Gimme Shelter, For Real This Time

We're back, baby. As of last Sunday. And...it is good to be home. For all the normal reasons, but also because our back porch makeover madness is officially over. 

O.V.E.R. 

That's right! Sunday night, as we pulled into the driveway, both John and I were pleasantly surprised to find that the polycarbonate roof had been added to the pergola over our back porch.

Here it is. 

What's that you say? You can't see it. 

I tell you, that's just music to my ears!

I was so worried about the polycarbonate roof, I thought it would be awful and unsightly and more awful, but to my surprise it's none of those things. Instead, it's practically invisible. 

Knowing it's pretty easy to make things look great from far away, here's a closer look. 

As you can see, the pergola is level. On top, the contractor added a 4x2 ripped to create a small angle going away from the house. This will keep water off the roof and flowing down over the stairs. 

The new ripped 4x2 creates the support for the polycarbonate panels. 

Moving in even closer, you can see that we selected a milky white polycarbonate. 

1, because it filters the light, but doesn't block it.

2, because it slightly camouflages the debris that inevitably falls on the roof. 

3, because it blends into the white pergola. duh.

Each polycarbonate panel is approximately 4x8. They are attached in a grid pattern with rubber screws. The seams are siliconed, taped and sprayed with adhesive. Creating, what we hope will be, a water-tight roof. 

I guess all my fears were for not. I officially apologized to John, who first provided this idea/solution, and told him he is the mastermind he has been trying to convince me he is. 

Moving right along…you can see we were really excited to get the porch set up. Got the old wicker out of storage (aka the garage) and plopped it on up there. Added old pillows and everything. We've got a couple more tweaks planned, but for now we are soaking up the unseasonably cool temperatures and loving our back porch. More details to come…

until next time,