The other day I walked outside and the ugly starting to mold outdoor carpet on our front porch had pulled away from the cement. I had to rip some off immediately to keep from S falling. By the end of the day I was super annoyed that it was half falling off and just really an eye sore. So we decided to take on this project all at once- get rid of the old black metal railings, pull up the carpet, and replace it all with a new look. At the end it will have a nice white railing, a new coat of paint on the porch area, and some new (non molding) outdoor rug over it. With S running in and out, the outdoor rug provides a little extra padding when she inevitably tumbles out the front door onto it.
Here are some photos of our work thus far along the way. Still have a lot to do, but the eyesore is gone.
That was the starting look. Can you see the mold on the side of the porch? The flowers help keep things looking okay, but it was getting really bad.
J got the entire carpet and railing off within an hour. A sawzall and ratchet did the trick on the railing. Oh, but here is one thing: do not use the sawzall while your wife is trying to put the baby down for a nap. It will inevitably not go well. Also note the nice chalk drawings on our stairs- pretty fancy, right?! So once it was stripped down we were left with chipping cement paint and uneven ground. And no railing.
A scraper got the chipping paint off- and then thick coat of new waterproof paint was applied which is what you see in that left photo. We knew we had to put some outdoor carpet back down, but waterproof painting should help with avoiding mold this time while leaving a soft(er) surface for the kiddo. Sienna is sitting on the outdoor carpet in that photo clapping and saying YAY as daddy worked.
Up next? Putting in the post for the bottom of the new railings. This calls for a post hole digger. {Side note, if you're a parent of a toddler have you ever seen the dig-zacto episode of curious George? It's all I could think of the entire time we used this thing.} You have to dig a 2 foot deep hole to put the 4x4 in. Sienna was helping daddy carry a lighter piece of wood while he carried the level. You can see in that second picture above here there are two pieces of wood in the ground- the second smaller piece S was carrying is also in the ground- you nail a smaller piece across the two after you pour concrete into the hole for the 4x4 to keep it level. Oh and Sienna kept saying "Nenna peak!" to look into the concrete bucket since we said no hands in there. So cute.
Here's where we are now! J put the new carpet down. I didn't take photos because I was trying to prevent the little one from getting her feet in the glue. The post is in and setting. The carpet is down. Next up is building the railing and the side rail. But for now some major improvement around here.
I know we sort of took a house hiatus for awhile but... we're BACK. And there are quite a few projects on the docket now. The finishing touches are officially on our list!
**Disclaimer: Sienna is dressed in unmatching pajamas playing outside because today she insisted on her mickey shirt for nap time and then refused to put back on real clothes when she woke up. Pick your battles, right?
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