Like to catch a cool breeze on a warm summer night, or sip your morning coffee as the world rolls by? Neither pastime would be so easy if it weren’t for . . . your porch.
So, let us inject a little guilt into this scene of hedonism: When was the last time you paid much attention to your porch, which not only provides you a place to enjoy the outdoors, but also enhances the looks of your home?
Don’t feel too guilty. Few homeowners pay much attention to their porches until a problem arises: loose spindles, a spongy porch deck, or shaky railings.
Porch construction is fairly simple, but its exposure to the elements makes a porch more susceptible to damage than the rest of the house, says John Baily, of the Chicago-based Baily Renovation Services.
Its biggest enemy is water. Unsealed or untreated wood that is exposed to water is a breeding ground for rot, which is an organism known as fungal spores. This fungus thrives on wet wood, and the more it destroys the wood, the deeper the moisture can penetrate into the wood and the more the rot can spread.
As the rot works into the wood, it weakens its structural integrity and also produces dark blemishes.
Areas most susceptible to rot are horizontal spaces, such as decking and stairs, and the base of porch columns and posts.
Structurally, the weight of a porch rests on its posts and columns, and even somewhat on the stairs. Deterioration of those components can cause a porch to sag, lean, or even collapse.
As a result, when making any repairs to a porch it’s always important to first attack the cause of the water damage: a leaky roof and gutter, or blistering or peeling paint.
Decking
A common malady with porch decking is small bumps or groves from swollen horizontal slats. This usually occurs when the wood is exposed to water or the porch settles and squeezes the decking boards together.
Most decking is composed of tongue-in-groove slats fitted together and then nailed down to the joists below.
If the rise is minor, a good sanding may remove it, says Walter Sopala, a retired woodworker in Chicago. “But you don’t want to do too much sanding as you’ll affect the integrity of the wood.”
If the rise is a quarter-inch or more, you’ll need to remove the damaged boards.
Start by using a spade bit to drill several large holes across the damaged sections. Be careful not to drill into the joists below. Use a wide butt chisel to splinter the damaged section so that you can remove the board with a pry bar.
Next, replace the board with a similar cut and size of wood, available for under $20 at a lumber yard. If the decking is stained, rather than painted, look for a similar type of grain pattern.
The “tongues” on the replacement boards will have to be removed to get them to fit. Use a hacksaw or chisel to remove the tongues.
Coat the edges of the replacement boards with construction adhesive and push them into place. Pound them flush into the opening with a rubber mallet and affix them to the joists below with two finishing nails at each end, sinking the nail heads with a nail set.
Then, paint or stain the new decking to seal it.
Loose boards, meanwhile, should be renailed down to the joists. “This will also help prevent creaking,” says Sopala.
If there is softness to the decking, or it tends to move up and down as you walk across it, you probably have structural problems below.
Crawl under the porch and inspect the joists running under the decking. If they look deteriorated, they should be replaced.
Slightly deteriorated pieces of wood, meanwhile, can be shored up with a sister joist by attaching an adjacent piece of wood that is the same size as the original piece.
Screw or nail the sister joist to the original member and, if possible, to the house or vertical joists supports as well.
Pickets and railings
Loose, missing or broken pickets or balusters are another common porch problem.
“There are all different types of pickets and all different types of ways they are attached to the railings above and below,” says Sopala.
A loose picket can usually be tightened by coating a wooden wedge or shim with carpenter’s glue and driving the shim between the top of the picket and the handrail with a hammer and block of wood. After the glue dries, cut the exposed edges of the wedge and touch it up with matching paint.
Another way of tightening a picket is to drive a screw or nail on an angle through the top or bottom of the picket and into the rails.
Some pickets are attached to the handrails above via a small wooden dowel rod that protrudes into the rail. If the dowel is broken, the picket needs to be removed by gently pulling it out of the rail. Watch for nails or wood strips that may be holding it down.
Drill out the remainder of the old dowel and replace it with a new one. Coat the new dowel with glue and insert it both in the picket and the rail. Then slide the picket back into place and reattach it with a finishing nail or screw. Replace any trim that may hold the lower end of the picket.
A broken picket can be repaired if it’s a clean break. Remove the two pieces of the picket from the rail. Then, drill a hole in each section at the break.
Insert a glue-coated dowel into each of the holes and push the two broken pieces back together. Then replace the picket in the rails.
Pickets that are beyond repair need to be replaced. Start by removing the existing picket. If it’s still attached to the rails, saw it in half and then use a pipe wrench to extract the two pieces.
Home improvement stores and lumber yards sell many different styles of pickets, although many are now made from treated lumber. Simple straight pickets start at about a dollar each while more elaborate pieces cost about twice that.
A second source is a millwork house, which can custom-make a new picket. Depending on the design of the picket, that can cost as much as $20 per piece.
A loose railing is not only unsightly but also dangerous. “Railings often get loose at the junction point with a column or the house,” says Sopala.
If there is a large gap at the junction, a piece of wood can be cut to fill the gap, Sopala suggested. Nail the filler piece to the column or house and then toenail the railing to the filler piece. A large wood screw can also be used to secure the railing.
After the repair piece is fastened in place, cover the screw or nail head with caulk or wood putty and paint the junction.
If a handrail is loose, sometimes it can be secured by simply retightening a concealed bolt or nut. You’ll need to remove the top of the short column or post or newel to locate the fastener and retighten it.
Columns and posts
A porch’s columns and posts often go bad because of exposure to water and rot. “This is a problem that should be addressed as it plays into the structural integrity of the porch,” says Sopala.
If the damage is minor, with limited deterioration of the wood, it can be repaired with fiberglass patching kits specifically made for such a problem.
If the damage is more widespread, the column or post should be replaced. “This will entail supporting the roof of the porch while the column is removed and a substitute put in,” says Sopala. “That is usually beyond the expertise of the do-it-yourselfer.”
The cost of a new square column is about $140 and the labor to install it about $200, Sopala estimates. More ornate columns, meanwhile, may have to be re-created by a woodworker and, depending on the detail, can cost several hundred dollars.
Sealing, waterproofing
Because water is the main culprit in porch deterioration, it’s important to make sure a porch is completely sealed to water with stain or paint.
If done properly, a porch needs to be painted only once every few years. Decking that is in a high traffic area, however, should be repainted or restained every year as necessary.
One way to lessen water damage is to use treated lumber for any replacement parts of a porch. That creates the problem of trying to match the finish on the treated lumber with the rest of the porch.
There are, however, latex exterior paints made specifically for treated wood that closely match exterior paints for untreated wood. Treated lumber will stain differently, however, than untreated wood.
After a rain, check to make sure there is no standing water on the decking or stairs. If the water comes from a leaky gutter or roof, make the necessary repairs.
If that doesn’t solve the problem, you can have the pitch changed on the decking or stairs so that the water runs off of the porch. This will entail disassembling the stairs or decking.
Such repairs, however, can be laborious and costly, says Baily.”You might just want to get out there and sweep off the water after a rain. And make sure the porch is weatherproofed.”
