Check Out My New Sun Room
Guys....... you have no idea how happy this post makes me! This is a huge one boys and girls. Are you ready????
So way back 8 years ago when I built my house, I added on a screened porch. And I hated it the minute I saw it. Like if I could have ripped it down with my bare hands, I would have. It was made with quite possibly the worst materials these idiot builders could have found. So I did what any sane person would do.... I closed the curtains on my slider and ignored it for two years.
I finally decided to put some furniture out there and "try" to make it work. Well, it didn't. So I did what any sane person would do..... I closed the curtains again and ignored it for another two years.
Then a few years ago I was determined to make it work. I thought I didn't like it because it was blah and boring and tan and brown. And it had ugly paneling on the walls. And a shitty screen door that was falling apart. So I did what any sane person would do and I painted the ceiling bright yellow and the floors bright aqua and recovered the furniture cushions with a bright fabric and prayed that I would like it.
Which I did..... for a while. But it got dirty. And full of bugs. And every time I wanted to use it I had to spend hours cleaning it before I would even attempt to sit on one of the chairs. It was just.plain.gross.
This has been the dilemma ever since. I make changes and I like it for a bit. Then I go back to hating it and closing the curtains. And the main reason I hate it boils down to the fact that it's an open screened porch. It gets dirty and full of disgusting bugs and spiders. It's open to the elements so it gets soaked when it rains out and snow comes inside in the winter months.
So the plan has been to enclose it. To make it a sun room instead of a screened porch. That way, I could close the windows when it rains, open them when it's nice and sunny, and make it BUG AND SPIDER FREE! As a bonus, I could store some of the outdoor furniture in there in the winter to get them out of the garage or snow, if I was too lazy to take them inside for the winter. Which let's be honest, ends up being the case.
Well, my friends, the time came for me to bite the bullet and get it done. I called up my Daddy-O, somehow convinced him to dust off his construction skills, and come help me do it. We put together a plan and figured out what materials (and how much) I'd need and I went over to Menards to place my order. The best thing about it was that Menards had their 11% rebate at that time, so I knew I'd #1 save money and #2 get money back from this huge purchase.
Guys. I expected to pay about $5,000 on this room. If it was under that- it'd be a pleasant surprise and if it was over that, oh well. I wanted it done. I didn't care. The good thing about this is that I didn't have to hire the labor out. Well.... unless making carrot cake for my Dad constitutes payment.... So I saved quite a bit from the get go. I'll eventually do a cost analysis on it to see exactly what I spent- but I can tell you the first big purchase ended up being less than $2700. This included custom windows and a custom door, new siding and all the pieces that go along with it (I know way more about j-channels than I'll ever need to), plywood, 2X4's, house wrap, etc. etc. etc. I was PLEASANTLY surprised! Plus I got 11% back on that on a future purchase. Boom, bitches.
I had all of the materials delivered on Aug. 26th, the day my Dad and Aunt Gayle were to arrive. I got up super early on that morning, moved some of the furniture out of the way, moved the wood pile to the other side of the patio, and got to destroying that piece of shit porch. Oh and just wait for the disgustingness that was uncovered. Let's all check out the before picture from the outside (taken a few years ago).
And let's see some demo!!!
I was done before noon. It.Was.Awesome. It already looks 1 miiiiiiiiiiiillion times better and there aren't even windows in yet! Then it was time to wait for them to arrive and start rebuilding it the next morning.
We started by getting rid of more of the ceiling and removing the load baring posts and replacing them with new ones and then replacing the footers (or at least I'm assuming that's what they are called). This time we actually drilled them into the concrete, you know, like they should have been to begin with. Idiots.
Oh and did you notice the patchwork where the beams should have been? Idiots.
Once we had that done we started framing out the front wall- which in the above picture is on the right. It's the wall opposite of the slider into the house. But first, the door!!!!!!
Day 2 got the other two walls up and I threw a few wrenches into the plan. I'm sure my Dad appreciated that! Right, Dad? You love me.
The above picture shows wrench #1 in the plans. The big window is the same size as the opposite wall that has two. They are a two window unit that ends up being 48" X 48". Well this wall only planned on having that one window. But I saw allllllll that walllllllll and didn't like it at all. While I may have HATED the screened porch, I liked the fact that I could see the entire yard because it was wide open. I was not going to like this wall at all. So we figured out how much space there was, I called Menards to see what size windows they had in stock and off to the store I went to get the biggest one that would fit in that space. Hence, the second smaller window now on this wall.
Day #3 brought the plywood. It was then that it really started to look like the room. It was so exciting.
