Houses with colonnaded porches and facades have been built all across America for over 200 years. These classically styled homes continue to be popular because of our interest in the past and the romantic, graceful life this style of architecture symbolizes. Often a homeowner is shaken from the peaceful interlude when a rotten column threatens to let the porch roof collapse. Then I get the call: “HELP! Our porch pillars are falling apart and the wedding is on Saturday.” Well, emergency measures may be in order, but with a little more time for thoughtful planning any column can be “put to rights.”
Columns do more than just hold up the roof. They add style and historic character.

This 5 page article is an introduction to caring for and maintaining wooden porch columns, with 1 illustration. Sections include:

Style and History
Condition Assessment and Project Planning
Detailed description of materials
A table of Materials with a description of each, their characteristics, best use, and relative costs.

This article is available as a downloadable PDF file, size: 648 KB, and requires a PDF file reader on your computer or smart phone.