What would you do?

[davejones]

On my list for spring projects is a repair job on our porch railing. Our home is 5 yrs old and I have already repainted the railing once. I am convinced that the wood was not properly primed/painted by the contractor as it is literally rotting away.

I really like the look and feel of a wooden railing on the porch, but I also like the idea of putting up a vinyl rail and being done with maintenance once and for all. So my question is, what would you do and why? If you choose wood, what would you do to ensure that it is properly protected for the outdoors?


TIA,
Dave

 

[manfre]

Less time maintaining is more time that can be spent in the shop.

 

[Wolfpacker]

You could stay with wood and use KDAT (kiln dried after treatment) lumber. I had to replace the foundation vents on a previous home where they built them out of untreated lumber. As I recall, the lumber was nice and square. I cut all pieces and used oil based primer on them and one coat of latex, then assembled them and sprayed a final coat of latex on them.

Good luck.
Brent

 

[Brantnative]

After 20 years in the same house and countless repairs and replacements of trim on the outside I've now started to replace anything rotted with vinyl versions. It's amazing what you can get in vinyl these days. I'm not even sure it is vinyl. All I know is that it won't rot and I'll never have to replace it again. My experience with wood is that anything will rot, even pressure treated or supposedly rot resistant South American hardwoods.

 

[gator]

You might consider one of the faux woods such as Trex.

George

 

[davejones]

I hadn't considered Trex since I wasn't sure you could get it in white. Looked on the web site and they do have white, I just have never seen it in the BORG.

Anyone have experience using a composite railing system?

 

[MarkE]

I am definitely a fan of the low maintenance approach. In our last house we had a lot of decks with wooden railings and balusters. It took forever to stain them. Since the main deck (28 x 14) faced directly south, it had to be re-stained every other year.

When we had our deck built here we went with this vinyl rail system. The posts are galvanized steel with a vinyl cover. The top and bottom rails are extruded aluminum with vinyl covers. The balusters are 2x2 vinyl tubes. Its only been about a year, but they look like brand new. Very easy to clean with just a garden hose.

There are more pictures in my 'New Shop' gallery.

 

[LeftyTom]

Like you Dave, I found my porch railing was not properly primed, and replaced all the railing with wood. Which reminds me, I need to touch up on the paint. :eusa_doh:

 

[davejones]

Which reminds me, I need to touch up on the paint. :eusa_doh:

.....and with that I have decided against wood. :rotflm:

Did I mention I hate painting!!!

 

[rcflyer23]

Go with the vinyl. I had the same thing happen at our old house and had to rebuild all the railings. I didn't do vinyl when I rebuilt and wished I had. They looked great for 1yr then they needed to be repainted again. :gar-Cr

 

[Berta]

It is your home. It needs to be rot resistant, permanent and forever. This helps with the maintenance issue and the resale value. Your home is the single most important and largest investment you will ever make.

 

[merrill77]

I really like the look and feel of a wooden railing on the porch, but I also like the idea of putting up a vinyl rail and being done with maintenance once and for all. So my question is, what would you do and why? If you choose wood, what would you do to ensure that it is properly protected for the outdoors?

If I choose wood, then I would start with a wood that will last. Ipe, cypress, etc. Then I might consider stain instead of paint, since it seems to age better. If forced to paint, then I would want to be very sure it was primed properly.

After much consideration, I opted for wrought iron :>

 

[ScottM]

Go with the vinyl. I had the same thing happen at our old house and had to rebuild all the railings. I didn't do vinyl when I rebuilt and wished I had. They looked great for 1yr then they needed to be repainted again. :gar-Cr

+1 for Vinyl. I have replaced some brick molding and window sills.

 

[kooshball]

I vote for wood (cypress perhaps) if you need to actually replace the rail. Perhaps it was just an adhesion issue that can be fixed with a pressure washer and starting from scratch??

My home maintenance strategy has been to go rot resistant (vinyl or Hardie) on surfaces one doesn't touch and use wood for surfaces you would touch. Call me crazy but even painted wood still carries the "warmth" of wood when you lean on it, touch it, etc.

Just my $0.02

 

[JackLeg]

Vinyl! :icon_thum

Powerwash it once a year and you're good to go!
:wsmile:

 

[TBone]

Galvanized covered in vinyl. Been 10 years and all we do is wash it once a year. Still looks new. You will not regret it. Same type of system as MarkE

 

[merrill77]

I just remembered an option I haven't seen posted here yet - CPVC. It is a modified PVC (lighter weight) that cuts and machines very much like wood with common woodworking tools. It reportedly holds screws well. I've only seen it in white, but with the proper primer it takes paint very well. Paint will last longer on it since it doesn't shrink/expand much with temperature, by comparison to wood. When we had our house painted last year, I had them replace all the soffits with CPVC for its resistance to rot and carpenter bees. The bugs have no interest in it. I also had new window trim ("crowns") made from it. The local BORGs are starting to carry a larger variety of this stuff. No 2Xs, yet that I've seen, but they had 1x4 "boards" with wood grain pattern on one side along with a wide variety of trim profiles. In this picture, the "crown molding" parts above the windows were made from parts readily available at the BORGs. As you can see, they were painted to match the rest of our trim. I'm planning to add some nicer trim around the doors using CPVC.

 

[sbarnhardt]

Project yourself ahead 5/10/20 years! Do you want to have to maintain wood? Will you be able to maintain wood? If you resell, which is better for the value of your house, wood or vinyl?

I vote for vinyl. Pamper yourself for the coming years.