Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Building codes require railings if the steps or the
porch are as much as 30 inches high, but you may
want them anyway. Porch rails are a delight. I know of
many in the mountains with carved initials and dates
in them, and corners worn round from leaning, sit-
ting, and propping up feet on them. My favorite rail is
a rounded-corner 3≈4 of heart cedar, split out and fin-
ished with plane or drawknife. Rails were usually mor-
tised into the posts at about a 30-inch height. (Code,
though, requires 36 inches.) These mortises were cut
with a two-inch auger and a chisel.
Two holes were bored, one just over the other, and
the wood left in the corners of the figure 8 was taken
out with the chisel. Do this before you spike down the
posts so you can drive the rails into the mortises at
both ends. Code requires a maximum of four inches
between rails or spindles, so plan a lot of detailed work
here, important for a raised porch.
Really old railings featured spindles about one inch
square turned one eighth with corners out, diamond
shaped. This means mortising into either the top or
the bottom rail to hold the spindles steady, but the
other end can be drilled and toenailed with galvanized
finish nails.
If yours is a high porch, bring the rail to the top of
the steps, then join it to another for the step rail. The
top post of the step rail will probably need no bracing,
with rails into it from two sides, but the bottom post,
or newel, will. If you don't mind a little shakiness, just
spike it to the step framing stringer. I like to extend
the bottom tread past the newel post and angle-cut or
mortise a brace. Sometimes I forge an iron brace. For
stone steps, I set a metal or treated post into concrete
in the ground.
A gutter will keep water from dumping on you and
from splattering on the steps as much. Porch gutter-
ing materials must match those of the rest of the
house. Guttering and drainpipe are especially impor-
tant to keep rainwater from ruining the porch support
and flooring.
Remember to build your porch for use. If yours has
a good view, spend a lot of time here appreciating it.
Screen it against insects and other unwelcome crea-
tures. Hold mountain music sessions here. Wear the
porch into mellowness; properly used, it will have
some effect on you too.
Porches higher than 30 inches off the ground require rails
and spindles, strongly braced. Building codes require railings
36 inches high and spindles a maximum of 4 inches apart.
