We spent a lot of time on our front porch, especially because we have a great couch to lay on tucked in the corner. It became apparent after we completed the painting of our house that the porch needed to go. We specifically had them skip painting the wood because we knew we would replace it sooner or later - but sooner came faster than we expected. We started out by getting masonry quotes to straighten out the three brick columns. I figured we might as well start with great bones if we are really going to do this.
Our first mason quote came in at TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. I swear I think Drew and I both fell over. He also told us that he wouldn't even be able to start the project until 2021. Looking back, I think he just wasn't interested in what we needed... why not just say that instead? Thankfully my dad had just sourced a mason to help him fix his chimney and he was satisfied with both the quality of the work and the price so we gave this guy a call. He came out within a week to check out the columns and got to work soon after. He was a fraction of the cost of the original quote and completed the job two weeks after we contacted him. We were super impressed with his work and thankful it didn't cost $10k!
He even replaced the front and side wood that supports the porch and feeds into the masonry for us. The best part about tearing out your porch during a pandemic is that you have plenty of time and resources to get it done fast. The worst part about tearing our your porch during a pandemic is that one you do it, you'll realize treated wood is sold out everywhere and you'll be unable to complete the project. So, now we wait! We need to sit down and weight our options which currently are 1.) wait on treated wood, 2.) source and treat the wood ourselves 3.) try to source composite decking and spend more money upfront.
If you have any experience with any of the three options let us know in the comments!
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