A porch can add value to your home and is a great place to relax and entertain. Since porch flooring and railings are exposed to the elements, it has a tendency to rot over time.
When repairing or replacing rotten wood on a porch, be sure to use rot resistant materials such as treated wood, redwood, cypress, cedar, composite, or plastic. To protect the new material, paint or stain all sides and ends of the flooring and railings.
Turned spindles on porch railings can be duplicated on a lathe in a woodworking shop with an existing spindle used as a pattern to turn the replacements. When replacing rotten porch flooring, the columns are jacked up so the new flooring can installed beneath them.
Once the flooring has been replaced, the new spindles and bottom railing are installed and mounted between the columns. Watch this video to find out more.
Further Information
- Installing a Fiberglass Porch Column (video)
- How to Install Wood Deck Boards (video)
- How to Build Deck Handrails (video)
- How to Build Deck Stairs (video)
Hello —
I need to replace the rotten flooring of my porch, which has 4 columns. It is obvious to me that I will have to slightly jack up all of these columns in order to remove old flooring, and replace it with the new one. You have a nice video that covers the porch flooring replacement steps. This video briefly shows the process of jacking the corner column and one of the middle columns. Unfortunately for me, I don’t think I fully got the basics of how you did the jacking of these columns. Would it be possible to show/describe in details the steps needed to jack the corner and middle columns?
Thank you in advance.
Hi Yuri,
Check out our video on How to Remove and Replace a Wood Porch Column to see how to jack up and replace a column https://todayshomeowner.com/video/how-to-remove-and-replace-a-wood-porch-column/
I need a 2nd story porch floor replaced which requires waterproofing under it. How do I do it?
My front porch landing is cement. The edge of the landing was damaged last winter. The brickwork that supports the porch is pristine the problem is the wrought iron railings which were not installed properly at the time of rebuild 9 years ago. Last bottom step also cracked at sides but stone mason said the railings pose a problem there too. Further, porch never had overhead cover. This porch was completely rebuilt with new wrought iron railings. Any advice. Can landing be replaced, new railings added, maybe and cover overhead installed?
Hi, Catherine,
Sounds like quite an ordeal, and we would need just a bit more information to help.
We recommend submitting questions involving unique situations like yours to the Today’s Homeowner Radio Show.
Please use this form to contact Danny Lipford, America’s Home Expert, directly: https://www.todayshomeowner.com/radio/ask-questions/
Take care!