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Repainting wooden porch and concrete steps

15 years ago

I would love a little guidance and help from the pros here. You were all very helpful with an indoor project I had last year.

Anyway, when we had our house painted professionally about ...9 years ago maybe... they also painted the front porch and stairs. The rest of the house is still looking great, but our porch has been toast for a while now. Pretty significant peeling and some chalking. We are on bare wood in a couple of spots as well. We had used a dark plum color for the porch, and while I like the general look of the dark floor, it never looks clean (chalking).

We are tackling this project this weekend. So, sand peeling paint, prime, and paint... Anything I am missing here? I have never done exterior painting so Im at a loss. Any recommendations for paint or primer brands/types. I dont know if its practical outside, but I prefer a glossier look/finish. We also have concrete steps (previously painted as well) that walk up to the wood front porch which need to be painted... do I need completely separate paint for this or would an epoxy last longer...

As you can see...lots of questions! We are in Salt Lake City so I have pretty good availability. Dont mind spending a bit more since its such a small area (8 x 12 for the porch).

Thanks for any help!

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i was told by an engineer that the concrete holds in moisture against the house. wood porches allow air in and help the soil to dry, better for the foundation. at least that's what i was told. shirley
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Hi there, Thanks for the response. A covered porch would be lovely; however, weather conditions in St. John's make it a less attractive option. It's cold, wet, and windy most of the year, despite the misleading sunshine in the pictures below :) My tulips only just came up this week if that gives you any indication of how delayed our growing season is. We're clinging to a rock 500 miles in the Atlantic Ocean, and that's generally exactly how it feels :) People don't tend to do sunrooms an verandahs here. You can see that all the others on our street have deck-like steps. It's pretty much ubiquitous on the whole street. Also, developing the space in front of the window would cut off the only source of natural light from the living room, which I don't think would be good. It's not so much that I want an open area as that I want to change the unsightly rail and concrete. The big challenge is the ridge that runs along the stairs- it makes installing decking over top or adding a prefab rail difficult. Thanks, Rebecca
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We have used exterior clay look pavers (they are thin) set in exterior paving motar and also used them to face the step fronts (BeverlyFL's 2nd photo.) It didn't make them a trip hazard. Another house we set paver bricks that were about an 1" thick over the concrete and two steps down with a brick landing pad at the bottom (BeverlyFL's last photo.) We have hot summers and below freezing winters. Both held up well. Have also built a cedar deck out back door but not over concrete. Wooden steps over your concrete would be slippery in our weather. Depending on your climate and building codes you still have to put footings below frost line.
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