The Observation Deck

Hi all,

I'm in the process of doing some renovations on my front porch. At first, it was just going to be a repainting, because the previous owner had painted it a hideous color of green (hey, I'm Irish and even I think this color is horrific!), but as I began stripping, I began finding some structural issues. Those have all been addressed, and now the porch is more structurally sound than it has been for decades. I'm still continuing the stripping (there's only 6 layers of paint on the porch ... ), but now I'm starting to consider what color to paint the porch once I'm done.

I'm new to the porch thing ... having grown up in a "charming mid-century" house (you know ... a bland suburban ranch house). So I'm unsure what would be a good color for a porch. My house is white, with tan/light brown shingles. No other trim color on the house. I've seen some neighbors go with a gray floor, but I'm tempted to go with a brown, not the same color as the shingles, but something darker, but still complementary. Has anyone any advice on what would be good colors for a porch floor?

Thanks,

Chris

I think dark brown sounds great. I think what will really make the difference is the quality of the paint: that is, made for porch floors. But I'm sure you know that.

David

Chris--- Break loose and go with the brown. Having said that, there are probably 30 shades of brown. Remember, you don't have to stick with premixed colors. You can have any color or shade you want.

But, to make it simple all the paint manufacturers carry color charts that have combinations of complimentary colors that go together. So, you would take your existing colors, match them to an arrangement and then choose a darker trim for the floor color.

Locally, of course, we have the Sherwin Williams, and then Lakewood Hardware is now carrying Benjamin Moore paints and then there's Home Depot with Glidden or Behr brands.

You don't have to stick with the solvent based polyurethane either. I've had great success with epoxy reinforced latex. It's very durable and easy clean up. Both Benjamin Moore and Behr carry that formula.

And remember, you've done all the hard work-- stripping and repairing.

If, for some unknown reason, you pick out the world's most hideous color (you know, banned by the Geneva Convention) it won't kill you to repaint in the Spring.

Stan Austin

oh, believe me, I'm busy scraping OFF the world's most hideous color ... so ANYTHING would be a vast improvement. Day-Glo colors would be far better than this green ...

I'll probably end up going with Sherwin-Williams, because I get a discount there through my employer. I did talk with them about oil-based versus latex, and they did say that more people in Lakewood go with oil-based, though it does have its own issues, regarding cleanup, which isn't as easy as with a latex paint ... and it also dries slower. So we're still grappling with which type of paint. I've got a few shades of brown in mind, so I guess it's just a question of selecting one and giving it a shot.

Though I don't think I'll be scraping this again ... from now on, I'll just recover what I'll put down shortly ... and by the time it'll need rescraping, it'll actually be time to replace the porch, which I don't think has been done in the last 50 years, judging by the wood used in my porch.

Interestingly enough, when I cleaned out under the porch, I found some shards of a newspaper from 1911, and some deer bones (I wasn't sure what they were, but I know an archaeologist, who identified them immediately). Working on an old house may be a challenge, but it is NEVER dull!

One reason why the grey color is popular is because it hides both light and dark stains and marks. Dark green floors are also popular, but they tend to collect white watermarks and they never look as good after the winter as they did when first painted.

With that in mind, I'd look for a not-very-dark brown that has some grey in it or a "pile of leaves" brown. Working in the darker mid-range of colors is probably going to look better for longer, unless you enjoy painting or power washing your porch floor regularly.