Knob and Tube Wiring - Replacing for Insulation

Knob and Tube Wiring (sometimes called K & T)
You can read all about Knob and Tube wiring on wiki, and other places on the web, but I'll boil down what I've learned so far. I'm not an electrician.


Knob and Tube wiring in our attic. You could call this photo "old meets new". (Note: click on photos to enlarge them)

• Knob and Tube was installed in homes from about 1880-1930s.
• Knob and Tube wiring is not grounded.
• Wall switchers were often placed on the neutral wire, which turns the circuit off, but current is still fed to the light/outlet.
• Over time the original wire insulation (fabric or rubber) becomes brittle.
• Originally safe Knob and Tube installations are often compromised with unsafe alterations.
• Knob and Tube needs to be suspended in open air to allow heat to dissipate.
• Most insurance companies will not insure houses with Knob and Tube, unless it is deemed safe by an electrician or home inspector.
• Hire a qualified electrician, to inspect your Knob and Tube wiring.
• Hire a qualified electrician, to replace your wiring if that is the plan.
• Home inspectors will note it as a negative to buyers when selling your home.
• Removing it now will save you headaches down the road.
• Keep the ceramic parts and sell them on ebay. People with restoration projects may buy them.

Knob and Tube Wiring and Insulation
The important point for me is the one about Knob and Tube wiring and insulation. I recently had a home energy audit preformed by Energy Audits Unlimited (highly recommended), and they found places in my house that needed insulation, but before I could insulate, I needed to remove the Knob and Tube.

As stated above, Knob and Tube and insulation (loose fill or fiberglass batts) don't mix, because it is essential that the wires are free to dissipate heat. If you insulate around them, it is a fire hazard. In fact, the United States National Electric Code (NEC) section 324-4, forbids the use of loose, blown-in, or expanding foam insulation over Knob and Tube wiring.

Replacing Knob and Tube
Sure I could work around the old wiring and only insulate where there wasn't any, but I've been meaning to replace the Knob and Tube for a while now. So I decided to look into it. The rest of this article addresses what to expect when replacing Knob and Tube wiring.


This is a view from our basement. With the knob and tube installed. Unfortunately, I don't have more photos from down here. I had places where the rubber insulation had fallen off, exposing a few inches of bare wire in many places. I also had wire that had fallen off of it's ceramic knobs and was resting on steam pipes, other wires, and so on. Most of our house's wiring had been updated already, but like most old houses, it was like a museum of home wiring history. You can see the blue and black wires above from different upgrades.

About 10 years ago the previous home owner upgraded all but 2 lines of Knob and Tube, which still fed a little less than half the house. So my upgrade was not a whole house upgrade.

I called 4 electricians for quotes. One never called back, so I had 3 actually come to the house to make bids. The bids were quite varied, but to be fair, that is because each was offering differing solutions, and options in the upgrade. In the end I went with the guy I felt most comfortable with. I liked him because he insisted that all of the work he does meets code, where others might take shortcuts, and in order to do so he checked with the local inspector for a few code questions that he and I had, prior to me paying him a dime. I went with J & M Electrical, who I highly recommend, as they did excellent work, and were very professional in all ways. Thanks guys for a job well done.


The work took 2 days. On my drive home from work, after day one, I didn't know what I'd see. I was expecting anything from minimal damage, to major drywall and plaster damage in all rooms. What you see above is what I saw, only one hole cut. They need to cut these in order to fish new wire around hard to access areas. Shown below you'll also see damage around a light switch and an outlet.


After all was said and done, there were only 2 holes cut, like this one, and they kept the cut outs and reinstalled them. I'll be doing minimal drywall repair here and it'll be history.


Here's a light switch with damage to the plaster wall. This was the only switch with damage, which is quite impressive considering they had to fish wires through a 100 year old home with god knows what in the walls. Perhaps the damage was from putting in a new electrical box. I'm not sure really.


There were about 3 outlets that had minimal damage like this. I was expecting there could be walls and ceilings with holes cut all over the house, so I'm very please.


And here is the finished project. Yes that's the right photo! When you get your house rewired, don't expect them to run wires where they were before. They feed new lines to all the switches and outlets but they may take different paths, than where your knob and tube was. They asked whether I wanted to keep the ceramic fixtures and I said yes, as they have some value (not sure what yet), to people (who? I'm not sure but people that are restoring things? God knows what, perhaps museums?) In the basement they did cut the wires down between the knobs. Here they left it all intact (besides being cut at the floor), which is a good thing for you because I didn't have a before photo!


Here's an after shot in the basement with a new junction box.


Another after shot with a new junction box and old wire cut off of knobs.


