Repairing a Victorian-style porch restores the beauty of your home.
Typically, Victorian-era homes came with large porches featuring highly decorative trim pieces and much architectural detail. Some homeowners choose to build a Victorian-style porch on their modern homes to add visual interest and curb appeal. Peeling paint, rot and decay run rampant on porches because of their exposure to all types of weather conditions, their age or a lack of proper care. Making repairs to a painted Victorian porch is necessary to maintain the beauty and structural integrity of the porch.
Instructions
1. Inspect the porch for signs of rot and decay. Look at the area where the porch meets the house for indications of separation. Check the header, porch roof support beams, columns and deck joists for sagging and rot. If these conditions exist, contact a structural engineer for an inspection. Homeowners can make some of the repairs, but some types of damage require professional repair, especially if the damage is structural.
2. Remove the deck rails and balusters from around the porch and down the stairs. Chip out mildly rotted sections with a hammer and chisel. Fill in the chipped-out areas with an epoxy-based repair putty and sand the repair smooth with 100-grit sandpaper. If the rails and balusters are too far gone, replace them with reclaimed rails and balusters or new reproduction pieces.
3. Remove the trim work, known as spandrel or gingerbread, from the span along the front and sides of the porch. You may find spandrel above the roof line of the porch, too. Make repairs --- if possible --- with an epoxy-based repair putty, or replace them entirely.
4. Pull the nails on stair treads and risers, and remove the boards. Check the stringers for rot, sinking or warping. Replace the stringers if necessary. Measure and cut the wood with a circular saw for new treads and risers. Nail the new treads and risers into the stringers.
5. Remove rotten or severely warped porch deck boards by pulling the nails, wedging a pry bar between the boards and lifting out the damaged boards. Measure the size of the board for replacement and cut new boards to the same size. Nail the deck boards in place.
6. Scrape the old, peeling paint off the porch, using a metal paint scraper. Vacuum up the debris with a shop vacuum, or sweep away the debris with a broom and discard it. If the paint stays firmly adhered to the wood, apply a chemical paint stripper according to the stripper manufacturer's directions to remove the old paint. Some types of old paint are difficult to remove.
7. Rinse the porch with water from a garden hose. Apply a neutralizing agent, as recommended by the manufacturer, or white vinegar to stop the chemical paint removal process.
8. Lay the balusters, railings and gingerbread on a large tarp. Apply a coat of exterior-grade primer with a paintbrush. Make sure you apply primer to all the small surfaces and recesses on the balusters and gingerbread. Let the primer dry for four to six hours.
9. Apply primer to all the vertical surfaces on the porch. Paint a coat of primer on the porch's ceiling, using a long-handle paint roller. Put a coat of primer on the porch decking with the long-handle paint roller. Begin in a corner away from the porch stairs and work toward the stairs, so as not to paint yourself onto the porch. Prime the steps. Let the primer dry for four to six hours.
10. Turn the balusters, railings and gingerbread over, and apply primer to the opposite side to cover all the wood surfaces with primer.
11. Apply two coats of paint in the colors of your choice to the balusters, gingerbread, railings, columns, decking and stairs, using the same method you did for priming.
12. Install the gingerbread, porch rails and balusters with nails, setting them in the same places they originally stood.
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