How to Fix a Damaged Porch on a 100-Year-Old House

by Jill F

Our home is over 100 years old and has the wear and tear to prove it! We've been updating it for 18 years now - mostly on the inside. This summer we worked a bit on some outside projects, and this porch makeover made such a huge difference in the appearance of the house. The sagging roof, old shingles and crooked, broken concrete were such an eyesore. When the hard winter caused the concrete to crack completely in half and become unstable it escalated to a safety issue and it was time to make a remodel a priority.

porch remodel, concrete masonry, home improvement, home maintenance repairs, how to, outdoor living, porches

Almost didn't get a before - my husband had already added the prop here so he could jack the porch roof up and make it straight again.

When the freezing and thawing caused the concrete to crack all the way across the one side would move when stepped on - not safe anymore!

The years of eroding away beneath the porch caused the instability when the concrete cracked in two.

Old concrete was completely removed and hauled away.

The straight, new porch makes a huge difference and we all love the wrap around step! Come over to the blog for more details and the after - including a side-by-side before and after!

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Cheryle Fuller on Dec 08, 2015
Smart move! I wish I could do heavier insulation.What are you doing for the interior walls? Sheetrock? Did you have lathe and plaster orginally? I am getting more conservative in my old age, and will try to do the least damage possible, but sometimes it takes a lot more time and effort. My next project is insulating under the floor. I search Craig's List for bargains, Habitat for Humanity, and occassional garage/yard sales and, if I have to, those who do destroy old houses for their parts. On my brothers house, which has a high vaulted ceiling, I am foam insulating, then covering it with 1"x6" T&G fir, which I hope will be comparative to the existing roof deck, which I wanted to expose (either 2x6 or 5/4 x 6" T&G prime wood). The cost of adding a roof above the original mid century decking, which I wanted to expose, was about 2 times the price of what I'll end up doing. I plan to conitue this fir down the long wall, which is 11' 6" high. It's a tiny beach house, with even tinier bedrooms. But, it will be nice to have a place to go when the business slows and allows me a few days to myelf.You can get slightly damaged building products in the back of Home Depot. I have collected a lot of 4x8' sheets of hardy panel for brothers house for 70% off! Since the house has a lot of windows, it is likely that the damage can be cut out when I install it. At any rate, since this bottom part had such sad scrap wood siding, anything will be an improvement. If you can find them on sale there, you can accumulate enough to do one side at a time. It is thinner than wood, so will have an effect on the window and door jambs. If I am culling through wood and find enough damaged pieces, I go to the manager and ask for a discount. Bargains are out there if you work on them. The thing is, with the 12' long pieces, you need a flat bed trailer to move them without breaking. i am hunting down a trailer to replace one a guy from Craig's List stole a few years ago so I can move material as I like. With a trailer, you can leave it loaded until you have a place to put the items. I think yu are doing a fabulous job. i would love to see more photos on and out of the hosue!

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Jill F on Dec 08, 2015
yes the walls were old lathe and plaster. and they were horrid - not a good lath and plaster job! It was backbreaking work removing it but we are so glad we did. We used sheetrock as the new walls. We started this house long before I was blogging so I don't have good before pics. I really wish I did, but I just don't. Now the outside I will get some before shots of before we put siding on. I so hope we can do something besides vinyl but in the end the cost may be the deciding factor - especially since we don't really plan to stay here forever and I'm not sure we can get our money out of the hardy board.

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Sarah on Sep 15, 2016
I wanting to work on my Mom and Dad's house I inherited it is probably over 60 years old I know it's going to be a challenge. Your porch looks great

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