Replacing and Updating Porch Railings

Porches are an integral part of many older homes. Front and back porches are great places to put swings and rocking chairs on to relax on during the warmer months of the year. Sometimes the railing wear out or the owner of the home wants to replace them. The following steps will guide the reader through how to replace his porch railing. People looking for advice from a home improvement expert should check out Ron Hazleton’s site. Since the reader is continuing with this article, I assume they are interested in what I have to say. The first part of any home repair project will be securing the materials, but after that is done, the home owner or do-it-yourselfer needs to know the steps. For the sake of simplicity, these instructions assume that the reader has removed the old railings.

Placing the Posts when Replacing Porch Railing

Porch railings cannot be installed without something for the railings to rest on. To install wooden railing, the user must:

1. Measure the spaces required between each baluster, (Check your local building codes.)
2. Calculate the number of posts needed.
3. Mark the halfway point for each baluster to be installed
4. Put the baluster on the decking and screw from the deck up. (This works for wooden porches, concrete porches require a
different method.)

Once the posts are partially secure, it is time to put the top railing in place. The homeowner or independent contractor should have the pieces already assembled

Cutting the Top Railing

The porch railings might have been precut, or the do-it-yourselfer might choose to designer a new design for a porch railing. The important thing is to make sure that the railings are the correct length. The bottom of the top baluster should be marked to know where the balusters should be. If the project requires a bottom railing, the opposite is true.

Place the railings on top and secure each baluster with two nails. The bottom part should be screwed on if the porch railing will rest above the deck.

Painting the Replaced Porch Railings

A home owner should not go through all the trouble just to leave the wood that the new porch railings are made out of be the only part of the decorations. A coat of paint helps the new porch railing look attractive and protects it from the elements.

The color chosen for the new porch railings should match the house. No special brushes are needed, but this is not a project that can be done with paint rollers for obvious reasons. If the homeowner has a more artistic flair, he may wish to do slightly more detail work on the railings, but this requires a lot of extra work and is better left to someone else, who is likely a better artist than a handyman. An extra coat or two should be applied before the job of installing the porch railings is completely finished.

If the porch railings are properly installed, the home owner can relax and enjoy his new porch. A swing and a barbecue grill may be the final touches before throwing a party to celebrate the installation of a new porch. Just be sure to run to the store to get the necessary food items. Picking up alcoholic beverages will depend on your personal and religious preferences.