The Back Door Project: Part One

Ever since we moved in to our house we have thought about putting a door in the three season porch in back for easier access to the garage and back yard and this Spring we finally are having it done.  We took in 7 or 8 bids and after looking them over and discussing the contractors I had talked to we decided on a nice guy named Mark to help us make our idea into reality.  Work started last Monday and has been a bit sporadic over the week due to the weather, but it's not a huge project so should be completed very soon - in plenty of time for our Spring anniversary party.

~There is a corner between the house and the porch that just has flowerbeds, the air conditioner and the telephone line with the driveway on a third side.  This is the area we chose to put the stairs, they will use up a small corner of the lawn and help hide the air conditioner but still give us access to it and the flowerbeds. 

~On Monday work started with the support posts.  He had another guy to help with this part, they had an auger for the two holes away from the porch but had to dig the closer holes by hand.  Four 4x4's four feet in the ground below the frost line with three bags of cement holding each.  The dirt you see here my wife and I moved to various parts of the yard to fill in areas and just to get rid of it.  Doing this work convinced me that I'm not healed enough yet to remove the sod in this area and put in the rock, so I talked with Mark and added this to the project for him to do.

~Tuesday was an off day.  It snowed, rained, then sleeted all day

actually leaving quite a bit of accumulation that stuck around for another day and a half.  It was quite a mess.  On Wednesday he removed the (muddy) sod and put the decking on the landing area.  It was a cold, wet day.

~Thursday he had help again and they made a lot of progress on a nice day.  They put the plastic down and added  the river rock I wanted and finished the stairs.  They also removed the window and got the door installed.  I was very pleased with the progress when I got home from work.  It was finally taking shape!

~Friday was Good Friday, my wife and I had a half day at work.  I only saw Mark briefly in the afternoon, he just stopped by to add the final bags of rock and was on his way, so essentially another off day.  Today, Saturday, Mark showed up ready to work on the hand rails.  After that there's the trim to do around the door inside and other small odds and ends before it is finished. 

This is going to make the whole house feel bigger.  We will have such easier access to the backyard and garage that we will be much more likely to wander out to the garden or grill out in the evenings and it will give the porch more of a purpose and I'm sure we will be using it much more.  So, that's where it stands now.  I'll update more soon!

Bigger pictures after the break: