Back Porch Update

If someone told me 6 months ago that this fall we would have screened in our carport, put up new a new carport, and had everything completely finished, I probably would have laughed and told you that you were crazy.  We started entertaining the idea of screening in the carport earlier this year, started the project in August, and as of last weekend it is 99% complete!  I am absolutely THRILLED with the result and have said on multiple occasions that I wish we'd done this sooner. The first phase was the framing in and screening in of the carport, which also included the television that was hung on the wall and a couple of cabinets.  We didn't have a counter top for it so we stuck a table on top so it was usable.  It worked well, but we knew wanted to put in an actual counter top, stain the cabinets, and do something with the floor because the concrete was stained with oil remnants and who knows what else.  Last weekend we made all of those things happen.  I came home from work one day and Eric had leveled out the cabinets and put a counter top on them.  That night he stained the floor with concrete stain to paint and seal it. He put the cabinet in the next day and hooked up the water...yes we have a sink in the counter, too.  Next it was my turn.  I decided to take on staining the cabinets...easy enough, right?  It is if you read the directions on the stain.....  Apparently I was supposed to wipe the stain off after I painted it on (which to be honest doesn't make a whole lot of sense because if I'd wiped it off it would not have been as dark and I wanted it to be...just sayin).  I painted on 2 coats and 24 hours later it was still wet and sticky; and 48 hours later it was still wet and sticky.  It was around that point that we realized what I'd done. It FINALLY dried about 6 days after I applied the stain after we left the fans on full blast for a few days.

Our plan was to break it in this past weekend, but then winter decided to give us a little preview.  I told Eric there was no way I could stay outside in the cold to watch football.  I think he was concerned about the cold, too because when I came home Friday afternoon there were two tall heaters (like the kind restaurants use on their patios) in the carport.  I am pleased to report that they did the trick and even though temps were in the high 40s on Saturday night, it was toasty warm on the porch!  I never even put on my jacket.

Here's a few before and afters.  I still can't believe the transformation!

Top: the very beginnings of the project.
Bottom: the finished product!

Top: the very beginnings of the project.
Bottom: the finished product!

So what's the 1% we have left to do?  That would be to finish up our counter top.  The plan is to cover it with beer bottle tops.  We have about 1/3 of what we need.  We add to it weekly, but are accepting donations to the cause. We'll even let you drink the beer...just send us the bottle caps.  =)

To say that we are thrilled with the results is an understatement.  This project has been the best thing that ever happened to football season at our house, by far, and the dogs probably love it more than we do (as you can see from the pics above).  I think I even have Eric convinced to serve Thanksgiving dinner out here!