# Home Owners: Porch and Patio
**URL:** https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195
**Category:** Builds
**Created:** [August 31, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195 "2008-08-31T17:58:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@greenbull](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/greenbull)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/1 "2008-08-31T17:58:50Z")
So over this past winter my front porch started to literally just fall apart. It had to be replaced, but I was not sure if I just wanted pre-made cement steps or do pressure treated lumber. Looking at other houses in the area that appeared to have pre-made replacements I decided on pt lumber. Once spring hit I busted up the porch and kept some of the decent bricks from it to make a fire pit or walkway in the future. Then my father and I worked on it a couple hours a day for about 2 weeks. Rain every other day sucked.
Here is what the porch looked like when we bought the house.
and here we go
almost left it with just the posts shown
the railings for the steps were the biggest pain in the ass.
I had bought my father a pocket screw kit (most for cabinetry making) and he really wanted to use it. Looks really clean. And you can see my driveway completely torn out in the background
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### Author:  [@greenbull](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/greenbull)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/2 "2008-08-31T17:59:32Z")
Next up was the back patio/deck. The whole back pad appeared to have sunk about an inch along the foundation. We noticed this when we first looked at the house and asked the seller to seal the gap along there. Well on days it rained heavily we started noticing water in our basement. Only a little bit though. Spring came and I noticed what appeared to be Great Stuff painted over. The previous owner “sealed” the gap with great stuff, newspaper (dated Aug 14, 2007), plastic and PLASTER! WTF? I was pissed once I pulled all that out. I sealed up right with expansion joint and silicone sealant. A month later we had the guy that excavated our driveway rip out the patio and haul it all away. Next came the fun part. Designing and figuring out how big of a deck we wanted and could afford. Lowes deck designer was very simple and had decent amount of options along with a list of everything that would be needed.
What we started with
after it was ripped out
Build time. Took a monday off from work to do just about all the framing. Finished the whole
thing up on a week off from work.
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### Author:  [@ILCisDEAD](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ILCisDEAD)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/3 "2008-08-31T18:00:27Z")
👏 well done
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### Author:  [@ieatpaint](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ieatpaint)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/4 "2008-08-31T18:00:38Z")
looks good, don’t forget to stain it!
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### Author:  [@greenbull](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/greenbull)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 6:01pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/5 "2008-08-31T18:01:02Z")
Done with the deck…just need to fix up the yard now.
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### Author:  [@greenbull](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/greenbull)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/6 "2008-08-31T18:02:00Z")
Then my favorite part…the lighting. I bought 2 boxes of Philips Aurelle LED deck lighting from woot. Super easy install and they look great. My camera skills suck but they look way better in person. Also bought some cheap plastic solar post caps from Home Depot. They actually pretty good quality.
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### Author:  [@greenbull](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/greenbull)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/7 "2008-08-31T18:02:55Z")
> [@ieatpaint315](#):
>
> looks good, don’t forget to stain it!
supposed to wait 6 months…but i think im going to do it up before winter.
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### Author:  [@kingsario](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/kingsario)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/8 "2008-08-31T18:03:44Z")
pimp job man look 10x better
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### Author:  [@ieatpaint](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ieatpaint)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/9 "2008-08-31T18:03:49Z")
take a cup of water, dip your fingers in it, sprinkle on the wood. if it beads up it’s too early for stain, if it soaks in your good to go.
the 6 month rule is just a gay myth.
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### Author:  [@greenbull](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/greenbull)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/10 "2008-08-31T18:04:20Z")
good to know :tup:
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### Author:  [@Willybeen](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Willybeen)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/11 "2008-08-31T18:14:14Z")
:tup: nice workkkk…
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### Author:  [@AShort](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/AShort)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/12 "2008-08-31T19:09:48Z")
nice work dude…looks great :tup: The lighting on the deck really sets it off
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### Author:  [@98SS10](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/98SS10)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/13 "2008-08-31T20:12:53Z")
LOVE the railing! sweet job!
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### Author:  [@theblue](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/theblue)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/14 "2008-08-31T20:50:07Z")
nice work… I was considering getting in on that woot deal but didn’t go for it.
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### Author:  [@turbo\_ls1\_ss](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/turbo_ls1_ss)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/15 "2008-08-31T20:55:13Z")
nice :tup:
my parents just did a back deck last year… its amazing how one change can really liven up the house :tup:
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### Author:  [@ILCisDEAD](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ILCisDEAD)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/16 "2008-08-31T20:56:59Z")
Wow! the lights rule I just saw the new pics!
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### Author:  [@91MR2](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/91MR2)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/17 "2008-08-31T22:05:51Z")
Looks great. These threads are really cool.
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### Author:  [@sevenonesixcavy](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/sevenonesixcavy)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/18 "2008-09-01T04:41:46Z")
very nice. i like what you did with the railings!
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### Author:  [@KuntryQuestTSi](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/KuntryQuestTSi)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/19 "2008-09-01T05:00:15Z")
nice work! I like the railings and the lights!
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### Author:  [@Jagermeister](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Jagermeister)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/home-owners-porch-and-patio/54195/20 "2008-09-01T05:58:01Z")
Excellent Craftsmanship.
Are those metal spindles in the railings?
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