot, this work really shouldn't have been done on that day. I don't know how Stephen did it. I cramped up when I went in to work later in the day and my body temp was way above what it should have been. After finishing the work on the porch, it was one of the first times I took a cold shower because I really wanted to take a cold shower.

When the porch is completely finished, I'll put up before and after pictures.