Side Porch Fix

Here's where the side porch attaches to the house. In this "before" picture, you can see that the big 4x6 beam is completely rotted along one side. The connection between the porch and the house is tenuous, at best:

Here's the same area after the rotting wood has been replaced:

Note the new double 4x6 edge on the near edge porch diaphragm, the extremely close fit of the 4x6 beam replacement on the main house, and the new 2x12 fastened securely to the side of the house.

Some time in the past, the previous owners "repaired" the side porch by doing some "carpentry" underneath of it. Here's what it looked like:

We're not quite sure what they thought they were going to accomplish. The results were bad, however -- the floor above had a big "hump" right in the middle. You can't see all of it in that picture, but there is a post and pier right smack dab in the middle of the porch. The top of it is fastened by a single L bracket screwed to its side -- yikes. Note the many shims.

Here's a picture of that same area today:

There's a nice new 4x12 cross-beam running down the center where the post and pier used to be. The existing joists have been strengthened with sistered members, both being correctly hung from the new cross-beam. The contractors fixed the "hump" in the middle and the porch now correctly directs water away from the house.

posted by noel on 02/08/05