Extreme Renovation: Porch and Patio Edition (Part 1)

Super excited to show everyone how hard Rob and I have been working to transform this house into our home. I hope you all enjoyed the kitchen blog, and now you'll see the next big project we attempted this past weekend. The back room off the kitchen/living room was originally a sun room dungeon for lack of a better term, and the previous owners had used it as a playroom for their 2 kids. It had 5 windows (2 ft by 1 ft) that were about five feet off the ground, so it let in very little light. The room had no heating or air conditioning, and had so many problems with the initial construction I can't even name them all. It had standing water in the walls, mold in the carpet, extreme water damage, unsafe electrical outlets, crooked beams and that's just to name a few issues. We decided before we even bought the house this room had to be completely demolished. We went back and forth between converting it into a sun room or just keeping the roof and turning it into a screened in porch. Because there were so many issues with the structure we just decided it would be better for our budget to convert it to the latter. Here are the photos of what the room looked like at the time we toured the house.

Standing at the back garage door looking at the dungeon

Standing at the back corner of the yard (the window on the far right is the kitchen window)

Another view from the other corner of the house

View standing at the back french doors looking into the dungeon

Another view inside the room

These next few photos are of the demo/building process. To save some cash, a coworker and I demolished the drywall, took out all the insulation, pulled up the carpet and Rob and I took off the siding to be reused inside. Next, we hired a contractor and crew to take down the walls and set the frame. When the walls came down, so much light came through the french doors into the house. It was incredible and really brightened up the whole downstairs. The building crew put in a railing, put up the screens, installed the door and put up soffits in the ceiling. We were glad the recessed lighting was able to stay.

Great crew!

Walls coming down! 

These final photos were after Rob pressure-washed the carpet glue off the cement slab, and painted it with a slate gray apoxy. Then, we purchased a nice 4-piece patio set on sale at Kroger to fill the space, installed my flat screen TV in the upper corner of the room (can't wait to watch some Tennessee Football games back here. GO VOLS!), filled it will both living plants and an artificial palm ($3 at a garage sale, Woo-Hoo!) and installed a Hampton Bay outdoor ceiling fan to keep the area cool during the summer months. 

Beautiful oasis in the back yard :)

Flat screen TV and cushion storage doubles as additional seating

It couldn't be more perfect!

Everyday after work I come out here and enjoy the patio with the kitties. They LOVE the outdoors, especially watching the bird feeder. Jack can't wait to be let outside the porch :) Quite the transformation I'd say!!