If you care about historic preservation ~ Don’t Do This!
My friend Peter Michaud recently spotted this unfortunate “repair” of a lovely porch on a Second Empire house.
The before photo from Google streetview shows the wonderful original turned posts, unusual “pretzel-twist” brackets and characteristic low balustrade. It is clear from this image that other than a small area of rot in the bottom of one post, everything above deck level was in good condition. Instead of just replacing the deck (assuming it was necessary) and repairing the one damaged post, they demolished everything below the roof and replaced it with inappropriate pressure-treated lumber – greatly diminishing the historic charm of the house. It would have cost less to repair it correctly.
Original porches and porticos are always character defining features of a historic house. Preserving these features, or restoring them if lost, is key to maintaining or restoring the historic character of a house.
The repair and/or restoration of porches is covered in “Restoring Your Historic House, The Comprehensive Guide for Homeowners.”
Signed and personalized copies of the award-winning and bestselling 720-page hardcover book are available in our shop, YourHistoricHouse.com/shop/.
Our shop also carries select preservation and restoration titles by other authors including “A Field Guide to American Houses” by Virginia McAlester. Save with our multi-book combo packs!
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