Porch Ceiling Archives

December 15, 2020July 7, 2021

West End Wall Framing & the Porch Ceiling is Complete!

Day #142

July 3, 2020 – Having reached the far end of the deck with the aluminum ceiling panels I have to frame the west end wall in order to complete the porch ceiling. Similar to the dividing wall, the framing is pretty simple. We have a door opening flanked on each side by a knee wall. Later on we will be screening the porch and installing the screen doors to create a bug free haven.

West End Wall Framin — Framing for the door opening at the end wall.

End Wall Framing — Headers in the end wall framing.

Once the headers were installed I put up the PVC trim board above the door and completed the porch ceiling panels.

End Wall Framing 2 — West End wall from the outside, PVC trim board installed on the inside.

I am out of treated lumber so the knee wall framing on each side of this door opening will have to wait. It was not necessary to have them in place to complete the ceiling.

Ceiling Panels Complete — Porch ceiling panels are complete!

We are taking the next several days off to spend time with family in the river. I’ll be back after the holiday. I hope everyone has a safe 4th of July!

December 14, 2020July 6, 2021

Ceiling Panel Installation Continues

Day #141

July 02, 2020 – I continued the aluminum ceiling panel installation down to the west end of the porch. Insulation at the top of the outside wall and furring strips preceded the panels. At the end of the day I only had one or two pieces left to complete the ceiling. It looks great!

Insulation-Furring Strips — Insulation and furring strips.

Ceiling Panels — Aluminum ceiling panel installation.

Dumpster Returns

Today we got the dumpster back in. There is more demolition to do including the remaining siding and the living room ceiling. More on this work later.

As I reported earlier, it has been difficult obtaining enough of the aluminum panels to finish up the porch ceiling. Earlier in the week, on Monday, I went on a search for the remaining material. I had to go to two different Home Depot stores and one Lowe’s store to get what we need. Thankx pandemic!

December 12, 2020July 6, 2021

Bring on the Porch Ceiling Fans!

Day #140

July 01, 2020 – Today is Wednesday, a “real job” work day for me. I am “real job” working remotely at the Cot-Taj-Mahal. On days like this I don’t get much renovation done, but a little bit is better than none. Just like a little kid with a new toy I had to put up the first porch ceiling fan. We took delivery awhile ago and I’ve been itching to get them up.

Porch Ceiling Fan — Porch ceiling fan number one.

The fans are Manufactured by the Monte Carlo Ceiling Fan Company. They are the 52″ Discus Outdoor Fan Series. Because we didn’t want to deal with replacing batteries in remotes and not having internet access these are “low tech” fans. Pull chains operate both the fans and the built in LED lights. I have installed switches in the wall, next to the sliding door, to kill the power to each fan. We will have three porch ceiling fans when it is all said and done.

Fan Number One — Hole in ceiling and electrical box for fan number two.

Now that I have my inner child appeased with the first porch ceiling fan I can continue with the aluminum ceiling panel installation.

Porch Ceiling Panels — Porch ceiling installation continues.

December 10, 2020July 7, 2021

Moving Right Along with the Porch Ceiling Installation.

Day #138

June 27, 2020 – With the dividing wall complete I can move along with the remainder of the porch ceiling installation. This includes furring strips, ceiling fan rough in and the PVC trim boards to cover the porch beams. If you face the cottage the flow of work moves left to right or east to west. Not sure why that’s important but I’ll throw it in there anyway.

PVC Trim — Moving right along with the PVC trim boards.

Section One Done - Ceiling - Moving Right Along — Ceiling panels complete in section one.

Section Two — Starting PVC trim in section two just west of the dividing wall.

Ceiling Panels Section Two - Moving Right Along — Ceiling panels in section two. Moving right along.

Porch Section Three — Section three ceiling panels.

Hey look, there’s that “Almost 7 Foot Picture Window“. Did ya measure?

From here I will continue the ceiling panels. We have had some difficulty locating more of this aluminum. We bought everything that the Lewistown Lowe’s had. Next week I will make the rounds to the Mechanicsburg Lowe’s and the Home Depot to see if I can get enough to finish.

Aluminum Ceiling Panel Availability

Part of the problem has been sorting out good panels from the large pile of mostly damaged panels. From what I can see, it looks like the practice at Lowe’s, is to simply return the dented, crumpled and scratched panels to the top of the pile to try and sell. I wish that these “Big Box stores would have a little more pride in the products that they sell. Take the damaged materials off the shelf, dam it!

Rant over…..

December 4, 2020July 6, 2021

Dividing Wall Framing on the Porch Deck

Day #136

June 26, 2020 – The dividing wall on the deck separates the screened in porch section from the open section. The framing is pretty straight forward and includes a door opening flanked on each side by a knee wall. I need to complete this framing before I can continue with the porch ceiling.

Dividing Wall Framing — Bottom plate for the dividing wall.

Door Opening — Framing in the door opening.

Dividing Wall Knee Wall — Door header and knee wall framing, right side.

Knee Wall Left Side — Knee wall framing, left side.

Dividing Wall Headers — Header framing on the right side.

I finished up the dividing wall framing today. Now I can continue with the aluminum ceiling panels.

In case your interested, we had grilled Salmon and a nice Sweet Potato and Goat Cheese Salad for dinner. The river looked awesome today, hence the off topic featured image.

A little housekeeping. This blog post highlights work that I did back in June. There has been a lot of work completed between then and now. I, know, I am way behind, like 6 months worth.

Some of the recipients of this blog are aware of the current progress and some are not. I have some “less busy” time coming up and I’d like to make a push to get the record caught up. If you get tired of these posts and you think there are too many, you can unsubscribe. I won’t be offended. If not, hang in there, I going on a blog post rampage!

Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Glorious Festivus!
Blogmaster Gyeem Raj Du-Kamar

November 5, 2020July 6, 2021

Furring Strip Installation Continues

Day #134

June 19, 2020 – I finished up the installation of the 1×3 furring strips in the first section (“Brenda’s Deck”) of the new porch. As you can see in the image below I have a stack of aluminum ceiling panels laying on the deck ready to be installed.

There is a dividing wall between section 1, “Brenda’s Deck”, and the rest of the porch. I framed in the top plate of this wall and continued the furring strip installation in section 2.

In the image below, the plywood you see on the wall covers the rough opening for the new living room picture window . My Enola PA crew is coming tomorrow to help me set this window in place. Pretty exciting.

New Picture Window — Plywood covering the picture window opening.

This afternoon we had a visit from Spouting Unlimited. We invited them to provide us with a proposal to furnish and install seamless gutters and downspouts. As it turned out, their price was great so we hired them to do the job. We picked out a color from one of their sample rings and they were off. They will be back in a couple of weeks to do the installation. Easy as that.

Furring Strips - Section 2 — Furring strip installation in section 2.

It’s funny how things go in the Land Before Time. A short time after Spouting Unlimited left the skies opened up and it poured buckets! Maybe it was a quick reminder to us, from the heavens, to expedite the gutter and downspout installation. Who knows?

This is the puddle that formed just before the railroad crossing.

November 4, 2020July 6, 2021

A First Look at the Aluminum Ceiling Panels

Day #132

June 13, 2020 – Just a short blog today. I continued the electric rough in above the porch ceiling for the overhead light in section one, and the three ceiling fans further on down the porch. I was able to get a good start on the aluminum ceiling panels too.

Porch Ceiling Aluminum Panels — Aluminum panels and electric rough in.

Aluminum Ceiling Panels — The start of the ceiling panel installation.

PS: I was reviewing my photos and notes from this day and I realized that I forgot to mention that my New Jersey Crew removed the old siding from the west end of the cottage and covered it with Tyvek. Obviously, they are making a “Artistic” statement by installing the building warp upside down. LOL!

West End Tyvek — Existing siding removed and Tyvek installed on the west end wall.

November 3, 2020July 6, 2021

Porch Ceiling Panel Installation Begins!

Day #131

June 12, 2020 – Yesterday the roofing contractor finished up the metal roof. Today marks the beginning of the installation of the porch ceiling. We choose an aluminum panel similar to the soffit material already installed. There is not much difference between the two panels. The soffit panel is fully vented (lots of tiny vent holes) and the ceiling panel is solid. Both are white in color.

We planned an overhead light in the first porch section so I installed a ceiling heavy duty fan brace and fixture box. Next I fastened 1″×3″ furring strips perpendicular to the ceiling joists. These will serve as nailers for the aluminum ceiling panels.

Furring Strips - Porch Ceiling — Furring strips, overhead light brace and fixture box.

Furring strips for the porch ceiling section one.

As the furring strip installation proceeds, I drop back to cover the porch beams with a pvc board. The J channel for the porch ceiling panels will attach directly to the pvc board making for a clean finish.

PVC Beam Cover - Porch Ceiling — PVC beam cover, furring strips and light rough in.

At the end of the day I have the first porch section ready for the aluminum panels. I hope to get those started tomorrow morning. It feels great to have things finally starting to close in.