Friday, November 05, 2010

can you hep me?


I've not been shopping for a new door, actually. There's loads of work needs doing on my Great American Hovel™ before I reach the new door stage. Still, I kept this brochure on Masonite doors around for yonks, it getting slathered with paint and unidentifiable smeary stuff, and I couldn't quite put my finger on why I hadn't tossed it, and tonight it hit me-- I want those support pillar thingies for my porch. The bits you see are actually just decorative, but they are a damned sight better than the ones my porch currently sports. So, are there patterns for these things somewheres? What are they called? I mean, they're not columns in the classical sense-- are there patterns available? How hard are they to replace? Can this be done in a weekend?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

They are called "elephant foot" columns and were very popular in the Arts and Crafts period. I don't know about replacing them, because the only ones I've seen dealt with were part of a jury-rigged porch remodel (the 50s?) that had become dangerous to the structure of the (much, much older) house. I'd think they would be about as hard to re-do as any structural column.
LittleRed1

Farm.Dad said...

I didnt look when down for your birthday party at how your porch is really structured that i remember . However the " easy " way to do it would be stick a jack under one side and take it apart , make a determination if the actual support structure is up to snuff , shim the porch roof to level as needed, and then just tear out the " outside " and build " panels " to nail back around it . If not have a welder build a couple of steel columns ( they never rot or get insects ) to measure with plates to anchor both into the pedestal and the porch roof. Then build your panels and nail them to each other and the roof , using construction adhesive on the concrete of the pedestal . Two workers should be able to knock out your porch in a weekend fairly easy assuming no unforseen structural problems .
See http://www.ehow.com/how_2091159_replace-update-porch-column.html for a thumbnail scetch of one way to do it . For the proper incentive it might even be a weekend visit for FM and I to show up for the project LOL .

Lawyer said...

They're called porch columns or porch support columns. Some of them are just what you see, a column (sometimes hollow) that bears the weight of the porch awning or overhang. Others are simply wraps that cover the actual support structure. Just like anything nowadays, they come in different materials and more shapes than we can describe.

As far as replacing, you will need to shore up the existing porch overhang with lally columns (adjustable steel columns) while you do the replacing. The difficulty will depend on the type you currently have.

Keads said...

Sorry I cannot help you here, way out of my league!

Roscoe said...

I saw that kind of column on the homes at Disney's Nazi -er- planned community Celebration, outside Orlando. IIRC, like all the decorative elements on a movie set, the columns were dense foam or fiberglass, painted to look like wood, surrounding a metal or pressure-treated wood post providing real structural support.

The termites in Florida would chew right through real columns.

Old NFO said...

FD is correct, the 'best' way is steel columns, then wrap them... On the door front, you need to read this... and remember to get a door that opens OUT not in...

http://www.dulley.com/docs/f409.htm

Jennifer said...

I am no help whatsoever. But they would look great.

Sevesteen said...

Is The View From your Porch worth considering? I have vaguely similar but thinner versions of those posts on my porch, and while doing repairs had temporarily replaced them with a thin steel post. The post itself looked like crap, but the porch felt surprisingly more open.