We truly had some stunning climate over the weekend, so I headed exterior, decided to make some progress on the entrance porch. I actually wished to get the previous, rotted fascia boards eliminated and changed with PVC boards, after which make some headway on the skirting to cowl up the concrete.
Simply as a reminder, that is why I’m even specializing in the entrance porch (when we now have good climate exterior) proper now. You’ll be able to see right here how rotted the previous boards had been.
And it wasn’t simply the entrance board. The board on the facet of the porch was even worse.
It took fairly some time to get these previous fascia boards off. Let’s simply say that after I construct issues, I don’t intend for them to be undone. 😀 However as soon as I obtained the previous boards off of the entrance of the porch, I began by portray the entire thing stable black. After which my thought was to connect the brand new PVC fascia boards, after which to cowl over the underside skirting space, I used to be going to make use of PVC 1″x4″ boards vertically and spaced about 1/4″ to 1/2″ inch aside. (And as you may see, the rain got here again whereas I used to be working. I took most of those footage after the rain began once more.)
That is the paint that I used to color the concrete, and I requested them to combine a stable black for me. I didn’t select a colour from the paint swatches. I simply requested for pure, stable black. I used to be fairly impressed with this paint. It went on very simply and coated very well.
I did the entire portray very first thing on Saturday after which gave it over 24 hours to dry earlier than I continued. My thought was to easily glue on the vertical boards utilizing a polyurethane adhesive. That’s what I used to stick the fake stones that had been right here earlier than, and I figured if the polyurethane adhesive will work on fake stones (they usually had been nonetheless on there very well after I took them off), it’ll work on PVC boards as effectively.
My concrete does have these horizontal ridges the place the boards for the framing met when the concrete was poured, however I didn’t suppose they might be an issue since they weren’t an issue after I glued on the stone.
However I wasn’t fairly certain about areas like this. I’ve two areas like this, and I assumed they is likely to be an issue, however I used to be ready to notch out the again of the PVC board to accommodate these areas.
However my entire thought fell aside fairly shortly. I made a decision to carry off on attaching the opposite fascia board on the entrance till I had the entire vertical skirting boards on. It appeared like it will be simpler to connect these with out the fascia boards in the best way. My thought was to start out on the suitable nook of the porch with two vertical boards connected to one another at a 90-degree angle, and the work in both route from that nook, spacing the remainder of the vertical boards about 1/4″ aside.
I connected two vertical items collectively utilizing PVC glue.
And the I put polyurethane adhesive on the again. And that’s the place I bumped into issues. I imply, proper off the bat, my confidence went proper down the bathroom. Initially, I put a beneficiant quantity of polyurethane adhesive on the again, and the put the piece in place on the nook of the concrete. However I couldn’t get the nook PVC items plumb on each side to avoid wasting my life. So I took it off after which noticed that just about not one of the polyurethane adhesive had even touched the concrete on one of many items. To ensure that it to look plumb on the entrance piece, the facet piece wasn’t even touching the concrete in most areas.
So I took it off and determined to load it down with a ridiculous quantity of polyurethane adhesive and check out once more.
It doesn’t matter what I did, I couldn’t get that nook piece located in order that it was plumb on the entrance and the facet on the identical time. Labored and labored and labored with it, after which I lastly gave up. And naturally, it left an entire mess.
And that’s concerning the time it began raining, and I definitely didn’t wish to be gluing PVC boards to moist concrete, so I known as it a day.
And now, my confidence in my plan is completely shattered. I truthfully thought it will be a fast and easy challenge, however it’s clearly not. And since that nook of the concrete is so wonky, I don’t suppose I’m going to have the ability to do any sort of skirting that requires me to connect something to the concrete. I had this very same downside after I was attempting to do the fake stone facade as effectively. The items that wrapped across the nook appeared nice on the entrance, however they had been manner off on the facet.
So yesterday night, after being pressured to cease due to the rain, and compelled to rethink my plan due to that wonky concrete nook, I got here inside and began on the lookout for different concepts for the skirting. I got here throughout this actually nice YouTube channel known as Michael Builds, and he has this video on create totally different seems immediately on concrete utilizing mortar combine. He created a stone look, a stucco look, and a brick look on these concrete blocks simply utilizing mortar combine and some instruments.
I believe I’m going to alter course fully and do this as a substitute. The one downside is that it needs to be utilized to unpainted concrete. In fact it does. 😀 And naturally, I simply painted my concrete. Ugh. However I believe I can use my grinder and get the paint off pretty shortly and simply. However I believe an thought like that is the one manner I’m going to have the ability to work round that wonky concrete nook on the porch and get a constant look from the entrance to the facet of the porch skirting.
Additionally, it seems enjoyable, and I really like attempting new issues. I’ve by no means labored with mortar combine earlier than, so it could find yourself being one other fail, however I believe I’ll at the least have enjoyable attempting! And to make it simple, as a substitute of attempting to match the stone on our home, I believe I’ll simply go along with a brick sample. As soon as it’s painted, I believe it’ll coordinate effectively with the stone. I’d reasonably it’s apparent that it’s a distinct materials as a substitute of attempting to match the stones and failing.
That’s the brand new plan. Now I simply need to get that black paint off of the concrete after which wait for one more day of fairly climate earlier than I can check out this new thought.
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Addicted 2 Adorning is the place I share my DIY and adorning journey as I rework and embellish the 1948 fixer higher that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do bodily work, so I do nearly all of the work on the home on my own. You’ll be able to be taught extra about me right here.
