|
Our first porch at Laurel
There was a small roofed porch on the trailer when we bought it, but
by the end of our first season, we decided the next year we'd have a screened
porch. Fred was being eaten alive (as usual) by the mosquitos and we wanted to
be able to sit outside instead of in the trailer. We planned on a screened in
porch about 16' x 14' above the trailer and figured as long as we were at it, why
not put a roof over the trailer to protect it from the rain and snow. We also
left a 12' plus gap between the upper and lower posts just in case there should
be a future desire to swap for a newer trailer.
This picture gives a pretty good view of the original trailer and also shows the
frame of the porch as well as the 6x6 posts (on 12' centers) that support the roof.
Very visible yet is the original porch roof. As you can see, the ground slopes down
towards the trailer so the main porch floor is actually about three feet higher than
the trailer. There is a second small porch at the level of the trailer door connected
to the main porch by a short flight of stairs.
.jpg)
A straight-on shot with the porch floor partly down (notice its laid diagonally)
and the old porch roof removed. The trailer is still its original blue and silver.
It's hard to believe the trailer is vintage 1955 - it was (and is) in really good
condition. The center posts are 6x6s with 4x4's below the trailer and at this
end of the porch. Boy, did we have a lot of trees back then!
This is actually the finished product as we planned it, just before we had of
those "DUH" moments and said, brilliantly, "Why didn't we just put the roof
over the whole trailer?" So we did - Well, DUH! Nancy had found the blue color of
the trailer to be offensive in it's grass and trees setting, and undertook the monumental
task of painting the whole thing a cedar tone to make it blend in. It
worked quite well.
.jpg)
Pretty close to final completion of this stage here. That's Fred on the roof
(Roofs are a favorite thing!), Nancy on the ladder and my sweetie Marble
standing guard. See that tree just to the right of Marble..it went down in
1992, uphill thankfully. See that tree just to the left of Nancy... it went
down in 2002 and missed the corner of the porch by about 6 inches. Notice a theme here?
This is the finished product in a wintry setting after an early snow. The saga of
the porches is continued in the
Current Porch at Laurel.
.
|