Schlatter Family Site

Building our new house:
Porches and columns, page 2

Carlos hard at work on the porch.  Note that he has two drills -- one is fitted with a drill bit to drill the pilot holes into the floor boards, the other is fitted with a square bit that fits the head of the trim screws that he is driving into the floor boards.

This photo shows the wooden columns that will be placed on the front and back porches.  The columns are 9 inches square and 9 feet tall.  They were made by a millwork shop in Richmond, VA, from number 1 clear pine.  The columns are beautiful pieces of woodwork.  We unloaded them from the truck into our shed/workshop where we sanded them smooth -- by hand.  Then, we applied one coat of oil-based primer and let it dry for three days after which we hand-sanded each column -- takes about 30 minutes to sand one column and there are 12 full-sized and four half-sized columns.  In this photo, the columns have one coat of primer and have been sanded.  We will apply the second coat of primer in a few days and sand it smooth.  Then, the columns will be set in place on the porch and a finish coat of paint applied.

Here's another view of the columns standing inside the shed with their first coat of primer applied and sanded.