Screened Porch Duplication

I have been working on this project off and on all summer. A contractor friend of mine was unable to do the job so he introduced me to the home owner. This house was built in 1923 and the home owner wanted me to reproduce the archways and pillars because the originals were rotten and falling apart. I was real hesitant at taking on the job because I knew it was going to take a long time to build since I already have a full time job and I have never made any sort of archway before. But at the time I really didn’t have any major projects going so I decided to try it.

The first thing that I did was underbid the job by about $1,000.00. The second thing that I did was agree to use treated pine instead of cedar because the home owner did not want to pay extra for cedar. The third thing I did was fight the wet treated wood as it warped, twisted, cracked, and shrunk.

None of the trim was purchased. It was all milled and created by me. I used dimensional lumber and 5/4 decking boards and cut it down to the correct sizes and shapes. I used 1/4” plywood to make templates for the arches. Some of the wood is bent to shape and some is cut to shape. The panels in the top and bottom of the pillars are floating to allow expansion and contraction without cracking. The bottom panel is actually several 2” strips of wood glued together with a glue joint router bit from MLCS woodworking. Then I used a V groove router bit to make the panel look like it is bead board since you can not buy treated bead board. The arches are screwed into the brick with tapcons and the trim is all put together with trim screws. The only nails used were brads to attach the trim. The whole entry way and window are easily removed by just backing out a few screws and removing a little trim. The home owner chose bronze screen wire of a pretty heavy gauge to cover the openings. That was a wise decision because it went up so well.

Both mentally and physically I would have to say that this has been the most complicated and stressful thing that I have ever built. The customer is totally pleased and now has other work for me to do. I am relieved that this project is finally finished.

-- When it feels like a job, it isn't a hobby anymore.