[Kimberly123]

Hi, I recently purchased my house and would like to switch out the iron columns to wood, I will probably go with a 6x6 post for now, and maybe wrap it later, however I can not figure out how they should be spaced, as they are now only one is centered on the door or steps coming up and the other is not, but if I center them on each side of the door then they will not be spaced evenly because my door is not centered. My house is very small, it measures 29 feet across the front. Is there a general rule I should follow, I feel like I have been googling for days and most houses with porches have doors that are either right in the middle or right on the edge of the porch. I am also thinking of removing the shutters because it hits the edge of the house. I am attaching a picture, Thank you for any feedback!

 

[chandler48]

I would keep the spacing as it is. It looks even and "stately". Same thing for the shutters. Maybe cleaning them, but keep them. They add street value, IMO. Maybe narrower shutters if you are worried about their size.

 

[Kimberly123]

Thank you for the response! Ive just never seen shutters go the edge of a house, I was thinking i could making the window trim wider to give some interest, or i could look at making some narrow shutters so there would be some house left after the end of the shutter.

 

[Nealtw]

Thank you for the response! Ive just never seen shutters go the edge of a house, I was thinking i could making the window trim wider to give some interest, or i could look at making some narrow shutters so there would be some house left after the end of the shutter.

Don't move the posts, that is where you would expect beams to meet on top of them

 

[ron45]

Are you sure the house is real.?

 

[Kimberly123]

Yes I am sure its real, If I added a 3rd post to the center of the longer side could I move the post over some? Or would that still be a no for support? The first picture I posted is from the tax assessors site from before I bought it, I am attaching a picture from this morning that is a little closer up, the small tree in front was removed.

 

[Colbyt]

The given advice to replace them exactly as you found them is very sound advice. Most likely there is a reason why the are where they are. And, since the roof looks level they are doing the job they were designed to do.


Now if you have the knowledge and ability to determine how the support beams are made and you are willing to assume the responsibility for roof sag or even failure go ahead and do as you wish.

 

[Kimberly123]

I guess I will give up on my dreams of aligning my front door with my porch posts and replace them as is. I do not have any knowledge to figure out anything about the support beams and I do not want my roof sagging, I do keep reading about pressure treated posts warping, would I be better off to get 4x4 posts and wrap with regular wood to bring them to 6x6, Rather than just using 6x6 posts. My budget is small, ive already had to replace the roof and all of the flooring, redo the bathroom and the kitchen still needs done.. My tiny house is getting expense.

 

[Colbyt]

There might be a way to keep what you have, wrap them with wood and paint it. This would be far cheaper than replacing and done right might well look a lot better than a treated post.



Are those flat panels, L shaped or something other?


4x4 might be enough but a lot more detail would need to be know.


Speaking honestly, I don't think the off center looks bad. It might bother you but I don't think most people would feel that way. Same is true for the shutters. Moving the mailbox to the left might balance things out a bit. It actually disturbs me more than the other things do.


It actually a quite decent looking home.

 

[Kimberly123]

The two columns in the front are flat and 9 inches across the two on the ends are basically two of those together, My original idea was just to wrap them if I couldn't move them but since they were so wide I didn't know if that would be possible cost wise.

 

[Colbyt]

At that width it may not be practical to wrap them. A PT, 6x6 might be cheaper.


I personally do not find what you have unattractive. Have you considered painting them white to make them blend in?

 

[miamicuse]

Nothing is symmetric on your house so trying to move these metal supports to align with your door is not really going to make things look better. As it is it doesn't look bad for the supports to be where they are and the door. The windows are not symmetrical either...if there is anything that looks out of place the left smaller window being installed higher jumps out more (to me) then the overhang supports or the door or the shutters being flushed with the house on the right side.


If you really want the supports and door to be symmetrical in some way one option is to replace the door and make it a double door entrance. The wider door may look centered between the existing supports. But then the porch steps and walkway will no longer be centered with a wider door.

 

[Mystriss]

I always thought those kinds of dinky iron posts were non-structural and purely decorative?

 

[Colbyt]

I always thought those kinds of dinky iron posts were non-structural and purely decorative?

Rethink that. A vertical truss is the closest I can get. I actually amazed at the load they can carry.

 

[Mystriss]

Rethink that. A vertical truss is the closest I can get. I actually amazed at the load they can carry.

Tis good to know!

I don't have any, but if I had, I probs would have made a mistake heh

 

[Kimberly123]

I think I have given up on having them line up with my door and will just wrap them with wood rather than replace them since they are still sturdy. There is no where for me to move the door over there is a wall right next to it when you come in the house and that sounds expensive. I am not sure what you mean by smaller window at a different height? All the windows in the front are the same size mounted at the same height. I am still going to remove the shutters, I just do not like how it comes to the edge of the house, and I do not love those kind of shutters anyway. So wrap the columns, remove the shutters and paint the house are my goals for the summer. Maybe paint the porch as well....

 

[miamicuse]

disregard my comment about windows being at different heights. It looked like the left window was slightly higher but I think it's just the picture. I lined up the bottom of one siding and they look fine.


It you wrap the metal supports with equal or larger width wood it will look quite massive from the front. Might want to just buy a piece of 1x10 or 1x12 and lean it against and take a look yourself.

 

[Kimberly123]

I was worried about that also, I would have to use 1x12s to wrap it and it is such a small porch, other wise I will have to deal with removing and replacing. I will try the board in front idea to try and get an idea of how big it will be.

 

[Tacksman]

So I have those same 1965 wrought iron columns that I’m looking to replace. I understand that wrapping is an option but not the route I want to go. Is there some formula that would tell me what size post I would need to replace the columns. I was looking at 6x6 cedar and not painting them but if I can get by with 4x4 it would be a little less expensive. BTW I only have two columns and one sits on the corner and the other is similar to picture in first post that was used to tie in hand rail. Thanks in advance.