One Room Challenge Update: After the Finale
Almost immediately after the conclusion of the One Room Challenge, our family spent the next several weeks traveling. When we got home, we spent about a week fully decompressing, which means work didn’t really pick back up on our back porch project until last week. We thought that it was the perfect time to give you a little ORC update.
When we last left off, Rob had built the flooring and the stairs, but we were unable to finish the roof, railing, and repainting of the house. Now that we’ve had time to settle down, we’re tackling this project again.
First and foremost, we need shade. Our porch is all but unusable in this insane Florida heat without a roof.
Originally, our roof plan was to put a metal roof on it but use tongue-and-groove wood on the underside painted haint blue, which is a traditional Southern design choice. However, for budgetary and time-constraint reasons, we’ve decided to move away from that plan.
We’re down to two options:
- A polycarbonate (plastic) roof
- A metal roof
A metal roof would really enhance the look of our old house. And budget-wise, it fits pretty sweetly into what we can spend. However, we are very concerned that we will effectively get the rotisserie chicken treatment underneath and cook to a crisp on the hottest of days.
We’re looking very seriously at opaque polycarbonate roofing right now. We absolutely love the idea of having a roof that lets in light while providing shade. However, my biggest concerns with going this route involve cost (a little higher than metal roofing) and cleanliness (seeing the accumulated dirt pile-up from the underside. Using polycarbonate, given our porch’s size, will also back up our project a little further, given that the size and style we want isn’t really carried in-stock anywhere.
While we hash this decision out, Rob put up four main roof beams and clamped on a huge piece of outdoor fabric so that we can at least use our porch this summer while the boys swim. It’s not ideal, but I’m thankful for the shade.
It’s also given us a pretty good idea of what a polycarbonate roof will look and feel like as a large chunk of the material is opaque and lets in light.
While there is shade on the porch, even if temporary, I want to begin tackling the house painting. Originally, we had ordered more house siding, but we goofed on how to properly submit our payment. But our goof may have actually worked out because Rob unearthed some of the original house siding in the garage. He’ll add the one missing strip and replace the siding he had to take down so that I can begin painting, but truthfully, we’ll probably wait on this a little longer until the weather dries out a little for fall.
We also still need to add railing to the edges as well. Rob’s plan is to use the pre-made 6-foot rail sections to finish off the porch. We still have plans to screen the space in at some point, but I think our stopping point right now is roof and railing.
Also, because we tend to start projects before finishing the ones we have, Rob has started laying out the “cannonball” platform, as its affectionately called, which will connect our porch to the pool. We wanted to have an area where the ladder could be attached, where the boys could perform all of the cannonballs their little hearts desire, and for folks looking for a little more sun and less shade to have an area to sit.
There won’t be much to this build; Rob assures me that it will be a quick project. In the meantime, I have two vintage aluminum pool lounges that I found on the side of the road that need a little DIY upcycling; I plan for their future home to be on the cannonball platform.
Our ORC update feels less like an update and more like a plan for moving forward to finally finish this project. Be sure to follow our social media channels for behind-the-scenes looks at how this project picks back up.
