Dry yeast fermentation problem--HELP

So, I've been away from brewing for about 8.5 years and decided to have a go at it again. I decided to try doing a porter on this first try, and everything went pretty much as my memory served as far as boiling the malt, steeping the grains, adding hops, etc. At the end, I brought the wort down to 29C (84F) and sprinkled the dry yeast on the wort, stirred, closed the lid, fermentation lock in place and with appropriate amount of water, and brought the fermenter down to the basement. There, the temperature descended to 15C (59F).

On day 2, there was no action in the fermenation lock, but knowing that this is not unusual I didn't worry at that point. On day 3, still no action. I shook the fermenter a bit to make sure everything was mixed in, checked for possible air leaks (new fermenter), but found none.

On day 4, still no action, so I went back to the homebrew store and picked up another packet of yeast, sprinkled it in, and closed the lid. On day 5, still no bubbles int he fermentation lock, so I decided to try moving the fermenter to a less-cool location. The place where it is now located is at 20C (68F).

Today is day 6. Still no movement in the fermentation lock. I gave it another stir, and on the recommendation of another hombrewer I came here to see if anyone might have any advice.

The yeast that I'm using is Safale US-05 Dry Ale Yeast from Fermentis. The packet states that the yeast's temerature range is 12-25C (53.6-77F), and ideally 15-22C (59-71.6F). So, I'm thinking I may have pitched at a temperature that was too high the first time. But the second time I would have thought that I was fine, and even so I appear to be having difficulties getting the fermentation to start...

The airlock isn't a good way to check for yeast activity. When you added the extra yeast was there any krausen on the surface? The temperature should have been fine, even if not ideal, 05 is pretty robust and will survive quite a ways beyond the optimum range.
Also... you start off by saying "boiling the malt"... Was this an extract or all grain brew?
Do you have a hydrometer to check the SG? That is the only true way to know if there are live yeast converting the sugars. Even without knowing the OG you can see if the SG is changing from day to day.

Check SG w/a hydrometer. That' the only way to know for sure if something is going on. Oh yea, 84 is a bit warm to add yeast. I try for 79 or lower.

I actually hadn't done a gravity reading since OG. OG was 1.024. Gravity as of 10 minutes ago (day 6) is at 1.010. So, I guess the sugars are being converted.

It didn't occur to me to take an SG reading yet just because I had never had a wort ferment without seeing movement in the fermentation lock. Is this common? Should I worry about it at all when it comes time for bottling (i.e. end up with too much carbonation and causing the caps to pop off on their own)?

The boil was a combination of dry dark extract and steeped grains, boiled for one hour (all together for the entire boil). I think the last time I did a porter (which was quite a long time ago) I had used a liquid extract and less steeped grains than I had this time. I also have no memory of what yeast I used back then. But I don't have any knowledge of how that might affect activity in the fermentation lock.

There was some krausen when I pitched the second yeast packet, which surprised me. But I went and added it anyhow. When I checked the wort again earlier today, I saw no krausen.

Thanks very much for the help.

Ok 1.024 for an OG is going to be a really low ABV (like at best 3%). Where did you get the recipe from?

If the lid isn't sealed well (assuming it's a plastic bucket fermenter which are notoriously poor seals) then CO2 won't build much pressure to create bubbles.
All you want to worry about before bottling is that you've had the same gravity reading for at least 3 straight days to indicate that the sugar content of the beer is stable. Then the only sugar that will go into carbonation will be what you add at bottling which will be just the amount you want and won't risk exploding bottles.

Glad you joined the forum - welcome.

Since you had kraeusen and gravity went down, you had fermentation. The lid must not quite seal - not uncommon.

There are different opinions about pitching temperature. Lots of brewers pitch at or slightly below target fermentation temp. I pitch about at it.

1.024 is a pretty low OG for a porter - did you intend for it to be higher? If so, did you use top-off water? It likely didn't mix in completely, giving you an erroneous OG reading.

For bottling, don't count on airlock bubbles. Ideally, you should check gravity 2 - 3 days before bottling day. Check again on bottling day. If gravity is reasonable and stable, bottle. If it has dropped, wait a few more days. I generally bottle after 3 weeks, and gravity is always stable this way.

Good luck.

The recipe came from using BeerSmith2 to convert one of their own all-grain recipes to an extract recipe. But in reading ncbrewer's comment about the top-off water, the low gravity is likely due to adding too much water. I had my old equipment when I was living in the US, and the top measuring line on the bucket was at 5 gallons. Now I'm in Italy, and the lines of my new fermenter go up every five liters up to 25 liters. So, without thinking about it (until now), I had topped it off to the 25 liter mark (over 6.5 US gallons) on a receipe meant for 5 gallons (19 liters). Oops.

So, I may have just made a sort of porter-inspired table beer instead of an acutal porter...

As long as you realize where the mistake occurred. I just didn't want you to get done and be disappointed and give up on it as a waste of time.
Plus like he said, if you simply added water and didn't stir it well you had pure higher gravity wort on bottom and the diluted lower gravity wort on top which you were measuring so it would seem even lower than it was.

I stopped measuring OG on extract batches several years ago because it was really hard to get it mixed enough to get a good reading, and then I was just confirming what I already knew anyway from doing the math. I'd rather cover the wort asap to minimize chance of contamination.