The porch plan was simple: new paint, new floor, done. And we were well on our way. The floor was in. The trim was back on. The DW was painting away. Then it rained. The next thing you know, I’m looking at this:

Let’s back up. We believe the room was originally just an open porch. A few joist over dirt with fir flooring. A couple posts to hold up the roof… no basement, no crawl space, no walls. At some point, walls were added and windows and a door were installed. Over time things shifted and settled to where they are today. If we were serious about remodeling the space, it would need to be rebuilt from the bottom up: new foundation, joist, subfloor, windows, entry door, HVAC, electrical – you get the idea. Instead, our plan is to eventually remove the porch and add a garage to the house in that spot. That’s why even though there were other issues with the porch – including an entry door in less than ideal condition – the plan was new paint, new floor, done.

Then it rained… and water puddled near the door on the new floor.

For years, water had been sneaking in around the door and going undetected through the floor. The new floor blocked that path and the water ended up in a hard to miss puddle. I was optimistic at first, hoping I could seal things up with a tube of silicon and we’d be set for a few years.

But, then I removed some exterior trim from around the door and started poking around. Pretty soon I had this…

That’s what was left of the triple 2×6 joist that ran under the edge of the porch. When I said the rain leaked in for years undetected, I meant many, many years. By the time I was done removing the water damaged lumber, there was nothing left under the door. The fir flooring was holding up itself through its tongue and groove structure, there was nothing left underneath it. I had to remove the door to fix the joist and the door was in no condition to be removed and reinstalled. The project just expanded to include lumber and a new door.

So after a few extra hours of framing, the joist was rebuilt and the new door was in place. Now back to painting… and a little extra trim work.