Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Framing Out And Caulking Exterior Doorways

As exciting as it was to remove the sliding glass doors from our sunroom, it left a very unexciting task (by comparison) next on our list.

Sunroom 11 After

Removing all of the metal door frames left lots of exposed raw wood along the edges of each opening. Not only did it look unpolished, but it was recipe for rot (that recipe being rain water + raw wood = rot). So we jumped on this to-do right away.

Boxing 1 Before

When we got our house painted, this room had a lot of rot repair on the outside so we’re hyper-vigilant to the issue right now. So instead of filling those areas with wood, I splurged on PVC (i.e. plastic) since it holds up better to moisture. It was about $5 more per piece, but I figured it was worth knowing that it would last for decades without any rot. I did save about $25 by buying the pre-primed wood for the tops of the door openings (since they won’t likely come in direct contact with standing water).

Boxing 2 PVC Wood

Each of my boards measured 1″ x 6″ x 8′, which was just a smidge too wide for the gaps that I was filling. So in addition to cutting them a bit shorter, I had to rip a little off the sides using my table saw. Once I set my guide to the right measurement it made for pretty easy work.

Boxing 3 Cutting

Once everything was cut, I put some construction adhesive on the back of my board and the nail gunned it into place. It had been a while since I had a date with my nail gun, so it felt good to be back in the saddle. I made super handsome faces like this.

Boxing 4 Nailing

For the ceiling boards I also reinforced the hold with a few screws. I just didn’t totally trust adhesive + nails to keep it from falling on our heads at some point.

Boxing 5 Screwing Ceiling

Installing the boards took me a couple of hours, only to be followed by an equally fun few hours of caulking. #YOLO

Boxing 6 Caulking

Our main mission was to caulk the gaps around the new boards (just say no to moisture creeping in there!) but we took the opportunity to fill any other cracks or gaps that we saw around the room. In addition to its rot-prevention benefits, this step also made the new frames look more finished.

Boxing 7 Before After2

When it came to caulking the bottoms, I learned from a similar experience on our last home’s porch makeover that I should use clear (not white) silicone caulk here. When caulking against brick it’s nearly impossible to get a straight looking line because the caulk gets smushed into the ragged surface of the brick. So clear caulk allows us to still seal things tightly, while the straight edge of the board still acts as the visual edge. Obviously it looks lumpy here since I didn’t smooth it with my finger yet, but once you do that it’s pretty clean looking.

Boxing 8 Clear Bottom

I know, I know, riveting stuff. But at least it made the room look a little less unfinished.

Boxing 9 After Inside

And as you can see, someone is enjoying the new open space quite thoroughly.

Boxing 10 After Outside

We still need to paint the inside of the room (right now it’s cream, while the outside is white) but before we broke out our paintbrushes, we couldn’t keep ourselves from breaking into the ceiling…

Boxing 11 Ceiling Tease

More on that once we finish poking around in there. Here’s hoping we can actually loft this baby!

Comments

  2. Julianne says

    Looking good over there! Amazing eye to have the vision for this space & see the potential! Can’t wait to see more!

    Reply

  3. jenny says

    i don’t know why, but i’m crazily excited about this project and to watch it unfold… what a great idea! glad you were open to sherry’s vision, john. :) makes for a great team…

    Reply

  5. Maggie says

    As others noted, the picture of Clara throwing the ball up in the air is so perfect! Excited to see how this project turns out – great work so far!

    Reply

  6. bethany says

    dude just had a hilarious thought: One of these days that day bed is going to look like an inviting place for bambi to take a little snooze….

    Reply

  7. Evie says

    Ooh, so I just learned the meaning of #YOLO! I needed that when I accidentally poked my hammer through the wall on the rebound (pulling a very tough nail) and then did a first time patch job on it all by myself. Very excellent work, too! LOL Figure at my age I better get in all the #YOLO I can!!

    Verandah question, Sherry and John. What is supporting the cement floor? It’s up quite high…but no cracks, so that’s good… I wish I had an UNDER THE DECK photo!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      There’s actually foundation under the sunroom (it’s bricked to the ground under the deck)! But there’s crawl space under the deck (just posts for that).

      xo
      s

  12. Christine says

    Wow– cannot wait to see how the ceiling turns out! How cool would that be, especially if you can paint the ceiling some lovely light blue color.

    Reply

  13. oh Holland says

    Extreme Verandizing is the most brilliant thing you’ve done to you new home so far. Can’t wait for the full reveal!

