I don’t do a lot of outdoor work. I have terrible seasonal allergies – nasal and asthma. I also have very tender skin. I burn easily and I break out easily to grass and, of course, the dreaded poison ivy or oak! Despite all of that, today I was able to do a job that was outdoors and involved minimal exposure to my allergy triggers. What did I do? Oh, yeah, the title kinda gave it away. (snap!) I’m extremely pleased with my new front porch. Here are the before and after photos:

Before:

 

Please excuse my little monkeys, I mean, helpers. 😉

 

And now…(drumroll please)

AFTER:

I first swept it and then used a power sprayer to spray it off. I let that dry and then gave it one coat. I touched up that coat, then gave it another whole coat. It took me six hours including drying time. It was a lot of scrunching and bending, so I’m sure I’ll feel the pain tomorrow! It’s really exciting to be able to make changes to our own home. We will be homeowners for a year this month – hard to believe.

 Below is a side-by-side comparison. I really like it! It should help preserve the wood, too.

I’m really enjoying the change of pace now that we’re done with the school year. I’m sure I’ll blink and it will be time to start again, but that’s okay. I am enjoying each moment the Lord gives me.

Thanks for reading!