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Front Porch Chat – Keeping Your Home’s Entrance Safe and Sound

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How old is your house? That’s how old your front porch is. You may have painted your house several times, or even replaced the roof more than once, but most people tend to neglect their porch, even though it is exposed to the elements like any other exterior part of the house. A sagging or broken porch can be quite dangerous, though, not only to you and your family but to mail carriers, pizza deliverers, guests and others who may come onto your property regularly. The last thing you need is an injured family member or a premises liability lawsuit filed by another party. Thankfully, with regular cleaning, maintenance and minor repairs as needed, you can keep your porch safe and sound, an attractive and welcome addition to your home.

What are Little Porches made of?

If building a porch for the first time, you have a choice of building materials to use for the flooring, known as decking in the porch world. The two most common choices are wood and composite, or a combination of both. Wood is very attractive but is subject to mold, rot, decay or insect infestation, such as termites. If going with wood, select a product that has been pressure-treated to resist weathering and rotting, or choose a naturally resistant wood such as redwood or cedar.

Composite decking may be either completely plastic or a wood-plastic combination. Again, if there is any wood in the material, then the flooring can still be susceptible to mold or decay, although care can be taken to protect or treat the deck and keep it in good shape for years. An all-plastic composite is extremely durable, and many are quite attractive, as well as easy to maintain.

Other choices include concrete or aluminum. Using concrete may seem like a more involved job, especially if you are doing the job yourself, but it can be done, and a concrete porch can last a very long time if done right from the start. Repairs can also be made simply by mixing more concrete and patching any chips, cracks or pits that appear. Aluminum is very durable, but is probably the costliest choice among the most common porch deck materials.

If using wood planks that must be nailed into place, consider using galvanized nails. Although more costly as nails go, galvanized nails will resist rusting and they are still relatively cheap (we’re just talking nails here). Even better, using baked finish screws instead of nails will not only resist rust but also help wooden deck boards stay put better than nails, combating wood’s tendency to warp and crack if not properly treated and maintained to prevent weathering.

Slippery Solutions for Wet Decks

No matter what decking material you choose, porches can be slippery when wet. Composite weathers better than wood, but it is more slippery when wet. Even wood can become treacherous if not properly treated and maintained. In particularly wet regions of the country, the growth of mold, mildew, algae or moss on the wood can create especially slippery surfaces. Keep your wood deck clean of debris by sweeping it regularly, paying special attention to leaves or other organic matter that got into the cracks. It’s especially important after a storm to clear away wet leaves and dirt.

You can spray off your wooden deck with water, and then mop with a commercial cleaning product or mix your own killer combo of 1/3 cup of laundry detergent to 1 quart of bleach and 3 gallons of water (make sure your detergent does not contain ammonia; mixing bleach and ammonia cleaning products is not just a killer to mold and mildew but can be quite dangerous to human respiratory systems as well).

Once the porch is clean and dry, stain the wood with a water-repellant stain and apply an anti-slip deck product. Visit a boating/marine supply shop or the outdoor living section of your favorite home improvement store to find a quality product.

For a concrete porch, using a textured finish or broom finish after pouring the concrete can help with slip resistance. Bare concrete is fairly slip-resistant, but most concrete surfaces are sealed to protect against weathering, and the sealant layer is typically slippery when wet. Adding grit to the sealer can help with slip resistance.

Finally, any porch deck can be made slip-resistant by installing treads or other surfaces. Many treads have self-adhesive backs, and anti-slip tape is an option as well. These self-adhesive strips contain grit like coarse sandpaper to help with traction even when wet. Another option could be an outdoor carpet or runner that accents rather than detracts from the beauty of your porch. There are a wide variety of materials available, so you can choose a solution that matches your aesthetic, retaining the beauty of your porch while protecting your family and guests, invitees and licensees, from a dangerous and debilitating slip, trip or fall on a slippery deck or broken porch.

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