New wires shown in this after shot. If your are rewiring, you might as well run cable, internet, and any other lines you might want (an excellent suggestion made by the electrician). The blue and black lines are new, which run up to our unfinished attic, which might be finished in the future. When they are pulling lines, pulling more lines isn't much more time/work.

In some ways I miss the old Knob and Tube and the nostalgic craftsmanship of years gone by. We bought an old house for "character" you know. But it's much better to know that my house won't burn down, the kids will be safer with grounded outlets, and that I can now insulate to my heart's content, and save money on heat... and save the planet at the same time... being "green".

Resources
Wikipedia: Knob and Tube Wiring
Old House Web: An article about Knob and Tube by William Kibbel III—The Home Inspector
Old House Web: Evaluating your Homes Wiring System
Old House Web: Electrical Issues in Old Houses
This Old House: Tracking Down Knob-and-Tube Wiring
Retrofitting Knob and Tube Wiring–An Investigation into Codes, Assessment, and Wiring Practices and Cost: Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (PDF)
Helter Shelter, "Knob and Tube" By Walter Jowers

Service Resources
J & M Electrical - Highly recommended
Energy Audits Unlimited - Highly recommended

Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2008, Dover Projects.

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How to Insulate Basement Rim Joists

Air Sealing and Insulating Basement Rim Joists
There are really two phases to weatherizing your home. First you air seal, then you insulate. What's the difference? Well it's just like when you dress for a winter day. You wear a sweater for "insulating", but that doesn't do much to keep the wind from getting to you, so you wear an outer layer for "air sealing".

The main benefit of weatherizing the basement rim joists is air sealing. It's not so much about insulating that area, so perhaps this article should be really be called "How to Air Seal Basement Rim Joists".

Stack Effect
All buildings are are subject to something called the "Stack effect". When a building has openings, cracks, or ventilation at the top of the building, and similar ventilation at the bottom, there can be air movement either up or down, through the building (sometimes the "stack effect" is called the "chimney effect"). When the outside air is colder (denser) than the inside air, the flow goes out at the top, and in at the bottom. The reverse is true when the the outside air is warmer than the inside air. Here in the North, I care about the winter flow, which would be hot air leaving the top areas of my house, and cold air entering the lower areas.

Stack Effect In Action

One common area for air to come in, low on the house, is in the basement where your first floor meets the basement foundation walls. When you are in the basement looking up, you can see floor joists running across the basement ceiling. Capping those off around the perimeter of your house are rim joists. The sill plate is what those two pieces sit on. (Note: click on photos to enlarge them)

Sill Box Illustration

This is where a rigid foam insulation "sill box blockers" will be foamed in place, to air seal the small gaps where cold air can get in. Each gap is not much, but in total, around your entire basement, these little gaps can add up. (Note: You should also caulk or foam where the sill plate and foundation meet.)

If you can air seal the rim joists, or "sill boxes" (the floor joists, rim joist and sill plate form a box), you'll go a long way in stopping air from entering the lower level of your house, reducing the stack effect, and thus reducing heat loss!

It's a good idea to hire an energy auditor to test the tightness of your house with a blower door test. If you make the basement too tight, it is possible that you will interfere with the combustion air required by the furnace, boiler, or hot water heater. If these items can't get enough air, and therefore can not work properly, they can produce deadly carbon monoxide.

Blower Door Test - Air Changes per Hour
I had a blower door test done by Energy Audits Unlimited, as I was interested in knowing how tight our house was before doing any air sealing or insulating. Turns out our house had .66 Natural Air Changes per Hour (ACH). That means that .66 of the total air in the house is exchanged every hour. I've read that anything lower than about .35 ACH can be too tight. I was surprised though, to find out that one internet source reported that most new homes had about 1.75 ACH. I always thought new homes would be tighter, apparently not, if air sealing is not a goal during construction.

Materials I Used

DOW, TUFF-R Commercial polyisocyanurate insulation with reflective/radiant barrier foil on both sides. It comes in 4' x 8' sheets and I used the 2" thick stuff (R-Value: 13). Note from DOW: Local building codes may require a protective or thermal barrier. For more information, consult MSDS, call Dow at 1-866-583-BLUE (2583). This is because this insulation is flammable. UPDATE: Hindsight is always 20/20. It seems that Dow has a similar product called Thermax® Heavy Duty Insulation, that does not require a "thermal barrier" for inside installation. Meaning you don't have to cover with something like drywall. Well, you all can learn from my mistakes. Here's a link to more about it. And here's a link to all of their rigid foam insulation, so you can read and pick the right one.


