This is a big, big week coming up!! The 2nd annual Haven conference is happening this week, starting on Thursday night, so my week is going to be busy, busy, busy! I’ve got posts lined up for you so nothing will stop on the blog, but just know that I’ll be running like a crazy lady this week. The Haven team is so excited for this year’s conference and we just know that it’s going to be even better than last year!! You’ll be hearing all about it after it’s over too.
But meanwhile, we’ve still been in project mode at my house. Even though we are now enjoying my screened porch so much and it’s all beautifully decorated, the outside wasn’t quite so beautiful and we’ve been trying to get all that finished up. Just those little details that take awhile to complete and the rain hasn’t helped either. Oh, the rain we’ve had! So, we had a few days of sunshine last week and were able to get most of it done…..finally. I’ve been living with a mess of a backyard since March when we set up shop out there. My dad’s table saw has been sitting on sawhorses and we just covered it with a tarp to protect it from the rain, so it’s nice to get that down and stored again.
So this is the mess I see when I look outside my porch windows. Not exactly paradise out here. I’m hoping to get this all cleaned up in August and all this debris hauled away.
Little by little we are finishing up the stairs and getting everything trimmed out. It’s amazing all the cuts and fitting that has to be done on something like this. I really didn’t think it would take 4 months to finish the porch, but it sure did. Between rainy weather and both of us out of town and traveling at times, it’s gone on a lot longer than anticipated.
Some siding was added which you can see has to be painted too.
We reused some of the wood that we took down when the screening went up, but a few extra boards had to be put up. Dad is measuring to add another board right below the windows. Then we will trim out around the screens and hide all the nails behind strips of wood.
We bought these fence post pieces to rip up and use as our trim around the screens. All will be painted out eventually.
Ripping up the fence pieces.
Cutting them to fit.
After we ripped all those small slats to fit between the screens, we got them primed and painted.
Here you can see the outside where the screening is tacked up and waiting for trim. The trim work will finish it off nicely especially when I finally get everything painted out here.
We alternated between finishing out the stairs and working on the screen trimming.
Finally got around to cutting down those big posts that anchor the bottom steps.
Dad marked his line and started cutting with the skillsaw.
Then he finished off the cut with his handsaw.
He loves that handsaw.
I got these cute copper cap pieces at Lowes to fit on top of the posts.
Don’t you love them? They add a little bit of bling to the stairs.
Dad has been busy working on these stairs and we are finally finished with them. Lots of cutting and fitting in pieces here and there. They are definitely not perfect and a pro carpenter would probably not like them, but I think they are pretty and work just fine. They are nice and solid and should stay here for years. All of this wood is pressure treated and should hold up for a long, long time. I’ll soon paint all of this out with a solid wood stain. You can see we reused some of the old stair materials too, that’s where the blue color comes from.
The stairs feel good going up and down now.
Close up of my copper caps on top.
Next all those slats were primed and painted with 2 coats of exterior white.
And we got started on that job next. Dad cut all those slats to fit right on top of the screens where the wood posts are and it will cover all the nails.
This is before we started.
Back to trimming off the ends of the rails going down, I had him cut those at an angle. You know, all fancy like. 
He finished that off with the handsaw.
I’ll sand it a bit and paint it all out. Paint will make it all look better.
Dad taking a break.
So here we are til this point, almost done with the stairs.
Starting to cut the slats.
Now all the trimming around the windows goes up and I’m glad I painted most of it before it went up. Much easier than cutting in around that screen.
White slats all in place and finished.
On this end too. I have plenty of painting to finish up as well, but I’m so happy to be done with the trim work.
Front side trimmed out.
We figured out one more thing to make the stairs look better and cut some of those fence slats to fit on the ends of the stairs.
Cut them on an angle and slid them in place and got them nailed with the nailgun.
I think it looks pretty darn good.
Here’s a reminder of where the porch started when we bought the house. A shell of a porch, very basic with nothing finished out. The old stairs were so pathetic, they were hard to walk up and down. But, I can tell you I was ecstatic that the house had a porch, I knew we could do something with it….and we did!
One of my projects will be adding a brick landing at the bottom of the stairs. My dad has lots of left over brick and I’m going to get those over here and make a nice brick landing coming out from the bottom of the stairs and I’ll fill in that little alcove with bricks too, which will help keep the dirt down and everything cleaner.
I can’t wait to get this backyard cleaned up! I hate living with a mess like this, but it was necessary to get this job done. We are both so happy it’s all finished. Well mostly finished. The other end of the porch still has to have lattice added. Dad is going to build a gate that will open and close for storage under the porch and we have to clean out all the extra lumber that has been stored under there. So, as soon as I can, we’ll clean up the mess, get rid of the extra lumber (which means Dad will take most of it back to his house, he is a lumber hoarder) and then I’ll have my pretty backyard again. I think I’ll get another Bagster for clean-up this time. Those work really well.
This is my view through the screens….yuck!
Yay! It’s a great feeling to get the outside finished and it will soon be pretty like the inside. Can’t wait to get the yard cleaned up and everything painted. I think my Dad did an awesome job on this project, don’t you?
I took one more little video of him as we were finishing up, so enjoy!
