This week on the blog, I’m sharing the reveal of our front porch and the last minute change we made to save the aesthetics of the design.
When I left you last week, our front porch was nearly complete. There were only a few more things to do before the guys wrapped our project. But Friday evening, while outside checking out the progress, Mike and I couldn’t stop staring at our new walkway.
And the more we stared the more we knew something had to change. So, Mike sent Brook a quick text message on Saturday morning to see if he could meet us at the house on Monday. Brook already knew what we were thinking and told us we would come up with a solution on Monday.
Let me catch you up.
A Last Minute Design Change
So, when the guys left last Friday, and Mike and I were standing on the sidewalk taking it all in, we couldn’t help but stare. Our walkway looked like we had installed a ramp up to our front porch.
The slope was steeper than we were expecting and we just didn’t love the look of it. I thought if they continued the retaining wall along the walkway, it might conceal it from the street.
Mike didn’t love that idea and I wasn’t sure it would actually visually fix what we didn’t love about the design. He thought maybe they could level it out and add a step at the left edge of the porch leading up to the patio. I liked the idea so we decided to text Brook on Saturday.
Jack had sent a picture to Brook on Friday and they had already chatted about the design. I think he had anticipated we might want a change and assured us we would come up with a solution on Monday.
Adding an Additional Step
When Brook arrived on Monday with the guys, he took a look at the progress and listened to our thoughts. After taking it all in and checking a few measurements, he had a different idea.
He thought the best solution was adding a step at the other end. Where the edge of the walkway meets the driveway. I couldn’t picture how this would look and I was hesitant to get on board.
As Brook talked through his reasons for this solution, the completed image became clearer in my head and I gave the ok. One of the reasons Brook wanted to move the step to this end, was to prevent the rise of the first porch stair from going over 7″. As he talked through the options, it became clear that this was the best solution to get what we wanted and keep everything to code as well.
With a new plan in place, Jack got to work pulling pavers so he could adjust the height of the walkway and add the small step down to the driveway.
Extending the Retaining Wall
While Jack worked on the walkway, the guys got to work on the retaining wall. When they left last Friday, they had made a start but still had most of the flower bed to do. The adjustment to the walkway also included the retaining wall continuing down along side the walkway and ending at the drive.
Juan and Ant placed and glued blocks and Jack made any necessary cuts to create the slight curve we added. They were able to get most of the wall done and only had a small section left to do Tuesday.
Before they left for the day, Jack also glued down all the caps on the front porch leaving just the top of the porch left to do. We have an outlet on the side of our house along the porch and it stopped working a couple of years ago. We don’t typically use it and it wasn’t in the plan to fix.
With the additional height the crushed limestone and pavers were adding to the top of the porch though, Jack was going to have to raise the outlet. And since Jack doesn’t do anything halfway, he said he would replace the outlet for us and get us a new, slimmer cover.
Final Details and the Reveal
The guys had a quick job to complete in the morning so they arrived a little late. Once there, Jack got to work on replacing the outlet so he could finish laying the pavers on the porch.
While he worked on that, Ant and Juan worked on finishing the retailing wall. Once they completed the wall, they adjusted the placement of the lights in the ground and added mulch to the front flower bed.
Once Jack was done laying pavers, they started sweeping the sand to fill in the grout lines. They also used sand to fill the hole to the right of the porch next to the driveway for a cleaner, finished look.
Once the sand was in, all that was left to do was pack up their tools and finish some minor cleanup. We are SO excited to have this final piece complete! Even though we still need furniture and the flower bed is in need of some color, there’s no denying the front of our house looks so much better.
So here it is, the final reveal of our front porch makeover.
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