    Reply

  14. Jude says

    Wow! Your home looks awesome! The picture of Clara and the ball is SO adorable! She really looks like she is in Heaven :) The veranda already looks awesome, and will be nice when you want a break from the sun. I am trying not to be jealous, but a LOFT! Come on, now I don’t know if I can control myself! You guys rock, all four of you!

    Reply

  15. Ashley says

    I think this may be one of my favorite YHL projects ever, even though you just started. I’m in love with this idea and I can’t wait to see how it turns out for you. It’s going to be a fantastic outdoor space, I’m sure!

    Reply

  18. Ann says

    I love it!! Great call on opening the space up. No need to mention who’s idea that was. The photos of Clara are adorable. :)

    Reply

  20. BarbOutsideBoston says

    I would love to see a picture of the exterior of that side of the house now. I bet it looks more traditional.

    Reply

  21. Wendy G says

    I love love love this project so much!! I’ve been toying with the idea of building a pergola on the back of our house but now I want to go all out veranda!!

    Reply

  24. Sharon says

    Hi! I looooooovvvveee your new found veranda!! It completely changes the feel of your deck. It’s so funny how taking away that glass makes you deck one big open room that still feels cozy. Enjoy it!

    Reply

  26. Kathryn says

    I keep thinking of this project as ‘you’ve not lost a daughter, you’ve gained a son’ except in my mind it’s ‘you’ve not lost a sunroom, you’ve gained a carport’ – er… what I mean is you mentioned one of the unexpected perks of the carport v. garage in the last house was that it was great to have an indoor/outdoor space for parties, and people just seemed to naturally gravitate to it.

    So… veranda schmeranda. Congrats on carport 2.0!

    Reply

  27. Lynn says

    I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your veranda! :) We have a split entry….so there’s not enough height for us to have one off our deck. So we haev decided to build the next best thing…a gazebo.

    LOVE LOVE LOVE watching Clara dance around outside as well. We have a 1 1/2 year old, Sarah. Watching Clara grow gives us a little insight into what’s to come in the next year or two. :) Plus great ideas of things to do with her! Thanks!

    Reply

    • Lynn says

      PS: The moments you’ve captured this summer in the yard and on the beach are so framable and georgeous. *tear* :)

  28. Heidi says

    I’m sure you guys probably know this, but I just bought some more trim and baseboards for my old house at Home Depot- it was almost 50% cheaper to buy online (since they have way more choices), pick from tons more styles and have it shipped to my local store for free. Ridiculous, and I waited a few extra days (I think 3 or 4) and yet, awesome for being on a budget!

    Reply

  29. Jennifer says

    Opening up that room makes such a difference in the feel of your home! You guys are fearless when it comes to demo! Can’t wait to see the ceiling.

    Reply

  31. taria says

    Looks really wonderful but please get out your table saw manual and do some reading. Your set up is really scary, especially with a kiddo around. I grew up with a carpenter dad. There was one particular accident that was not pretty. You guys are all to sweet to deal with a bad table saw accident. You inspire me when I am not worrying about your safety. : )

    Reply

  32. Ian says

    Looks like you need a stand for the table saw John! Save your poor aching back and be easier and safer to use.

    Outdoor areas are so worth the work, the better it is out there the more likely you are to actually use it!

    Stay well

    Reply

  33. SassafrasNA says

    I’m on the edge of my seat as usual with you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    On the daybed mattress…how about sewing some elastic onto the corners of a large vinyl tablecloth to cover it and make it weatherproof?

    Reply

  34. Mandy says

    I love you guys, and this project! It makes me long for my own home so we can do awesome stuff to make it really ours – I love the individuality you put in each of your homes!

    However, I’m one of the annoying picky people – typo alerter! Usually you get them fixed before I comment, but this one is still there – when you’re talking about using clear caulk on the brick you put “cailk” (“So clear (caulk) still allows us to seal things…”).

    Reply

  36. Natalie says

    You guys are freaking amazing!!

    Seriously, it was genius of you to turn the sunroom into a covered deck {or whatever you call it!}. I love it already! Keep up the GREAT work! :)

    Reply

  37. Penny Smith says

    Before you were talking about staining the concrete. Now I see tiling on the list. Did you find out stain won’t work (I swear I tried to find it before asking the same thing as 50 other people!) I DO love the brick edge though… do you not like that in person?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We LOVE the brick edge but the concrete is so slick (Clara has slipped on it a few times) so we worry stain or paint wouldn’t help with that, but some exterior tile would have more grip and cut down on how slick it is.

      xo
      s

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