Type of Work: Front Porch Rehab
Douglas Fir?!! What?!! Really?!! It may be a bit of an overreaction to get so amped about this seldom
used softwood… but if you knew how many places we had to contact and the overall effort we exerted
in order to bring this project together, you might start to understand our excitement that the whole
project turned into a glowing success!
We contacted a bunch of lumber yards and hardwood stores
around town, looking for Douglas Fir wood, and got the exact same response: “We don’t offer that here”
BUT, WE FORGED AHEAD…
… undeterred and determined… thankfully, we made good contact with a rep by
the name of Andrea at Man’s Lumber who did the leg work to track it down. She was diligent and made
it happen. A huge thanks to her and Man’s!
Our journey was unfinished… we had accomplished finding the floorboards, but we still needed to locate
stair treads. After further research, we realized there was nothing local, at least as far as we could find…
so we looked abroad, on the west side of the country. We finally tracked down a place out West that
would ship us the Douglas Fir Treads (1” thick).
Unique Features to this Job
We hope that you enjoy the before and after pictures posted here, and take a look at the unique changes we made to make this job a success.
1. Custom James Hardie Cedarmill Lap Siding at 4 ½” increments- this is a non-standard increment,
but it was required in order to match the rest of the lap siding on the house.
2. Custom routered stair treads- we routered the sides and backs of the treads, and even had it wrap
the sides of the stringers, creating a very elegant appearance.
3. Brand new hand railings- they look gorgeous!
4. An access door on the side of the homeowner’s porch so that if for any reason, he or anyone else
needs to crawl under, they have that ability.
5. Dropped the wire for the outdoor post cap lighting through the hollow of the column post and drilled
a tunnel to underneath the porch deck, so that an electrician can connect it to the house.
Contact Us
Contact us today at 248-238-8132 if you would like a free estimate for the same quality of workmanship you see in these pictures. Keep in mind that we did not restore every aspect of this porch. We worked with the homeowner’s budget, their design/architectural wishes, and tailored a plan to accomplish those two goals.
Blogger: Christian Kuehn
