My Biggest Mistake in the Waco House Remodel
All remodeling projects have setbacks and mistakes. I wanted to share my biggest mistake in our Waco home remodeling project.
We all make mistakes. And I was pretty sure I would make one in the Waco house fixer upper remodel. I thought I was doing the right thing and since I had seen so many others on Instagram doing this it never occurred to me it was a bad idea. But this was, so far, my biggest mistake in the Waco home remodeling project.
my-biggest-mistake-in-the-waco-house-remodel
My Biggest Mistake in the Waco Home Remodeling Project
And what was my mistake?
Painting the porch floor white.
Mistakes in Home Remodeling
I know the porch looks great in this photo. I loved it after we painted it. Even if I had to clean it for an hour before I took this photo.
I need to mention when we took these photos for the curb appeal reveal of the home, the painter only painted the porch floor white in the front. The remaining 3/4 of the porch floor (the side and back) had not been painted.
Thank heavens.
The following day, when all of the photos were posted on my blog and I was very happy, I showed up at the house and it was raining. The workers were already in the home and this photo below is what the front porch looked like.
I started to panic.
I knew I had made a really bad decision in my home remodeling project.
A few feet to the left was where the porch floor hadn’t been painted. It looked just fine. Because the dirt didn’t show on the non-painted floor.
Most of you know this home was going to be used as a short-term rental. It suddenly occurred to me that every time the cleaning crew cleaned our house there would be at least an hour required to clean the porch too. Ugh.
This was a huge problem.
I was told by a few friends that I could just paint the porch floor grey. But I didn’t want a grey porch floor.
I talked it over with my contractor and we decided to pull up the floorboards that had been painted white.
This was a mid-sizes home remodeling error.
It was costly to redo. But long term made sense.
I guess this was the classic “two steps forward and three steps backward”. Here is my poor front porch with all of the white-painted boards removed.
The good news was, most of the boards could just be flipped. This actually made me smile. A silver lining to my home remodeling mistake!
Here is the porch after the mistake was fixed and the boards were flipped. Some of the boards (under the posts) couldn’t be removed and still need sanding.
But the change saved me a ton of headache and cost to clean the porch multiple times every single week. (Not making the change would have been an even bigger mistake in the Waco home remodel.)
The top boards on the front stairs had to be replaced too. And in the photo below, you can see that the boards still have to be cut across the front (they look a bit uneven).
But the side and back porch floors were never painted so the “fix” wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
Look how amazing the porch looks now!
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Painting the Porch Ceiling Blue
The one question I get asked the most about our porch is “What color is the ceiling paint?”.
Here is the answer.
Sherwin Williams Sky High 6504
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Here are all of the details for Waco porch items!
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Oh boy! So glad you caught that early on! I love the natural wood color – so gorgeous with the white and blue! 💙 This is the coolest house!
Glad you went ahead and tackled that issue now. Love the ceiling color! All the ceilings in our home are a very light {beautiful} blue. Our daughter did hers in a light aqua which looks like the sea where they live. I am staying tuned…. 😊
Love to incorporate ceilings into the design mix. Our den is a sky blue which I plan to paint clouds. Tennessee in the summertime doesn’t always allow outdoor hangout time. My way of bringing the outdoors in. Your sense of design is ever so refreshing! Love it!!!❤
You are fortunate you discovered the porch problem early! I bought a previous home & the cement porch was painted white 🤭. I cleaned that porch constantly for the 5 years i lived there. I have also used the SW Sky High several times. I never get tired of that perfect blue! Can’t wait to see the final reveal!
Thank goodness you realized it now and the boards could be flipped. I personally love it wood. I think it adds warmth.
Cindy
As someone who is in the midst of a whole-house remodel of a new-to-is farmhouse, I greatly appreciate this post. Our wrap-around porch is one of my favorite parts of the house, but the boards are painted a ghastly dark green. I wanted a natural finish, but sanding would literally take months. (The previous owner was both liberal and sloppy with the paint; it is EVERYWHERE.) Not sure what I’ll do now, but I know it won’t be painted white! 😊
Great save! I’m not a fan of painted floors. I did it on my stairs in my house and it’s nothing but a cleaning chore everyday.
LOVE LOVE LOVE The fence on the street front. Is it original or reproduction? Great job-as always, love your style. Thanks for sharing. And 100% love the unpainted porch. Bravo!
You could also seal the wood with a wood stain that would protect the wood and age gracefully.
Looks so beautiful natural!
Living in Wimberley for many years I always appreciated those wrap around porches….and I think seeing the natural color on the floor of the porch looks oh so country, as it should…flip the boards..YAY…what a save Leslie..
Glad you made the decision to change the floor, good move! I have to say though, to see the scrap under the porch makes me crazy. Here in Arizona, or anywhere it doesn’t freeze to 18″, you have termites…..otherwise known as house killers (they can also crawl up 4″ on cement to get to wood). Those scrap boards are an open-arms-invite to those creepy critters! Can’t wait to see the rest of the house.
I was thinking the same. In Oklahoma many don’t have wood decks next to their house because of termites. Does anybody know if an oil would help?
We recently sanded our deck and haven’t sealed it yet. I LOVE the natural look. Anyone know what the best product is to keep this natural look but protect the wood??? Thanks! And I love your front porch. Looking forward to seeing the inside ☺️
We have 30 year old decks that we pressure wash and re-seal every two – three years. They aren’t supposed to last but about 15 years! We have had many opportunities to research and try wood seals and Cabot seems to be the best. It isn’t easy to find but it’s out there. It ages nicely.
Thanks for sharing!
I am happy to share!
I also have heard Cabot is best.
Love the natural wood! I’ve seen the white floors all over Instagram as well and those ladies make them look amazing in their homes! But the amount of cleaning that must go into keeping them white.. yikes!! How great you were able to just flip the boards, what a relief. Turned out beautifully. 🙂
Leslie thank you for sharing. IG sometimes shows what is pretty but not practical. I’m glad for bloggers like you who is not timid with their mistakes but we learn from it.
It’s a blessing that you can still reuse most of the lumber.
We made this mistake long ago when we built our house. We painted the side porch dark opaque gray and it showed every grain of dirt and footprints. Luckily we did it first and saw the mistake and didn’t paint our front porch floor. I am glad you were able to correct it.
Smart move to change the floor so quickly!! The house is really coming along! I can’t wait to see the inside! I know it’s going to be amazing, I mean, if it’s half as beautiful as the outside, you’re golden! I’m sending lots of good vibes!
The light blue on the ceiling is reminiscent of porches thru the years. Beautiful house.
I would have never thought about it either until I guess, you luve life and see the mess it left. Thanks for sharing and glad it got solved!
Wow! I always love white porches —and I wondered how they could be kept clean. Thought it was a great washable paint. Thank you for sharing this. I love following how you style rooms. Beautiful.
I am so glad you found it helpful! Thank you.