Concord Carpenter

Repair A Rotted Porch Column

By Robert Robillard on Home Repairs And Remodeling

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Epoxy Bonding Steps:

Make sure to follow manufacturers recommendations.

Wet-out bonding surfaces-Apply a neat resin/hardener mixture (without fillers) to the surfaces to be joined. Wet out small or tight areas with a disposable brush.

Apply thickened epoxy to one bonding surface.   Apply enough of the mixture to one of the surfaces, so that a small amount will squeeze out when the surfaces are joined together with a force equivalent to a firm hand grip.

Clamp components and sse just enough clamping pressure to squeeze a small amount of the epoxy from the joint, indicating  good contact with both mating surfaces .

Remove or shape excess adhesive that squeezes out of the joint as soon as the joint is secured with clamps.

Clamping:

Once epoxy applied and the repair is inserted into the post cut out we applied bar clamps and allowed the repair to sit overnight.

Sizing Post Glue Up:

The next morning we used a power planer to take down the high spots on the Cedar glue-up and a belt sander to fine tune the repair. Once the repair and post were at the same plane, and smooth we cut the post to size. The repair and post are then finish sanded with an orbital sander and 120-grit, and primed all edges as well especially the end grain.

Back at the porch we traced the post base out on the mahogany decking and used a multi tool to cutout the decking. We then filled this cut out area with a pvc shim patch. We do this so the new structural post will not sit on top of the decking, causing problems later when deck boards need to be replaced. The pvc is planed to sit just below the deck surface and hides the post seam – nice look!

Installation of Repaired Post:

The post is then positioned back in place, plumbed and we countersink screws into the base and top of post. Later we cover these screw locations with wood plugs or epoxy filler or wood-filler.

With the post plumb and fastened to the header, deck and railing we then remove the temporary support post and slowly lower the hydraulic jack.

Two coats of quality paint finish the repair.