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DIY porch renovation: demolition phase

Guest blogger Jay Hiltz describes the demolition phase of his DIY porch renovation.

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Guest blogger and DIY aficionado Jay Hiltz discusses a porch renovation at his home on Nova Scotia’s South Shore.

It’s challenging when people ask you for design advice on the fly. I know what I like but I don’t know what they like or if my ideas will work in their space. I’ve renovated several homes now and I always have to sit in the space long enough for it to speak to me. That sounds hokey but it’s true. This porch has been a project three years in the making.

DIY projects can be daunting. When I watch HGTV shows, I often get overwhelmed and discouraged—who has 30K to spend on a laundry room makeover? And do you really need granite countertops in there?

I’ve become an fan of  “DIY on a dime.” My father has a portable sawmill, so we go as far as milling our own lumber, which means cutting the trees to get the logs. (All the renovations on my current home have been completed with timber and beams that were milled with our own sweat and tears—even for the exterior siding).

This low covered porch originally had a concrete stoop with a built-in well. By the time I acquired the property, the well crocks were filled in with stone and soil (possibly used as a planter) which was a huge waste space. The concrete was cracking and falling apart more each year. Part of me enjoyed its seasoned charm, thinking of all the people who had walked over it and the countless evening sunsets my great-grandparents had sat there musing over the days events (they were missionaries and church planters and their stories were nothing short of captivating). The other part of me grew tired of that same deteriorating look.

I love being able to the incorporate original elements of a space into a more contemporary design—it’s an interesting clash when it works. So, I decided to leave the concrete stoop and use it as the base for the new deck. It would save me from putting in new footing for the deck and would keep the wood away from the moisture of the soil below, prolonging its life. Built improperly, ground-level decking can deteriorate faster than elevated decking.

The demolition phase is one of my favourites…it means lots of sledgehammers and exploding objects. My dad is very much a “let’s get it done” kind of guy. I share that same enthusiasm but I’m a bit more of a “let’s try not to destroy everything around us is in the process” person, which makes for another interesting clash.

Once the well was out of the way, we had to level out the concrete that had heaved over the years from frost and thawing as the ground below settled. Once that was out of the way, we ensured that the frame of the deck was level. I would have removed the covered roof during the demolition process, but my dad insisted we leave it in place for his own reasons. Again—clash and compromise; working with family members means you must choose your battles.

Stay tuned for a post on “Phase two–framing and decking” as this porch renovation really gets underway.

Janice Hudson

East Coast Living