I hope I’m in the right forum for this, but I’m going to try here first. I have a four season porch that was basically converted into the den on the side of my house (we bought the house 1.5 years ago). There is no foundation underneath, but I was told by people that know the house that it was built like a deck and was built on posts. Since it was built about 25 years ago, I’m somewhat confident that it’s settled and should move too much from year to year.
I had a home energy audit done last year and the auditor mentioned that it should be open underneath, to get airflow and keep it dry. As you can see in the pictures, there is skirting around the bottom. I began to try to pull it off to look, but there is insulation panels right behind the skirting. There is also a heat/ac duct from the main part of the house running into the porch as well, so I’m somewhat hesitant to pull off the skirting and have that heat duct exposed to the elements, let alone the cold floor in the winter (I live in Minnesota). Long story short, and getting to my question: is there any way that they could have done this legit and I should just leave it alone or do I need to tear off that skirting and leave it open underneath? Thanks in advance.
Lot of guessing here. We can see wood directly on the ground which is not correct. Technically if there is no foundation around that porch.... it should be open underneath. Unfortunately that's not going to help with heating it. Probably not the most energy efficient converted porch.
I finally opened it up underneath and I'm still not sure what to do. It seemed pretty dry and I didn't notice anything wrong with the wood (I've attached several pictures). There is also foam board insulation behind the apron that I took off and also underneath the flooring.
I have heard that 4 season porches and decks should be open underneath. My question is whether I need to keep this open or should seal it back up. I live in Minnesota so I'm afraid it will be very cold if I just leave it open (there is a heat register coming from the main part of the house to this, as well as a gas fireplace).
Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you in advance.
Yes, you need airflow under that structure. That said, you are going to have a colder room in the winter and critters taking shelter under there as well so the solution is not going to be simple.
Might be too late now but the vent you sprayfoamed may have been providing the necessary airflow.
I recently purchased a 5ft porch swing with max load of 500 lbs that I’d like to install on my front porch. The porch has wooden bead board for the ceiling. I’d prefer to try and work without removing the ceiling if possible. I can access the porch ceiling from above through some access points on the second floor.
the porch ceiling has stick construction with 2x6 joists that are 16” on center. The joists run perpendicular to the house. I would like to hang the swing parallel to the joist.
Based on similar threads, I understand reinforcing is necessary. What I’m not sure of is if I can block with 4x4s between two 2x6 joists and drill through the 4x4s and through the bead board ceiling to attach an eye bolt to hang the swing?
mathematically it seems two joists blocked together should meet the weight specification?Read More
On a dock. 4"x8" and 4" x 10" PT boards have some material coming off. The board has lost it's edges over the years but there isn't any rot. So if you hit the area with a hose some material can come off but not in big chunks.
To me this isn't an indication of severe rot that has structural implications; I can't fit a flathead screwdriver into the wood like I could with normal dry rot.
Is there anything to seal the wood as it is to stop this from occurring?Read More
09-11-21, 04:57 PM
Opened it up
