Outdoor progress at the house (front and back porches, soffits, trim and siding)

It’s been almost a month since a legit house building update.

Lest you think we’ve been making no progress, I’ll give you the low-down. We’ve actually been working on exterior projects with the goal of getting the outside finished before winter hits.

Which could be tomorrow, because the Midwest is cray.

Outdoor projects are not fast or simple projects. They aren’t completed in a night or weekend. Which is why we’ve been lacking updates. But it’s coming along and looking great. (And you can always follow us on Instagram @newlywoodwards if you want more updates.)

Porches

You may remember that one change we made to our original house plan was adding a full porch on the front of the house. Spoiler: It was totally the right decision. The house looks so happy to have a front porch.

We decided to go with a depth of 6 feet on the front porch, which allows for room for a porch swing and a few rocking chairs. Obviously, the necessities. We decided on a shed roofline to mimic the garage, but the angle is less steep than the garage roof in order to keep the roof below the second story windows. Ryan plotted the roof to attach to the wall under the window with just enough room for the trim.

We’re going to finish the front and back porches with painted fir floors, but for now, we’re just using plywood. And we’re planning on a wide staircase between the two posts in front of the door. It will be dreamy.

The dream team also worked on the back porch – of which the majority will be covered/screened. It’s 20×10 for the screened area. And then there’s a small uncovered grilling deck off the side as well.

I love the angle of the roof on the porches and we’re hoping to add breadboard to the roofline as-is to maximize that view.

Each porch necessitated a lot of work – planning the roof lines and sizes, pouring footings and setting posts, framing the decking and adding the supports and then installing the beam and rafters above. And there was a lot of troubleshooting along the way. (We didn’t have these porches drawn in our plans because we weren’t 100 percent sure what we wanted. So we were on our own.)

In the end, they both look amazing and add so much character to the front and back of the house.

 

Soffits

Speaking of details that take way longer than expected, let me introduce you to the soffits.

These bad boys were a big project with lots of cutting, tons of ladder work, and a good deal of dripping sweat in some of the hottest temperatures of the summer.

But the end result made the home look really “finished.” Ryan added a piece of trim along the base of the soffits as well. And now the birds can’t make this area their home. Sorry, birds.

 

Trim and siding

And the next step is something that’s in-progress. Trim and siding.

We’ll share more when the siding has all been installed, but we’re in progress. I painted all the siding beforehand at my parents’ house and the dudes are installing it as we speak. (I mean, not literally, because Ryan works during the day at his real job which pays for things like siding and trim. But the siding is in-progress.)

So far, siding and trim has meant a LOT of cutting and time.

We have a lot of windows and porches and angles, which means more work. But it’s looking amazing and I’m BESIDE myself with how awesome the color looks.

And that’s a quick and dirty Friday update! Happy weekend!