Farmers Porch Skirt Des Plaines IL

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I've been trying to decide what style "skirt" to put under our new farmers porch and finally it came down to cost. I was thinking about using an older style where you put vertical boards with a small gap between them. However, the materials were going to be about triple what I'm spending on this so that made the decision pretty easy. One of the biggest reasons to close off this space is to keep skunks and other animals out. You want to make sure you leave air spaces so there is good circulation under the porch to prevent rot.

Today I started building the "skirt" below our large farmers porch. I'm building the entire thing out of PVC trim and PVC lattice. Each panel is made out of 1x6 KLEER PVC trim for the frame and 1/4" thick PVC privacy lattice that I bought at HD.

Each piece of the frame has a 1" wide by 5/16" deep rabbit on the back side to receive the lattice. One of the big problems with vinyl lattice is the amount of thermal expansion and contraction. If you just nail the stuff in place it WILL buckle. I've nailed the frames in place but the lattice just floats inside the rabbits.

Here you can see the lattice held in place by the rabbit in the trim piece. I'm also using PVC cement for the miter joints and scarf joints. I've found that this stuff really wants to move under temperature changes and once you glue the joint it will never come apart. I'm using stainless steel siding nails to attach the trim boards. Once I get the entire porch done I'll post some more photos.

Books I Used For Reference
Building Porches and Decks (For Pros by Pros)
Porch & Sunroom Planner
Dream Porches and Sunrooms: Designing the Perfect Retreat

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