From left to right: Gloves: Needed for most steps, especially mold removal, and spraying the "Great Stuff" which without gloves, will stay with you for days... Safety Glasses and Dusk Mask: Use them when cleaning and when working with the insulation, also wear the glasses when spraying the Great Stuff, Wipes: Used for minimal mold removal, Exterior/Interior Window and Door Caulk: Used to seal around sill boxes and foundation, High Temperature Caulk: Used to seal around my very hot steam pipes, which would melt the Great Stuff and perhaps the rigid insulation (not sure), so I cut around the pipes, then air sealed. Great Stuff Gaps and Cracks Filler: Used to seal around the insulation blocks, Great Stuff Big Gap Filler: Used for larger gaps (it expands more), Great Stuff Fireblock: Also used around steam pipes, but only after a first layers of the high temperature caulk, Drywall Saw: To cut the rigid insulation, T-Square: to measure and cut blocks.

Step 1: Removing Sill Box Debris
Mine where a mess with years of: unidentifiable junk, mortar, cobwebs, acorns, and so on. So I donned a N95 dust mask and got to work with a shop vac.

Step 2: Removing Mold
I had some white powdery sections on the wood. Nothing too bad, but enough that I didn't want to cover it with the blocks. The first thing you learn about mold remediation, is to first correct the moisture problem. I didn't have any any obvious leaks around the sill, but I have four basement windows that were leaky before I corrected that problem when we moved in. So I moved on to the next step, which is mold removal. After reading much conflicting information about whether or not to use bleach, or other dedicated mold remediation products, I decided to do what the EPA recommends, which basically says, "fix the moisture problem, then for hard surfaces, scrub with detergent and water and let it dry (wood is porous though, so there wasn't a good way to remove all of it). I read that some professionals use sani-wipes. I used those, with gloves on, carefully containing the mold to a clean section of the wipe with continual folding and frequently tossing contaminated wipes, in order not to spread the spores further.


See those white specs on the floor joist (in the middle), just above the conduit pipe? That's mold. I had some of that in the sill boxes too, but it wasn't much.

Step 3: Sealing Potential Water Penetrations
I'm fairly sure my moisture was getting inside the basement from the basement windows, but to be on the safe side, I used caulk around all the joints/edges of the sill boxes after cleaning and removing the mold. I also did this in areas where the rim joist wood had cracks. I should also do this on the outside of the house, which I'll do soon.

Step 4: Cutting the Rigid Insulation Blocks


I cut my rigid insulation with a drywall saw (shown in the materials photo above), but you could also rip these sheets with a table saw in 8 foot lengths, then cut the strips down to block size. I found that even with my 100 year old home, all of the blocks where almost the same size, so you won't have to measure each block. Be sure to cut them about a 1/4 small on the sides. This is so you can have a good amount of space to spray the foam insulation into. The top and bottoms can be snug.

Step 5: Installing the Rigid Foam Blocks
Because I had just prior given the sill boxes a application of caulk, I also put a few dabs of caulk on the rim joist, to hold the insulation blocks in place prior to foaming. Push the blocks in place as snug up against the rim joist as you can get them.

Once you've got about 10 blocks in place, go ahead and start up a can of Great Stuff. You'll find that once you start a can, you shouldn't stop, as the spray tube will clog up. So get a bunch of blocks ready then apply the foam insulation. Be sure to also foam between the sill boxes, under the floor joist.

Great Stuff expands about 3 times it sizes as it sets, so don't go overboard. Test it a few times to get the hang of it. Apply less than you want on final piece. You can always go back and add more if needed. And whatever you do, you MUST wear gloves. This stuff will stick with you for days. Wear goggles too. You don't want this stuff in your eyes I'd recommend a few trial pieces first. My first few panels pushed out when the Great Stuff set. Not sure if I got some behind the panels or what.


Here's the finished product. Perhaps the look is a bit space-aged for a 100 year old home, but it's well worth it to be more "green" and save some green too. I increased the contrast of this photo a bit to show the sill insulation better. In doing so, I've made the ceiling look wet and leaky. It is not, it's just a contrasty photo.


In previous winters I had so much cold air coming in at this location that my domestic water pipes froze (gray here). This year I'm hoping I've eliminated that problem.

Notes
I've read that it's best not to simply stuff the sill boxes with fiberglass batts for two reasons: 1. Fiberglass batts alone, do not seal airflow, 2. They can become damp and thus moldy. I did though find an article recently that suggested to do as I did, but then in addition, add fiberglass batts, cut to fill each box flush with the foundation wall. Also, you can add rigid insulation to the other ends of your basement, but these are generally harder to cut long strips for, and I believe, they are less leaky.

