Front Porch, Fence, and Uphill Retaining Wall

As move in day approaches and final inspections are due, Richard and the contractors have been cranking up the activity. I have always been attracted to the traditional American front porch, and now we have a chance for one of our own. Here's the space:

We are having composite material for the decking that is water, mildew, and fade resistant and requires no maintenance.

Stan is back to help with the porch construction. The support beams are regular treated lumber.

And once the beams are in place, he makes pretty fast progress:

Here's the finished decking and, already some of the wall for the landscaping:

Meanwhile the front door has also been installed. The glass has a lovely stained glass window-style pattern.

Time to call the painters back... We opted to paint the door beeswax candle which is the accent colour we chose for the house.

And here it is:

Clay then adds the pre-primed cedar cladding for the porch support posts. Yes he really is that tall and he doesn't need a ladder!

On the downhill side of the house the fence is going in on top of the concrete retaining wall. Brian is also starting work on the steps and platform which will be the solution to the long running conundrum of how to get in through the side garage door!

And here's the completed fence section alongside the house:

The fence section at the front of the house will be done once the driveway is done. The wooden struts are holding the forms in place in preparation for pouring the concrete for the driveway which will begin when the weather decides to cooperate:

On the uphill side of the house some of the stone blocks for the front landscaping are already in place. Alongside the house however, a wooden retaining wall is required to hold the soil in place. Richard and Clay are working on this:

Below the topsoil, the earth is a hard, yellowish clay that is remarkably stable. The vertical cut into the uphill slope as been exposed throughout the winter rain and snow and has not budged one jot, and so an upright wooden retaining wall will provide all the support required without taking up the space that would be required by a stone wall.

And here's how it looks as Richard completes the fill and Molly checks it out for possible squirrel activity:

That's all for now!