A New Porch & A Wine Cellar Make-Over

Our concrete front porch covers a small storage area that is accessible from our basement.  We have always called it our wine cellar because, let's be honest, that sounds so much better than a concrete storage area.

A few years ago we noticed moisture seeping into the storage area, so we just limited what we stored in that area (ie, no valuables).  We tried for years to determine the source of the leak.  We caulked.  We built up the dirt and landscaping around it.  We sealed it from the inside.  We had no luck.  And then this spring when the last days of winter had left us, we noticed that our porch was crumbling to pieces.

Outside:

 

The "Wine Cellar:"

 

 

We really didn't know how bad things had gotten in there because we hadn't used it much and there was insulation stuffed between those boards.  Wow!

So we shelled out an arm and a leg to have the porch reconstructed.  We really had no choice.  The crumbling steps were a liability, and I really wanted to be able to use that storage space again. 

Phase 1

Tear off the old concrete pad.  Seal and waterproof.

Phase 2

Rain.  Rain.  Rain.  The morning after sealant went on.  And fail.  We woke up to rain pouring into our basement from a tiny missed spot right at the threshold.  It was promptly fixed, and we moved on to phase 3.

 

Phase 3

The new pad and the support beams below.  Apparently concrete is really heavy when it's wet.

 

Phase 4

Wait a long two weeks for a new railing.

 

Phase 5

Clean up and paint the wine cellar.  There are no pictures of this stage.  I'm not pretty when I paint.  And it's just a white box.  Boring.

 

 

Once the railing went in, I scored a deal on two awesome chairs and a table at Menards.  The chairs were $67 each, and the table was $35.  I spray painted the mailbox.  Mike replaced the porch light.  And we spray painted the house numbers so they can actually be seen from the road.  

 

After:

 

 

 

I might even have room for a little pantry, right over here: 

 

Isn't she lovely?  We have enjoyed sitting out on the front porch a number of times.  Even better -- I am ordering two ottomans tomorrow from Home Depot that will make sitting out there even more comfortable.

 

I'll admit that I have not put anything valuable back in the wine cellar since the work was finished.  It has been absolutely bone dry in there since the work was completed, but I'm just not quite ready to put old photo albums or yearbooks in there. 

 

Next up:  new carpet for the basement.  Oh, and I am still painting trim.  And we still haven't installed new baseboards in the kitchen after the wood floors went in a year ago.  The list is long, but we're busy living life too.  Working, getting PhDs, loving on our nephew, walking the dog, and sitting on our front porch having a beer.