Energy Auditor Who Showed Me How to Insulate Rim Joists, and Suggested it.
Energy Audits Unlimited Thanks to Paul Button for his initial input. I found Paul to be an excellent auditor.

Products
DOW, TUFF-R Commercial polyisocyanurate insulation (PDF) See update above.
Rubber Gloves
Safety Glasses
N95 Dust Mask
Clorox Wipes
GE Silicone II Window and Door Caulk
Rutland High Heat Silicone Sealant
Great Stuff polyurethane insulating foam sealant
Drywall Saw
Johnson Drywall T-Square

Resources
The Family Handyman: Insulate Basement Rim Joists
FineHomeBuilding.com: The Best Way to Insulate Rim Joist
Insulation-Guide.com: How to Insulate Sill Plates
Energy Star: Sealing Air Leaks Basement
Energy Audits Unlimited (Manchester, New Hampshire)
Amazon Book: Insulate and Weatherize—By Bruce Harley
2009 Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency
Colorado Energy: R-Value of Materials
DOE: Insulation Calculator by Zip Code
Healthy House Institute
HGTV Insulation Forum
Home Energy Articles to '99
DoItYouself Insulation Forum
U.S. Department of Energy

Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2008, Dover Projects.

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Barn Foundation Repair


Looks good from here. (Note: click on photos to enlarge them)


Looks good from here too.

The Background
The seller's realtor met us at the door and said, "the problem with this place is the barn foundation. It's falling in, so no one wants to buy this place." Hmmm, strange selling technique.

So we bought the place, but only after getting the buyers to come down, factoring in the estimated foundation repair. As first time home owners, friends and family reactions varied from, "just let it fall down, don't waste your money..." to "only retired people have the time and money to fix old barns..." to "there are people out there that'll tear it down for free, because they want the barn wood..."

So we hired a commercial contractor to fix it! I'd rather not mention the repair cost, but to be complete, I must reveal. $23,000 smackers! We justified that, by telling ourselves, "that's what we got the sellers to drop the selling price by..., repeat, and repeat" My wife still wonders what else we could have done with that money.


The ground around the foundation sloped down to the barn. In the cold climate we live in, water would collect there, freeze/thaw, freeze/thaw, and each time it did this, the wall would be pushed in a little bit more, and the "negative slope" to the barn became greater.


This shows how far in the wall was pushed. The foundation should, of course, be aligned with the barn sill above.


This photo, taken in the basement, doesn't look as bad as it was, so please picture this, then worse.


The other wall needed repair too, but had the opposite leaning problem. The top was fine, but the bottom was pushed in. Again, the photo doesn't do it justice.

So back to the story. We hired a commercial contractor (Pine Brook Corporation) who had done some very large commercial jobs around town (Kittery Trading Post), figuring, "if they could handle those jobs, then they certainly can fix our foundation. We were such newbies, we never cracked the phone book for "foundation repair", or "barn restoration". After the contractor talked the job over with me, he instilled confidence by saying, "we fit little jobs like this, between our regular work". So no, we didn't get enough quotes, or even barn foundation experts, but we wanted to move fast, so we hired them, and they did a great job.

Step 1

Excavate foundation wall. The conduit is a electrical line running to the garage.

Step 2

Post lots of warning signs, bring in tons of scaffolding, and lots of scrap lumber.

Step 3

Construct 6 horizontal ramrods and bracing, to push the wall out. (And you thought they would jack the barn up. I did too. Nope.) What they did was create this ramrod city with two lengths of steel shafts per ramrod that met in the middle. There, they placed jacks and slowly, over two weeks, they pushed this wall back in place, using the other wall, that had not been excavated yet, to push against.


See how the 2 shafts meet in the middle? That's where they placed their jacks (one for each ramrod) and they strategically pushed. Every day, I noticed more and more bracing around the ramrods. I think there was concern, that under such pressure these things could break loose. You don't want big steel pipes flying around, so wisely, they erred on the side of caution.


Hard to see, but down the end are two of the super heroes on the job. Once this first wall was back in place, they added rigid insulation panels on the outside and then back-filled with appropriate dirt. They then added anchors to the barn sill (photos to come) and a footer to the base of the foundation to keep it in place.

Step 4

Once that first wall was done, they excavated and pushed out the bottom of the opposing wall.


Here's the second floor. There's a basement, a first floor, a second floor and a loft. I'm often asked what I use the barn for.

Step 5

Party! More on how to turn your barn into a dance club in a posting to come. And more photos are now posted below.


To them, it's a nice place to play horseshoes. To me, it's a foundation still holding.

Click here for my article on French Drains and how I built them to catch rain water from the roof and dug a swale to divert surface water from coming towards the barn.

