I should have made a running thread because this job took WAY longer than i anticipated. Partly due to the daily rain and partly due to the small tile.
I learned a few things along the way, like that I should have waited to decide if i wanted to clad my current columns with cedar or replace the whole column after i take the existing trim off. Had to buy some new tools and make some other stuff, but over all it was a good project.
Our porch was a concrete slab and had basic white wooden columns, and we have long wanted to address the concrete, so i figured may as well just do them both at the same time. After looking at costs and the process of replacing the whole columns, I decided to just clad them with cedar. Boy howdy was that a time consuming and annoying decision.
I popped the trim off of all of the columns and this is essentially what i found everywhere. Yay, bonus work.
So i got my floor jack and a 4x4 and jacked the roof up and cut the bottoms of all of the columns off, but first i had to cut down a 6x6 to the exact size. more bonus work. I put some guides on the column so my cuts would be straight and went to town with my circular saw.
Did the same to all 6 columns and ended up with this.
Unfortunately, as I said, i had already purchased all of the cedar, and like an idiot, i didnt cover it on the way home and it got rained on and there was a little bit of warping, which was annoying as all get out later.
Because i didnt spring for the expensive stuff, i had to build a sled to plane it so the edges were straight. On that note, I sold my old table saw a couple of years ago and got a new to me table saw and dust collection system for $300 on marketplace, so that was pretty cool.
Once they were cut and the edges mitered, i sprayed them with stain, which took FOREVER top dry and the boards also did not take nearly as much as I expected. I was expecting over two gallons, but after two coats i was at less than a half gallon. very weird, but ill be staining all sorts of things now with my extra stain. I used an oil based stain called ready seal in dark walnut.
In between all of this i was prepping the slab and the travertine going down on the front porch. The travertine was really cool and i got an absolute steal on it, which makes this project even more rewarding. There was what I am fairly certain was a completely filled in geode but learned is called a VUG. Lots of open pockets of crystals on the backs of the tiles. really cool. I put the vug on the leading edge dead center when you come on the porch from the walkway.
one coat of sealant on the entire tile, and a second coat on the top.
There were a couple superficial cracks on the slab and i hit them with concrete patch, but no picture. Next was hitting the porch with aquagaurd or whatever it was called from Mapei. Went on really thin so i did three coats. Had to pull back all the landscaping rocks and the landscaping fabric to get down on the slab.
Once this was dried i was ready to start the tile. My wife wanted herringbone but aint nobody got time for that. Tiling took several days because of rain and how tedious the small tiles are. Day one. no rain in the forecast then a massive storm popped up and sprayed water ALL OVER this. that led to 5 tiles popping off the next day that i had to glue down. Really hoping that doesnt cause an issue down the line but we shall see.
Some days turned in to a morning and afternoon session with a lunch time break. I bought kneepads before this job and i would not have been able to do it without them. Had to keep everything covered at all times after day one, which led to me putting plastic sheeting up, which led to sweltering conditions.
Working my way down the porch. I decided to have the top tile overhang the front of the porch so i had to be extremely careful to not put any weight on the front tiles until they had been supported by the mortar from the tiles on the front.
This was a daily occurrence in the afternoon. it did not help at all.
Couple more progress pics.
I think my post is too big so i will finish it on another post.
I learned a few things along the way, like that I should have waited to decide if i wanted to clad my current columns with cedar or replace the whole column after i take the existing trim off. Had to buy some new tools and make some other stuff, but over all it was a good project.
Our porch was a concrete slab and had basic white wooden columns, and we have long wanted to address the concrete, so i figured may as well just do them both at the same time. After looking at costs and the process of replacing the whole columns, I decided to just clad them with cedar. Boy howdy was that a time consuming and annoying decision.
I popped the trim off of all of the columns and this is essentially what i found everywhere. Yay, bonus work.
So i got my floor jack and a 4x4 and jacked the roof up and cut the bottoms of all of the columns off, but first i had to cut down a 6x6 to the exact size. more bonus work. I put some guides on the column so my cuts would be straight and went to town with my circular saw.
Did the same to all 6 columns and ended up with this.
Unfortunately, as I said, i had already purchased all of the cedar, and like an idiot, i didnt cover it on the way home and it got rained on and there was a little bit of warping, which was annoying as all get out later.
Because i didnt spring for the expensive stuff, i had to build a sled to plane it so the edges were straight. On that note, I sold my old table saw a couple of years ago and got a new to me table saw and dust collection system for $300 on marketplace, so that was pretty cool.
Once they were cut and the edges mitered, i sprayed them with stain, which took FOREVER top dry and the boards also did not take nearly as much as I expected. I was expecting over two gallons, but after two coats i was at less than a half gallon. very weird, but ill be staining all sorts of things now with my extra stain. I used an oil based stain called ready seal in dark walnut.
In between all of this i was prepping the slab and the travertine going down on the front porch. The travertine was really cool and i got an absolute steal on it, which makes this project even more rewarding. There was what I am fairly certain was a completely filled in geode but learned is called a VUG. Lots of open pockets of crystals on the backs of the tiles. really cool. I put the vug on the leading edge dead center when you come on the porch from the walkway.
one coat of sealant on the entire tile, and a second coat on the top.
There were a couple superficial cracks on the slab and i hit them with concrete patch, but no picture. Next was hitting the porch with aquagaurd or whatever it was called from Mapei. Went on really thin so i did three coats. Had to pull back all the landscaping rocks and the landscaping fabric to get down on the slab.
Once this was dried i was ready to start the tile. My wife wanted herringbone but aint nobody got time for that. Tiling took several days because of rain and how tedious the small tiles are. Day one. no rain in the forecast then a massive storm popped up and sprayed water ALL OVER this. that led to 5 tiles popping off the next day that i had to glue down. Really hoping that doesnt cause an issue down the line but we shall see.
Some days turned in to a morning and afternoon session with a lunch time break. I bought kneepads before this job and i would not have been able to do it without them. Had to keep everything covered at all times after day one, which led to me putting plastic sheeting up, which led to sweltering conditions.
Working my way down the porch. I decided to have the top tile overhang the front of the porch so i had to be extremely careful to not put any weight on the front tiles until they had been supported by the mortar from the tiles on the front.
This was a daily occurrence in the afternoon. it did not help at all.
Couple more progress pics.
I think my post is too big so i will finish it on another post.
