I've used up a lot of my data this month looking at photos of porches - and knitting patterns which I certainly cannot deny. ;-)

Our cabin up north is actually a 3 bedroom 1600 square foot ranch that was a kit home built of panels. Originally, it was just the wood panels with no outer siding or any insulation at all. It had a lower roof which you can see from the triangle window in the center. The previous owners had the siding applied, insulation, the higher roofline and enclosed the carport which is where the door

wall is here. Now, we're having him come over in a week (if we can get through the snow they've been getting) to give us some quotes and ideas on adding a covered porch here so our new Anderson doorwall doesn't get destroyed. I took this photo last year. When we were there in February the snow was up over the door sill. Since this is in northern Michigan gutters just don't work well unless you use the ones you can remove before winter.

We are also going to have the concrete extended to the corner of the house.

Originally there was only one steel door there. We had the door wall installed.

On the opposite side of the room we have the steel door which also needs some work. Our problem there is, we have no idea where the septic tank is. Since these cabins were built back in the day when all you had to do was buy land and put something on it and no one cared what it was, there's conflicting ideas as to where the tank is. One neighbor says it's under the former carport. Another says it's under the lawn between the house and garage. We've got no documentation saying anything. All these cabins are a mystery unless you're an original owner or know the original owner. I have the benefit of knowing the daughter of the original owner. She hated living here while growing up since it was like a dungeon to her. She knew when they were adding on when her dad came home with more wood panels. It started out as a one room rectangle with just a kitchen and living/sleeping area. We can see on the interior when the panels were added as they're all in tracks so they can be rearranged anytime. The electrical all runs through conduits and can also be moved with just a screwdriver to remove the brackets.

We think just extending an overhang-type porch on the steel door might work. Then we can just use pavers for extending the porch since we don't want anything permanent on this side. When we went in the crawl space we saw that the big outflow for the septic does run along this wall a few feet out, so, the theory that the tank is under the house didn't pan out.

I do have more photos of this work in progress on my Houzz. I am so looking forward to my retirement so I can spend lots of quality time getting this place together. Also, Jill, the daughter of the original owner, can't wait to see color and light on the inside. There are even still footprints on my knitting room walls from when it was her brother's room. We're the third owner. The 2nd owners did the majority of the renovations.