Skirting around the issue

One of the most difficult tasks to achieve successfully is matching weather-beaten exterior pressure-treated lumber with new wood. Whether the objective is to replace old and rotten boards, or to add-on to what already exists, there is a good chance the new boards may never quite fit in aesthetically. And to top it off, lumber suppliers have likely changed their treatment methods over the years, resulting in a shift in colours and tones.

As frustrating as this all sounds, the front porch of my house seemed incomplete to me in recent years. Although the sun-bleached top-decking, fascia and railings had all received a hearty coat of deep-penetrating oil to hide the more than a decade’s worth of fading, the underside remained open for no other reason than that just happened to be the way it was built in 2003. Following the completion of the south-side addition a couple years ago, the under-carriage of the front deck-porch suddenly stood out like a sore thumb, well to me anyway. It was time to close it up! Would it be possible to achieve this goal, of skirting the front porch with new lumber without creating a conflict of wood tones adjacent the aged lumber of the old deck? It was worth a try.

The best skirt design should introduce a new element to the deck, by placing boards vertically below the fascia. Horizontal boards that continue in rows may too easily reveal any instances of non-matching lumber. Changing the orientation of the boards acts as a primary distraction from a shift in color or tone, and vertical 1x6 fence boards would work quite nicely to create this effect. And because fence boards are only three-quarters of an inch thick, they would also be inset once affixed, to amplify this optical deception.

Another trick that would reinforce the desired effect is the continuation of the railing’s posts. Once the 1x6 boards are fastened to a simple framework within these vertical faux posts, they will appear as panels of inset vertical boards, within the quadrants created by the post continuations. To achieve this, 2x4s were fastened below all middle railing posts and 4x4s, notched in an ‘L-shape’, below each corner railing post to continue the posts from cap to ground-level. Luckily, I had enough lumber remnants from past builds to satisfy all the 2x4 and 4x4 requirements for this project. The key would be to source the proper colour of new, 1x6 fence boards.

The hunt began and (fortunately) ended at my first stop, the RONA on Kenaston Boulevard. Initially, I must admit things did not look encouraging. Brown treated lumber in recent years has not been as rich a cedar-tone colour, and proof of this was in the RONA yard. The first pallet of fence boards revealed lumber that was far too light — much less red-brown than required. But low and behold, another unopened secret pallet of fence-boards was hiding behind this pale imposter. I could hardly believe my eyes — cedar-tone, like in years gone past. Would these boards do the trick?

Because the height of my front porch (below fascia) never exceeds 30 inches, the total number of vertical fence boards required was divided by two — every five-foot board provides two vertical boards for my application. Excitedly, I loaded the two dozen fence boards into the box of my truck, and made my way home on the Friday afternoon. By mid-day Saturday, the front porch had been fully skirted.

Stepping back to gaze upon the completed project for the first time (as a whole, in reference to the rest of the house) quickly vanquished any of my lumber-matching fears. To my amazement, the new lumber seems to blend almost perfectly with the 17-year old porch lumber. So much so, that I immediately decided to pursue the same objective along the front visible side of the pool deck in the backyard – it too deserves to be all dressed-up with a pretty little skirt, after all these years. Without hesitation, the cedar-tone fence boards to accommodate the back deck were ordered, and picked-up the very next day. You know, just to be safe.

BossEnterprise@outlook.com