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Front Porch Refresh

From then to Wow, we love the results!

OUTDOORSFEATURED

Kevin Gallaher

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10 Materials

15 Hours

front porch with welcome mat
front porch with welcome mat

What started as a new doorbell camera for the front door, as with many projects turned into much more, as in a complete refresh of the front porch. Now I'll be honest here and put it out there - when one thing needs to be done it's not just a simple coat of paint where the old doorbell used to be.

No, it's typically the exact opposite. It slips to maybe we should do a new color, perhaps the welcome sign has outlived its appeal, ooh, maybe we should paint the concrete, or stencils might look, and it keeps going until I stop myself!

That's Papa pressure washing!

Front Porch Smooth Ceiling
Front Porch Smooth Ceiling

Wanting something unique to dress up the ceiling just a little, I went with $20 worth of PVC trim boards from the local home improvement store and some ingenuity. I've always liked the look of coffered ceilings and while this one is flatter than a true coffered ceiling, I really like how it turned out. As with any project where you are working with power tools always follow the manufacturer safety recommendations and wear eye protection

The process was pretty simple. I used a cordless brad nailer, a hand miter saw (to get straight cuts), some caulking for interior/exterior use to caulk around all the trim boards, and plastic wood to fill in the brad nail holes. After the sanding, then painting, we have a finished ceiling.

All together start to finish; this took me about 4 hours to complete.

Note: The light was replaced with an LED replacement that I had left from another project.
Always follow safety guidelines when working with electricity and if you're not comfortable doing this work yourself, call on a professional.

Ceiling Before

Flat coffered ceiling on a front porch
Flat coffered ceiling on a front porch

Ceiling After

Aside from the porch needing paint badly, the porch stoop was in drastic need of help. Even after pressure washing the stoop continued to have the word "Joy" permanently stained in it from the Christmas doormat that stayed too long.

After another wipe down and still no results of really removing the stained Christmas message, I decided to go a little bit overboard and stain the stoop with Behr concrete stain. Now full disclosure, this was a can of concrete stain that I had been holding onto for a while (we won't go into how long), but it worked beautifully, which is a testament to how great this stuff is.

The Cordova Brown color was from a project a few years back, but I already had it and brown ultimately was a good choice. Two coats of concrete stain later and the lingering Christmas message was nothing but a memory.

flat coffered ceiling on front porch being constructed
flat coffered ceiling on front porch being constructed
Trim boards nailed to a front porch ceiling
Trim boards nailed to a front porch ceiling

Trim Boards Nailed Up

Trimmed, caulked, filled, sanded, and ready for paint

Coffered Ceiling

Prep work

So, first things first. Remove the old doorbell, clear the old welcome sign (that may reappear later), and honestly, now the rain gutters look like they could use a cleaning. Ha!

But let's move on with clearing the porch, pressure washing the surrounding areas including the concrete porch stoop, and getting ready to make the magic happen.

Filling holes and getting ready for the first step in painting which is changing the paint color from the tan/beige color to the accent color on the front wall.

Porch Stoop

Paint

In all fairness and respect for the paint on the porch, it has been in place for about 8 years now. When we were deciding on paint, we went with a higher quality paint that was designed to hold up, and over time it has done pretty well. We chose Valspar DURAMAX satin exterior paint and in keeping with the directions the entire house was hand brushed with 2 coats and not diluted and sprayed on.

I chose to go with the accent color versus the original tan/beige color that was around the porch because I felt that it was close enough to the accent wall that continuing it around the corner made sense.

Concrete front door stoop with Joy outline
Concrete front door stoop with Joy outline
Front porch
Front porch
Stencil in a brown paper bag on its side with the top cut off
Stencil in a brown paper bag on its side with the top cut off
Painted stencil
Painted stencil
Front Porch Stoop with stenciling
Front Porch Stoop with stenciling

Overall, we're very pleased with the final result and looking forward to adding back in a welcome sign, but that will be a different project.

