Before and After: Side Porch

This project is pretty self explanatory! We have a heavily used side entrance to our house (where both the mudroom and kitchen exterior doors are) and the deck, well...it was red and also the wood was not in the best shape. The top step board wiggled when you stepped on it and a lot of the other planks were cracked with chipping paint. Not the best look.

So we checked the calendar for a good rebuild date that worked for my dad. If you'll recall he helped completely replace the deck at our old house, and this project was really peanuts compared to that. "We can do it in a day," they said.

And in a day they did! Approximately 9 am until 5 pm yesterday our driveway looked like this:

The boys' tools are scattered in there too. Obviously.

I was a little nervous about the color Trex we had picked because I didn't have time to special order anything from Home Depot or Lowe's - I had to pick what was in stock which was not a lot. Ultimately I am so happy with it though! My before and afters are a tad off, I'm out of practice, but here are the winning shots!

Before:

After (not mopped or wiped yet):

Before:

After:

Before:

After: 

Before, looking out from the kitchen:

After: 

Now I need a new mat! 

The in-between...

 

Ta-dah!
This morning the deck was already in use.

Pretty often when I go get my hair highlighted, when I look in the mirror afterwards, I'm like WHOA! I had no idea how old and bad-looking I'd become until I saw myself fresh and new! This porch was kind of like that. And of course now I want to replace our entire back deck with the same stuff (which is Trex in the Clamshell color) because it too is suffering.

Anyway, a huge thank you to Jason and to Poppy and Mema for coming to visit so this could happen! I love my new porch and did practically nothing to contribute to how awesome it came out. My favorite kind of project! :D