Portrero Hill Stair Panel, Lower Balustrade Rail

Dry rot and weather damage are some of the most common repairs we do, and this Potrero Hill porch had both. The stair panel and the lower balustrade rail were rotting, and one of the porch’s support pillars had to be replaced.

The stair panel is on the north side of the house. North-facing surfaces get little sun, so they stay damp longer after rain and fog, and wood there tends to rot rather than bake. Instead of replacing the panel with more wood that would face the same conditions, we used a concrete backer panel, which won’t rot, and Durham’s water putty to fill and blend the repairs into the surrounding surface.

The pillar was the structural part of the job. We jacked up the porch to take the load off the failing pillar, removed it, and set a new support pillar down onto a slab so it has a solid, stable base. Setting a porch back down onto new support is slow, careful work, but it’s what keeps the porch sound for years to come.

For the lower balustrade rail, I copied the shape of the original using one-and-a-quarter-inch by one-and-a-quarter-inch pine. Pine isn’t a hardwood, but hardwoods are very expensive, and for a painted exterior rail, well-sealed pine is a sensible, affordable choice. Matching the original profile meant the new rail blends right in with the rest of the house.

Sealing is what makes softwood last outdoors. We sealed everything thoroughly with primer and caulk, so no bare wood or open joint is left for water to find its way into.

The finished porch looks like new, and it was done very affordably. All that’s left is sanding and paint by the client’s painter.