Loading...
7 Botts Court - application for porch redesign - REVISED 3-25-17Salem Historical Commission – Application for Certificate of Appropriateness Alexander Marks and Kimberly Tompkins, 7 Botts Ct PROJECT: Remove front porch stairs and build new stairs on other side of front porch. Figure 1: View from Botts Ct (Essex St side) ISSUE: Existing front porch stairs lead directly into street with poor visibility (one way street with cars coming from the blind side as shown in the following photo): Figure 2: Walking directly onto Botts Ct with traffic coming from Chestnut St side. Salem Historical Commission – Application for Certificate of Appropriateness Alexander Marks and Kimberly Tompkins, 7 Botts Ct Figure 3: View from Botts Ct directly in front of porch We want to add stairs to the other side of the porch as shown in this photo: Salem Historical Commission – Application for Certificate of Appropriateness Alexander Marks and Kimberly Tompkins, 7 Botts Ct The new street view of the porch Once the current stairs are removed, the bottom step slab will be removed as well. We will keep the space as a garden bed for plantings (probably a bush). Also, the porch will need to be extended by 2 cedar slats so that the new railing will line up properly with the house. This means the corner post that supports the porch will be move an estimated six inches closer to the street. The new front will look similar to what the back looks like currently (except for adding landscaping, the change in lattice to vertical and removal of the lockbox). See photo below. Salem Historical Commission – Application for Certificate of Appropriateness Alexander Marks and Kimberly Tompkins, 7 Botts Ct Figure 4: Porch railing will be moved to the front and installed between identical posts on either side. Mailbox will stay on inside of railing. Salem Historical Commission – Application for Certificate of Appropriateness Alexander Marks and Kimberly Tompkins, 7 Botts Ct The new stairs The photo above is our back yard porch. We used this photo since it has a few similarities to the new porch steps we plan to build. - The new stairs will have a lower riser by one inch (down to 8 1/2”). This is because the current steps are steeper in order to reach the ground before the street edge. Salem Historical Commission – Application for Certificate of Appropriateness Alexander Marks and Kimberly Tompkins, 7 Botts Ct - The new stairs will be made of the same type and size of red cedar slats used for porch (same stain color). This is more appropriate in terms of matching and drainage than the current boards used for the stairs. - Finally, the bottom step will change from a concrete slab to wood; although the bottom step will sit on top of a concrete slab raised about 1/2 inch above ground level to minimize moisture and soil touching the wood. The bottom of the side of the new stairs will have a bricks lined up sideways and raised ½ inch above the ground as well. - The lattice will be replaced with vertical style cedar and will be painted the same color as the porch frame. - The risers, framing and balusters will all be the same wood and style as the stairs that are being removed. The new stairs will partially block a window to the basement floor. We will have mason remove the window (and frame) and use brick to fill in the space. See photo: Converting the lattice on the side of the current porch into an accessible space. Currently, the side of the porch is faced with diagonal lattice (see photo). We will: Salem Historical Commission – Application for Certificate of Appropriateness Alexander Marks and Kimberly Tompkins, 7 Botts Ct 1- Replace the lattice with vertical style lattice 2- Convert it into a panel that can swing open, so that we can access the space under the porch. Current access will be blocked off by the new stairs location Figure 5: View of side of porch Moving the gate back The current gate will be moved back to new location (“A” in second photo below) so that one can access the new stairs without having to go through a gate: Salem Historical Commission – Application for Certificate of Appropriateness Alexander Marks and Kimberly Tompkins, 7 Botts Ct The new section of fence is in line with the new location of the gate in the above diagram will be installed using the same materials as the fence on the side of property (see “B”) – as well as the same height. Where the new fence meets the house is close to Salem Historical Commission – Application for Certificate of Appropriateness Alexander Marks and Kimberly Tompkins, 7 Botts Ct the access panel on the heat pump unit. We will install a lattice access panel at the same height as the fence that will sit within the fence framing (see “C”). Finally, the pyramid shaped cap to the fence posts will be covered with a copper top. Colors - The cedar slats will be the same color and will now be added to the stairs. - Everything else will be painted the same color as the house’s trim. It is currently an off white, but we are applying concurrently to paint the house this spring, using another off white, called Jewett White by California Paints.