The Return of Stately Columns

One of the porch projects we have most looked forward to is the return of the columns. Putting in the columns have dramatically changed the look of the house. It’s beginning to look elegant and stately again.

Work on the house has continued over the past month with new deck flooring and a ceiling. I’ll share those projects in a future post. The columns deserve to be featured on their own.

We knew a lot about the original wood columns because four of them remained on the north side of the house. We also had a pile of columns in our garage rafters. When we began the porch, we didn’t know if we would repair the existing columns or buy new columns made of long-lasting materials.

That decision was quickly made when we found out that the columns in the garage were never a part of our house. Our columns are Tuscan–a simple Greek Doric style. The columns in the garage are fluted and about 2 feet taller. They probably came from another house in Cranbury, but not ours.

The original wood columns clearly did not age well over the past century. Our new columns from Pacific Columns are made of a composite stone (fiberglass-reinforced-polymer, FRP) and should last for the next 100 years. Another major difference with the new columns is that the old columns supported the roof and upper deck on their own. The new porch is supported by 4×4 posts drilled into the capstones. These columns are decorative wraps.

The wraps consist of two half circle columns, a base, and a capital. To install, first the columns needed to be sawed to the proper height. Next, the two halves were put together with a 1/8th inch gap which was filled with Bondo putty. After the adhesive hardened, (which took a long time in the cold March temperatures,) the columns were sanded to a smooth finish. The column wrap was attached to the capstones and rafter, then the base and capital were added.