Third in an occasional series in which designer Dina Holland walks readers through the process as she undertakes a major renovation of her home.

Old home exteriors are often full of details not commonly seen in new construction — ornate trim work, slate roofs, leaded-glass windows . . . Our 1914 home had many of these elements, and to the passerby, it exuded that quintessential “old house charm.’’ Only we, the homeowners, knew that what passed for “charm’’ from afar translated into a whole lot of daily headaches and annoyances. Rotting wood, drafty windows, and structural concerns abounded. As we set out on our renovation journey, it was clear that the exterior of the home would need to be considered if we were to preserve and enjoy much of what we loved about the house in the first place. On our list: new siding, new windows, and figuring out how to repair the sagging porch.

Porch problems

Let’s keep it from falling off the house, shall we?

The single most identifiable architectural feature of our home is the wraparound porch. It is grand and welcoming, and everyone who stepped onto our porch quickly remarked that it was the best part of the house. While it had no doubt hosted its fair share of afternoon nappers and Fourth of July parade viewers, the porch did not have concrete footers, pressure-treated wood, or any other modern construction elements. The result: It was essentially falling off our house, with the wraparound corner hanging a full 4 inches lower than the rest of the porch. The challenge was we didn’t exactly know what was wrong with the porch or how much it would cost to fix it. At the outset of our larger renovation, we agreed with our contractor to treat the porch’s restoration as a separate project with its own budget and timetable. From a fiscal perspective, it was our biggest unknown and scary.

If you’re in a similar position, a project like this can seem daunting and call to mind scenes from the Tom Hanks/Shelley Long film “The Money Pit.’’ My best advice to you is to plan for a diagnostic phase before any construction occurs and be very available to your contractor during that phase. You will want to understand clearly what the issues are, how they will be addressed, what the costs will be, and, this is very important, what building code requires you to address. If the reconstruction phase will be extensive, take as many photos and measurements of the structure prior to demolition as possible. You will be so thankful to have those resources to reference when it’s time to rebuild.

Some investigative work by our contractor confirmed what we were afraid of — rotted framing and cornerposts sitting on nothing more than dirt. Any Band-Aid solutions we hoped to get away with were out the window, especially after the building inspectors got involved. After removing the porch stairs and the entire floor structure, its roof was supported while new concrete footers were poured and a proper pressure-treated framing structure was constructed. A hydraulic jack was used to raise the roof to level while a come-along cable puller drew the entire structure toward the house, where it was secured with enormous metal bolts. Thankfully, we had painstakingly detailed measurements for every aspect of the porch and were able to rebuild it exactly as it was.

Duct tape in a sticky situation

With the crowning architectural feature of our house rebuilt, it was time to turn our attention to the windows — all 38 of them. We have a combination of windows; large, small and quirky, leaded stained-glass, and diamond-divided light. Every one of them was original and semi-functional. They ranged from rickety operation to coming apart in your hands every time you touched them. What they all had in common was drafts. I took to duct taping around nearly all of them in the winter. Though it looked horrendous, it actually worked wonders. New windows had been on our wish list since we first bought the house, but as anyone who has replaced them can attest, they are expensive. We needed so many of them. I agonized over window sizes and styles in the addition, determined that they be beautiful and true to the overall style of the house. In the end, I selected Andersen Windows’ 400 series with black sashes. Not only are they amazingly weather resistant and energy efficient, but the black sashes look so sharp against the white trim and shingle siding of our house. Even while the rest of the exterior was very much in progress, the day the windows were installed, the house immediately looked stately.

Before you invest in new windows, spend time looking at the options. I was in awe of how many choices there were to make. From double hung to awning to casement — windows have a vocabulary all their own. Your architect or window sales rep can help you understand what works best for the varied applications. Almost all of the windows we selected are double hung. One feature I love about our Andersen windows that I didn’t even know existed are the micro-fine mesh insect screens, which are 50 percent clearer than conventional screens. They virtually disappear. I love how much light they let in while keeping unwanted critters out. Of course, before you place your order, double-, no, quadruple-check sizes and quantities. Returns are not an option, and you do not want to make an expensive mistake. Lastly, educate yourself on the various incentive programs the state offers for replacement windows. Under the Mass Save HEAT Loan Program, homeowners can qualify for a zero-percent-interest loan for up to $500 of the cost of each replacement window they have installed, up to a maximum of $10,000.

Getting on our good siding

The last, very large piece of the exterior puzzle we had to address was the house’s siding and paint. Siding-material options range widely, but in an effort to maintain the home’s historical aesthetic, we seriously considered only cedar shingles. We eliminated white cedar, which is typically reserved for coastal New England applications, left unpainted to weather into a uniform gray. We briefly considered fiber-cement shingles because they are virtually impervious to weathering, but we didn’t love the idea of our old house sticking out in the neighborhood and looking brand-new for decades. Red cedar was the home’s original siding material and, though more expensive than white cedar, its tight grain and high tannic acid content make it incredibly resilient while still allowing the material to weather naturally with time.

The entire south-facing side of our house was suffering from years of neglect, with paint chipping off in large sheets, revealing rotted shingles beneath. Construction of the addition dictated that we’d need to side the entire back and at least half of the north and south sides. Add it all up, and we were looking at re-siding more than three-quarters of the house’s exterior. That being the case, we opted to replace the siding on the entire house and maybe change the color.

The siding crew is just finishing up. The next task is choosing a paint color, but I can’t decide. If you’d like to voice your opinion, take our Twitter poll.

While we still have a long way to go on the interior, the exterior has undergone quite a dramatic transformation even without paint. When I think of the literally hundreds of winters of abuse our old porch, wood windows, and shingle siding withstood, I can proudly say this new-and-improved version isn’t just beautiful and historically appropriate, but built to withstand at least 100 more Boston winters.

PAINT POLL What color should Dina Holland paint her home? Take our Twitter poll @GlobeAddress.

Dina Holland is the founder and principal designer of Needham-based Dina Holland Interiors and the blogger behind Honey & Fitz. Send comments to Address@globe.com.