I think it was at this point that the neighbors started stalking my corner to see what we were doing. At one point, they set up lawn chairs on my sidewalk and drank glasses of sweet tea. Nosy ass people. Just kidding, but there were a lot more people "walking their dogs" and driving 5mph by my house.
The next day we got the top halves of the walls on.
Also, before we started on the walls, we may have drilled some holes in the 2X4's so some electrical. Wrench #2.
Here is the inside of the room at this point.
NOW it's time for windows!
This sight almost made me shed a tear. Almost. Simmer down. We all know I have no feelings. There's a big black hole where my heart should be.
Then came the other side.
Finally it was time for the 90" window. This one made me a little nervous. The entire time I was repeating DON'T BREAK, PLEASE DON'T BREAK as we were walking it from the garage to the yard. Since they were all custom windows (aside from the last minute addition), it would have really sucked if it broke. There would be no way for me to order a new one and have it here in time before my Dad and Aunt left. Everything would have been put on hold and it wouldn't have been finished. It would have SUCKED.
Well it was way easier to get that window in than all of us expected. Thank goodness. Here she is!!!!
By the end of the day, we had all of the j-channel on around the windows. Which means that we could start on the siding tomorrow. And when I say "we", I mean my dad. I had to go back to work the next day. Ugh.
Day #6 or so- at this point I don't know how accurate I'm going to be with days. It's all a blur right now.
Lookin good, right? Above you can see wrench #3. See the square between the door and window on the right where the grill is? Well inside the screened porch was an exterior light. That basically didn't do shit for lighting up the outside. So I asked if we could "move" the light to the actual outside. Dad obliged.
Next day my Aunt and I went to the winery and got blitzed while my Dad busted ass with the rest of the siding.
Above is where he was at when we got back. And below is the full wall done.
So way back 8 years ago when I built my house, I added on a screened porch. And I hated it the minute I saw it. Like if I could have ripped it down with my bare hands, I would have. It was made with quite possibly the worst materials these idiot builders could have found. So I did what any sane person would do.... I closed the curtains on my slider and ignored it for two years.
I finally decided to put some furniture out there and "try" to make it work. Well, it didn't. So I did what any sane person would do..... I closed the curtains again and ignored it for another two years.
Then a few years ago I was determined to make it work. I thought I didn't like it because it was blah and boring and tan and brown. And it had ugly paneling on the walls. And a shitty screen door that was falling apart. So I did what any sane person would do and I painted the ceiling bright yellow and the floors bright aqua and recovered the furniture cushions with a bright fabric and prayed that I would like it.
Which I did..... for a while. But it got dirty. And full of bugs. And every time I wanted to use it I had to spend hours cleaning it before I would even attempt to sit on one of the chairs. It was just.plain.gross.
This has been the dilemma ever since. I make changes and I like it for a bit. Then I go back to hating it and closing the curtains. And the main reason I hate it boils down to the fact that it's an open screened porch. It gets dirty and full of disgusting bugs and spiders. It's open to the elements so it gets soaked when it rains out and snow comes inside in the winter months.
So the plan has been to enclose it. To make it a sun room instead of a screened porch. That way, I could close the windows when it rains, open them when it's nice and sunny, and make it BUG AND SPIDER FREE! As a bonus, I could store some of the outdoor furniture in there in the winter to get them out of the garage or snow, if I was too lazy to take them inside for the winter. Which let's be honest, ends up being the case.
Well, my friends, the time came for me to bite the bullet and get it done. I called up my Daddy-O, somehow convinced him to dust off his construction skills, and come help me do it. We put together a plan and figured out what materials (and how much) I'd need and I went over to Menards to place my order. The best thing about it was that Menards had their 11% rebate at that time, so I knew I'd #1 save money and #2 get money back from this huge purchase.
Guys. I expected to pay about $5,000 on this room. If it was under that- it'd be a pleasant surprise and if it was over that, oh well. I wanted it done. I didn't care. The good thing about this is that I didn't have to hire the labor out. Well.... unless making carrot cake for my Dad constitutes payment.... So I saved quite a bit from the get go. I'll eventually do a cost analysis on it to see exactly what I spent- but I can tell you the first big purchase ended up being less than $2700. This included custom windows and a custom door, new siding and all the pieces that go along with it (I know way more about j-channels than I'll ever need to), plywood, 2X4's, house wrap, etc. etc. etc. I was PLEASANTLY surprised! Plus I got 11% back on that on a future purchase. Boom, bitches.
