During a violent thunderstorm late last year, a Potomac homeowner heard howling winds, relentless rain and then a loud crash. Peering out at the back of her house, she caught a glimpse of what every homeowner dreads: major storm damage. Blown away by the wind, the structure that had once been her back porch was now a collapsed pile of lumber sitting in a nearby tree.

“Heavy rains and winds can make [a] structure sway and over time can knock it over,” said Ken Hurdle, special projects coordinator for Hopkins & Porter Construction. “It wasn’t a horrific storm, but it was just enough.”

The porch was 18 years old and may have been built without proper reinforcements. Over time, the weather had taken a toll. “This storm was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Hurdle. “It’s good that the porch fell away from the home.”

The homeowner, a woman in her 80s, enlisted the services of Hopkins & Porter Construction to rebuild the porch. Her request for the construction team was that they rebuild her porch exactly as it was before the storm.

The home sits on a heavily wooded lot. “The backyard drops off pretty dramatically into a stream below,” said Hurdle. “Her backyard overlooks a stream, and between the rabbit, deer and foxes, it’s quite amazing.”

The crew worked to maintain the porch’s original aesthetic, while making it secure enough to withstand strong winds, heavy rain and other natural elements. “She was adamant to getting it back to the way that she liked it,” said Hurdle.

The finished structure allows her an opportunity to enjoy her natural haven once more. “She reads a lot and she writes letters to people out there,” said Hurdle. “It is a place of solitude. When you sit in it, you feel like you’re sitting in the trees.”