Oh My Gosh ! I Love that sweet Daddy of yours ! You are so blessed with your Daddy and Mama by your side…..I know you treasure every minute with them….LOVE to hear your Daddy talk !
Oh, Rhoda, I think your dad is just great! I get tired just thinking of all he and your mama manage to keep up with. If they feel the need to visit southwestern Pa. (and maybe do a little remodeling and cooking) I have just the place for them. I know you treasure them both. House is looking so good.
Rhoda,
I can’t wait to see when everything is totally finished! So far it looks fantastic! It will be a wonderful place to sit bug free. So happy that you included a video of your dad. I also saw the video of his birthday. He seems like a wonderful man and boy is he talented! The video really captures his essence and personality. You are so blessed to have him help you with all of your house projects.
Wow, what a beautiful screened porch. You & your Dad have really done wonders – great job! Have you thought about adding 3 window boxes along the back side of the porch? Just a thought!
Dawn
Rhoda- You are a truly blessed woman to have such wonderful parents! Such a talented guy, your Daddy is!!
Looking forward to Haven again this year!
Hope you are able to get some rest at the end of each busy day!
xo-Lisa
Dear Rhoda,
God Bless your Daddy – he is the best. His hands says it all! You are one lucky girl to still have your sweet daddy around. You both have accomplished so much and everything looks beautiful – just like you and your daddy.
Hugs,
Connie
I loved watching your daddy….seems daddy’s are always willing to do projects that will make their daughters happy. My daddy and I always worked so good together …had been doing projects with him since I was a girl…learned so much from him…he and I worked so good together…in his later years when he wasn’t able to do things as he once did…that’s where I came in using all the things he had taught me..
I loved my daddy’s hands (I know there was a song about that). I can still see his hands today….If I were you I would get a picture of his hands as he did that work and a copy of his signature..I have my daddy’s signature in a frame…you will be so glad you did.
Enjoy every minute you have with him…
Rhoda, I know exactly how you feel. We started refinishing our deck in June and the deck has been a total mess since then until last week. The rain has been relentless! Can’t wait to meet you on Thurs. Thanks for all the hard work on the conference.
Your home is beautiful. I have enjoyed following your remodel.
You and your dad make a great team!
I know I have told you this before, but I just love seeing pics of your Dad working on your house! You are so blessed to have him, I know i don’t need to tell you this. My father was a carpenter by trade and died suddenly at age 54 when I was 6 years old and I still have a hole in my heart for sure. When I see pics of your father’s hands it reminds me of glimpses remember of my father’s hands with hammer bruises here and there on his thumbnails! Please, please, please consider taking some close up photographs of his hands (and do your Mom’s too while you are at it, as I’ve seen her hands at work in the kitchen from your pics there too!) You will be so happy to have those pictures. In the meantime, can you please give your parents an extra hug for all of us who have lost our parents? You are so blessed to have them both, and the best part of this is, you know it, this I know. May you continue to have each other for a long time! Keep finding projects for dear old Dad!
HI, Joanne, thanks for such a sweet comment! Yes, I am very blessed to have my folks and I do know that. I can’t imagine not having them in my life and I treasure all the time we have with them. I’ve already taken pics of my dad and my hands while we were renovating and they are on a canvas print hanging in my hallway. Great memory!
just read Rose Mary’s post that was similar to mine about photographing your Dad’s hands- great minds think alike!
Loved reading about your porch & your dad! Everything is looking great! Looking forward to Haven, too!
Rhoda, I’m so excited to meet you in person!!!! I know that you are the backbone… behind Haven! I bet you are going a little crazy now! I just want to thank you so so much beforehand for what you do!!! I’m so excited to be going this year that I could jump right out of my skin!!!!
I’ll be praying for you and the team!
The porch is looking great! Your dad is one thousand percent awesome! Just showed the post to my husband who continues to be in awe of your dad too. And I love how you honor your dad with the short videos, they especially create a strong connection with readers as well, we all want a Rhoda’s dad!
I have enjoyed reading of the progress on your porch (as well as your other home projects) and agree with many of the comments that your dad is a real gem. After having my parents pass in recent years, I can tell you that these special times with your dad (and all that you have accomplished together in your home) will be even more precious in the years to come. Precious times and precious memories…
The porch looks amazing and your father is a rock star!!!!!
The porch is just amazing and so is your dad!…It must be such a joy to walk through your home and see your dad’s beautiful work everywhere…He should have his own TV show!…:)
Looking forward to seeing you at Haven!!
Hi, Rhoda. Me again :). I seldom read others’ comments, because I want my comments to be my own, and here’s what I was going to say: I love the relationship you have with your dad…you are so lucky to still have him, and that he’s well enough to help you and do so much work for you. I also wanted to tell you that that close-up picture of his hands and the (jig?) was is absolute beauty. May I suggest you print that in black and white and frame it? A tribute to his work and love for you.
For some reason I glanced through your comments on this post, and see that many of them are about your dad. How awesome!
Good luck with the conference! I can’t wait to read about it! ~Zuni
Your Dad is awesome!
Love seeing your dad. Thanks for the video…love to hear his voice. What a great man. My dad did many projects around my house but is too sickly now. Enjoy every day with him. Love the porch.