I had all of the materials delivered on Aug. 26th, the day my Dad and Aunt Gayle were to arrive. I got up super early on that morning, moved some of the furniture out of the way, moved the wood pile to the other side of the patio, and got to destroying that piece of shit porch. Oh and just wait for the disgustingness that was uncovered. Let's all check out the before picture from the outside (taken a few years ago).
And let's see some demo!!!
ummmmmm ew.
I was done before noon. It.Was.Awesome. It already looks 1 miiiiiiiiiiiillion times better and there aren't even windows in yet! Then it was time to wait for them to arrive and start rebuilding it the next morning.
We started by getting rid of more of the ceiling and removing the load baring posts and replacing them with new ones and then replacing the footers (or at least I'm assuming that's what they are called). This time we actually drilled them into the concrete, you know, like they should have been to begin with. Idiots.
Oh and did you notice the patchwork where the beams should have been? Idiots.
Once we had that done we started framing out the front wall- which in the above picture is on the right. It's the wall opposite of the slider into the house. But first, the door!!!!!!
As I said above, it's custom made because I wanted it to swing outwards and most exterior doors swing inwards. I know, I'm difficult. But it glorious!
Ummmmm I've got a 90" window going in there! Technically it's one unit but has three windows in it. But check out the size of that thing!
Final shots of day 1.
The above picture shows wrench #1 in the plans. The big window is the same size as the opposite wall that has two. They are a two window unit that ends up being 48" X 48". Well this wall only planned on having that one window. But I saw allllllll that walllllllll and didn't like it at all. While I may have HATED the screened porch, I liked the fact that I could see the entire yard because it was wide open. I was not going to like this wall at all. So we figured out how much space there was, I called Menards to see what size windows they had in stock and off to the store I went to get the biggest one that would fit in that space. Hence, the second smaller window now on this wall.
Day #3 brought the plywood. It was then that it really started to look like the room. It was so exciting.
I think it was at this point that the neighbors started stalking my corner to see what we were doing. At one point, they set up lawn chairs on my sidewalk and drank glasses of sweet tea. Nosy ass people. Just kidding, but there were a lot more people "walking their dogs" and driving 5mph by my house.
The next day we got the top halves of the walls on.
Also, before we started on the walls, we may have drilled some holes in the 2X4's so some electrical. Wrench #2.
Here is the inside of the room at this point.
Oh and notice the foam between the floor and walls. No.More.Bugs. Sealing this room up TIGHT!
Day #5 was windows!!! THIS was the BEST PART! But first, house wrap to keep all of the moisture out! Refer back to demo pictures. MOLD. BLACK mold. Disgusting.
There's the pops! He's camera shy.
Once that was up, we went inside and sliced it all up for the windows to go in.
NOW it's time for windows!
This sight almost made me shed a tear. Almost. Simmer down. We all know I have no feelings. There's a big black hole where my heart should be.
Then came the other side.
Finally it was time for the 90" window. This one made me a little nervous. The entire time I was repeating DON'T BREAK, PLEASE DON'T BREAK as we were walking it from the garage to the yard. Since they were all custom windows (aside from the last minute addition), it would have really sucked if it broke. There would be no way for me to order a new one and have it here in time before my Dad and Aunt left. Everything would have been put on hold and it wouldn't have been finished. It would have SUCKED.
Well it was way easier to get that window in than all of us expected. Thank goodness. Here she is!!!!
By the end of the day, we had all of the j-channel on around the windows. Which means that we could start on the siding tomorrow. And when I say "we", I mean my dad. I had to go back to work the next day. Ugh.
Day #6 or so- at this point I don't know how accurate I'm going to be with days. It's all a blur right now.
Lookin good, right? Above you can see wrench #3. See the square between the door and window on the right where the grill is? Well inside the screened porch was an exterior light. That basically didn't do shit for lighting up the outside. So I asked if we could "move" the light to the actual outside. Dad obliged.
Next day my Aunt and I went to the winery and got blitzed while my Dad busted ass with the rest of the siding.
Above is where he was at when we got back. And below is the full wall done.
I mean seriously though. A week's time, gutted, framed, walls up, windows/door installed, siding on? My dad kicked ass!
Hopefully it doesn't take long for the inside to get done. Thankfully since my dad got this part done so quickly, he helped with a bit on the inside already. So there's just some more stuff that needs to get purchased, installed, and it should be good to go! But the awesome part of this is that one of the last days they were here it started raining out and we were standing inside and not getting hit with rain! Cuz I have windows!!!!
What do you think? Pretty frickin awesome job, right!?!?! A few neighbors walked by and wanted to hire my dad. Especially when they asked me how much he cost and I said free.
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