Jacking Up the Porch (& Gutter Talk)

The front porch overhang was historically supported by three 2x6 boards, stood vertically. The boards were a bit bowed, and clearly weren't intended for this type of application. That is what caused the roof overhang to sag. I set out with the goal of replacing those 2x6s with three 4x4s, secured in place with metal brackets.

 I had Maximum Flow Seamless Gutters (http://www.maxgutters.com/) come out to put gutters on the place shortly after the first contractor was done with the exterior. This house never had proper gutters, and it caused pitting damage to the sidewalks around the lower ground level. It also caused water to gather around the house in a few places.

Maxiumum Flow did the gutters for me on my last two houses, and they did an excellent job on both. They use deep 6" gutters that cover the entire fascia, and look really good. They were able to color the downspouts to match the paint colors that I intended to use on the front brick (which a future blog post will detail).

When the gutter guys got going they noted that because of the way the roof overhang sagged, the gutters were going to hold water in a few places. That was my motivation to get the roof jacked up, and properly supported. Despite having to work with a difficult old roof line, Maximum Flow once again did a great job for me.

 Step one was pulling out the old roof overhang supports. To do this, I had to have something in place to hold it in the interim. I used a 2 ton automotive jack, a spare 4x4, and a few short 4x4 scraps.

I laid a short 4x4 scrap on the end of the 8' 4x4, and jacked it up into the outside corner of the roof overhang. It was a bit precarious, but I made sure it was solidly in place before pulling out the old 2x6 supports.

Once the old supports were out, I gingerly jacked up the roof until I could pour water into the gutter and it would run out properly. From there, I measured and cut the three new 4x4 supports.

 I set the new 4x4s in place, and used shims to make sure all three were snug. They sat like that, unfixed, until after I finished painting the brick.

Once the brick painting was done, I had to jack and support the roof overhang again.

I pulled out all of the 4x4 supports to be finished, after marking their top and bottom locations on the bricks and eaves. I primed them all with exterior grade white primer, then I painted them with exterior grade gloss white latex paint. I put two coats of the paint on each.

I picked up the end brackets from Fleet Farm. I first primed them with white spray primer, and then sprayed them with white gloss spray paint.

 Both of those priming and painting jobs were done with great care. I wanted the job to be well done, and didn't want the paint flecking off any time soon. I made sure that the surfaces were clean, and that each coat of primer/paint was completely dry before applying the next.

After everything was dry, I attached the brackets. Those that attached to the brick were attached with masonry nails, after I predrilled holes for them. The ones that attached to the boards under the eaves were attached with deck nails.

 The last step was to put the support 4x4s into the brackets, predrill small pilot holes, and secure them with 2 1/2" deck screws. I used deck screws here because they are intended to stand up to exterior weather elements. I didn't want any rust or corrosion showing on the white paint of the boards or brackets.

That's it for now. Up next is how I went about painting the brick that remained on the front of the house.