Who remembers many posts back the three season porch that we could not decide what to do with?? It really adds quite a bit of square footage to the house and is right off the living room slider with a small deck attached.

Related: Frumpy Exterior with ZERO Curb Appeal

Originally…

The only thing attached to the house was a large deck. Then a few years ago, the previous owner decided to build a three season porch over most of the deck. This definitely was a better use of space since nice outdoor weather where we live is just a few months out of the year, however, it has a list of issues.

There is a center beam that runs across the middle of the porch, however, it is not touching the ceiling all the way across and the post can be wiggled by my 4 year old.

None of the electrical works.

The roof leaks at many of the seams as well as a large portion of the front wall. The wall is wet and the flooring is damaged from the water.

This is not the three season porch that buyers dream of by a long shot…

The three season porch was….

SOLD!! Yup!! We actually posted pictures, took a lot of measurements and posted it on Craigslist! Can you believe we sold it!!?? So we put the kids to work—it only took them about 15 minutes to get all of the flooring and lining out of there. Our 2 year old proudly carrying boards says, “Demo day, Mommy!” Every last board was pulled up and put in a garbage barrel. We LOVE our kiddos and that they love to help!!

The super nice couple that bought the porch, came and disassembled the whole thing and made two trips to haul it away! Crazy!

What we are left with is another project in itself. UGH!

There is no exterior light (code requirement), no siding, no gutters, and no stain or sealer on the deck. We also tore off the lattice skirting since it was not in good shape. One thing always leads to another, right??

The Deck

Power washing, staining and sealing the deck is not such a big deal. My dad power washed it one afternoon and we let it dry out a few days. It honestly was probably dry enough after a few hours because at the time it was 90+ degrees here.

We tore the few railings that were up and put up all new railing. Then a couple coats of stain and sealer and ta dah!!

Here is how it turned out (minus one set of rails)!

And the kids loved putting in those spindles! Could I have done it faster myself? Absolutely. The lesson in the value of hard work and team work being instilled in my children is by far more important than my time.

So what do you think? Did we make the right choice in getting rid of the leaky, saggy 3 season porch?