DIY Network

Bulking Up the Back Porch Bulking Up the Back Porch From "Weekend Landscaping" episode WKL-403

Before

Many homeowners spend a great deal of time and money making the front of their home beautiful and welcoming -- but then totally ignore the back. They think no one sees it, so it doesn't really matter. Actually, though, someone does see it: the family. Shouldn't it be as appealing to them as the front porch is to guests?

In this episode of Weekend Landscaping, host Jessie Mack Burns helps turn a shabby and cluttered back porch into an attractive and comfortable outdoor living space. She gives the back of this little hodgepodge lodge a complete makeover by building planter boxes; adding beautiful redwood shingles, flagstone steppers and new "woodsy" furniture; and creating planting beds filled with plants that will give the homeowner pleasure for many years to come.

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Skill level: 3

Time needed: 18 hours

Region: Northeast

Hard supplies and tools
Redwood shingles
Redwood
Plywood
Wood pegs
Flagstone steppers
Porch lighting
Furniture
Circular saw
Pneumatic nail gun
Standard gardening tools
Bark mulch

Plant material
Fan flower (Scaevola aemula 'New Wonder')
Moonshadow euonymus (Euonymus fortunei 'Moonshadow')
Winter Gem boxwood (Buxus microphylla 'Winter Gem')
Ornamental cabbage (Brassica oleracea)
Chiapas sage (Salvia chiapensis)
Strawberry foxglove (Digitalis mertonensis)
Angel's Blush® hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Ruby')
Chocolate Chip carpet bugle (Ajuga x 'Chocolate Chip')
Pansies (Viola x wittrockiana)
Zagreb threadleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb')
Kwanzan flowering cherry (Prunus serrulata 'Kwanzan')

First Jessie downloads a digital image of the porch and its surrounding area; then she uses design software to add elements until the design is perfect. Her goal is to create an outdoor living space that will be both stylish and functional.

Jessie has chosen to add weight to the porch by means of decorative horizontal crosspieces across the top and shingle-covered panels across the bottom railings. Here's how to re-create this look on your own porch.

Upper Crosspiece Frame

1. Measure the space between your porch's vertical posts and cut two 2x4s for the top and bottom of the wood crosspiece (for this porch, the pieces are 7' long; the finished crosspieces will be 7'x1-1/2').

2. Cut shorter wood pieces, approximately 14" long, to create the two end sections and the vertical connecters and nail them between top and bottom of the crosspiece (figure A). You can use a hammer and nails, but a pneumatic nailer makes the job go a lot faster.

Expert tip: (Josh Smith, DeWalt Tool Company) A pneumatic nailer is ideal for a weekend project like this one. It provides the same high quality of work at a much faster rate. And remember: Whenever working with power tools, protect your eyes by wearing safety glasses.

3. Make a second crosspiece and install both in place (figure B).

Figure A

Figure B

The wood used for the crosspieces is redwood; it will age to a silver finish. If you wish it to keep its reddish color, seal it; or you can stain or paint it, depending on your preference.

Shingles

Next the railings along the bottom of the porch (figure C) are going to be covered to create an enclosed outdoor room. Jessie cuts two plywood panels to fit the spaces and nails them in place (figure D).

Figure C

Figure D

Time spent: 6 hours.

Next Weekend Project: Building Your Tiling Skills

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