Front Porch Refresh
Our front porch definitely needed a refresh. The concrete was turning green and the wood swing I built the first year we lived here was coming apart with mushrooms growing out of it. The whole thing wasn’t a good look so I decided to overhaul the entire space.
The first thing I did was remove everything from our porch. The plants, small table and tile mat were totally fine, but they all had stains underneath that needed to be cleaned. I also got rid of the cushions from the swing because they had definitely seen better days. While the porch is covered, it still sees quite a bit of rain because we live in Tennessee and it rains sideways here. I started taking the swing down and in doing so decided it was time to just say goodbye to the swing and get a new one. With the weather we have here, it makes sense to have something that is not as much maintenance as wood.
Once the swing was removed, I swept the whole porch. I found a cleaner that attaches to the hose so you can spray lots of different surfaces. I sprayed it on the entire patio and the front stoop, everywhere it was green. The directions were to spray it down and let it sit for 10 or so minutes depending on what material you're cleaning. I really wasn't sure if it was going to work because there was so much staining from the pollen, mold and mildew. Once the 10 minutes were up, I rinsed everything off using the pressure washer attachment for my hose and it was really getting clean! After getting everything cleaned up, I got a new swing.
The swing is metal with a waterproof fabric, so there's zero maintenance. It comes in four parts so it’s super easy to put together. The one downside to the swing is it only comes with two chains that are five feet long each. After measuring, I realized these chains weren't going to work with the height of my porch. I went to our local ACE hardware and got more chain to try and hang the swing at the right height. I hung the chains on both sides first then attached the swing to the chains. It was still higher than I was comfortable with, considering I have two small kids that will use it.
I went back up the ladder and I actually added the original chain the swing came with using an S-curve hook, and it was able to attach the two chains making it just the right height. I love the new swing and how everything looks all cleaned up. Hopefully it'll stay looking this good for a while!