Painted Stencil on porch stoop
Painted Stencil on porch stoop
Front Porch
Front Porch

Before

Now I could have just stopped at the brown on the stoop and called it. But I had a vision for what I wanted, and plain brown wasn't it. A search of the house and of course, not finding where I had stored the stencils that I already had, led me to Amazon for a new set and a new design. As with most lost things, you find them when you're not looking for them, which was the case with the original stencils, but never fear, they'll get used later.

The stenciling of the porch may have been the most difficult part of this project. It was certainly the most time consuming, and this part took me about 3 days to complete. The stencils are a 4 pack of the same stencil that I purchased from Amazon. I first had to find the center on the porch so I had a starting point for the stencils. After laying them out to see what I would need in the way of stenciling space, I was ready to go.

First
To minimize seepage of paint around the stencil and get crisper stenciling I used a spray adhesive on the stencils first. Spraying and then letting each dry just a bit before placing them adhesive side down on the concrete and pressing down firmly around all the openings for good adherence.

Tip:
I used a grocery bag with one side cut off to place the stencil in to spray it. It helped to minimize overspray of the surrounding areas and when I was done with it, it was disposed of.

Next
With the stencils in place, I used a dollar store "dabber" and a dollar store roller paint pan filled with Behr exterior satin paint (our white trim paint) and got started. Lightly apply the first coat and follow up with a second coat in some areas. Take your time here with applying the paint and I chose to remove the stencil before the paint was too dry, so that the adhesive didn't stick to the porch stoop.

Full disclosure, there were areas that I didn't care for after completing the stencils and letting everything dry. A light sanding with my detail sander (using just regular sandpaper) to lightly remove any raised paint and two coats of concrete stain later, and we were back to square one. I reapplied the stencils until I was happy with the results and allowed them to dry.

After the stenciling had dried overnight, I went back over it with the same concrete stain and wet cloth to wipe it off to obtain the desired result I was looking for.

Final
After everything had been given overnight to dry, I applied three coats of Behr Premium (oil based) SPAR Urethane to the porch to seal the stenciling in, make it more durable, and UV resistant while allowing 2-3 hours between coats. I made a quick trip to the local dollar store and used their brushes to apply this, since I didn't feel bad about tossing the brush once I was complete. Twelve hours later and you can have light traffic, with full cure in 3-4 days.

front porch with welcome mat
front porch with welcome mat

After

Materials
  • Exterior paint

  • Stencils

  • Concrete stain

  • SPAR Urethane

  • PVC trim boards

  • Exterior caulking

  • Adhesive spray glue

  • Painter's tape

  • Brad Nails or Small Finish Nails

  • LED Replacement Light Kit (optional)

Tools
Tools in a bucket
Tools in a bucket
  • Eye protection (safety goggles)

  • Pressure Washer

  • Cordless Brad Nailer or Finish hammer

  • Painting supplies (brushes, rollers, etc.) of your choice

  • Kneeling pad (save your knees)

  • Stencils

  • Sanding block or Detail sander

Project Wins
Trophy with a star on it
Trophy with a star on it
  • For only a vision in my head, we're loving the overall results.

  • I was skeptical about the coffered ceiling design, but found it to be easy in comparison to the stenciling.

Project Fails
oops spelled out in a message bubble
oops spelled out in a message bubble
  • Stenciling was a bit more involved than I thought it would be originally, had to fix some paint bleeds.

  • I had originally set aside about 2 days for this project and it took twice that to complete.

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Kevin Gallaher is the owner of this blog, papapinterest.com. I have applied a skill level based on my own experience and provided minimal instructions on how to achieve a similar outcome. Please remember that this blog is for entertainment purposes only. With all the posts on papapinterest.com, be certain to read and understand the project before starting. Build at your own risk and be safe. We will not be responsible for any injury or damage incurred while following any post from our site. None of our posts should be considered expert advice, so please consult a professional when necessary. Be sure to read and understand all safety and instruction manuals, and take safety precautions seriously. All projects performed from posts found on our site are done at your own risk.

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