Resources
New Hampshire Preservation Alliance
HILTI US (used to anchor sill to barn foundation)
Pine Brook Corpration (Contractor that did the work)

See More Barn Party Photos Below

DoverProjects - View my 'Barn Party' set on Flickriver



Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2008, Dover Projects.

_____________________________________________________________
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How to Build Porch Railings


Prior to adding railings. Columns were there.


After adding the porch railings, a few years after...

Our original porch columns were replaced, some time before we owned the place, perhaps in the 80's. The originals were round. I know because they are in our barn. The railing sections were in the barn too, but were in such bad shape that I could not reuse them. (Note: click on photos to enlarge them)


The old columns and railings in the barn.

I looked at prefab railings and hard wood parts. The really good wood parts online (cedar, redwood, Ipe, mahogany, etc.) were too expensive, and the plastic, pre-fab ones from the home stores, or online similar to these styles weren't approved by my wife. I agreed with her that the plastic wouldn't match the age of the rest of the house (1909). The home centers also have wood pre-fab top rails (2x4s with notched bottoms, and beveled edges). Looking around the neighborhood you want a substantial top rail, and not a compromised/cutdown, and thus thin 2x4 wannabe top railing.

So I did nothing for a few years, until my 2 year old fell of the porch (only a few feet down, but ended up losing his 2 front bottom teeth). So the time had come to do something.

A relative showed me how I could build a few sections myself, something I had thought about, but thought was too much for me to do. His original design was similar to deck railings (deck pickets attached to the outside of a top and bottom rail), and he and I built a few sections. Once I got to a front-of-the-house-section it seemed that something was wrong, they were too high. (Our local code says railings, if entirely replaced (and not simply repaired) must meet code, which says that any area of the porch deck that is more than 30" above grade, must have a top rail at least 36" above the decking, and balusters must be spaced no farther than 4" apart (kids get their heads stuck).

So I decided to do some more research and found this article about historic porch railings on the Web. Seemed I was building them too high to be historically and architecturally correct. And also after looking around the neighborhood, it seemed the nicer railings had their balusters spaced closer together (I ended up making mine with a 2" space between balusters). Half of our porch decking is more than 30" above grade, but I could make it all to code, by raising the grade up a few inches around the porch, if I wanted. Anyway, I removed the too tall sections and started again, keeping the historic guidelines and other new knowledge in mind for the new design.

I'm not an expert, but here's how I built them. I've got 2x4s for the top and bottom rails (yeah, I wanted more substantial top rails, and thought about doubling up 2x4s, but in the end settled with just one) and 1x2s to mount the balusters to (from HD) to make balustrade sections. I attached each baluster (top and then bottom) with 1, #8 x 2" decking screw through the 1x2 into the middle of the ends of the balusters. I then used 2, 1.5" finishing nails per baluster end to keep them from spinning. I borrowed a neighbors pneumatic nailer for the finishing nails... would have taken forever with a hammer.

I then mounted the bottom 2x4 bottom rails between the columns, set the balustrades sections in place, and then attached the top 2x4 rails. I used pressure treated wood from HD for all parts. Pressure treated wood can check, warp, crack, etc. But so far (I did this project about 1 year ago), they are straight without cracks. Read below for more on that and how to avoid issues.

Step 1
Measure between each of your columns for the top rail length and bottom rail. Each of my sections were different, so each section is a custom length. Also I have trim on the bottom of my columns where the bottom rail would attach, so those rails are shorter than the top rail. Cut your top and bottom rails. Mark every piece (example, "Section 1, bottom")


Here the top and bottom 2x4s are drying after waterproofing (shown below).

Step 2
Cut your top and bottom 1x2s pieces, perhaps a quarter inch shorter than the top and bottom rail lengths noted above (helps for fitting the sections in later).

Step 3
I made a template from a 2x4 with lines drawn every 3.25 inches (for 2" spaces between balusters). I then sandwiched that template with my top and bottom 1x2, centering the bottom 1x2 with the top one, as my bottom ones where shorter. I transferred the marks with a t-square, to both of the 1x2s.


Transferring marks from my template (the 2x4 with red lines) onto the top and bottom 1x2 strips.

Step 4
Screw and nail in the balusters to the 1x2s. Attach a top or bottom 1x2 piece first then rotate and attach the other 1x2. The balusters I got from HD and I cut them down to size (they only came in 36" lengths (code) which I cut down to 20.25"). I spent a lot of time picking out the straight ones without knots. The total height of my railings was about 27.5" inches. I acutally made a calculation error and wanted them to be about an inch higher. Oh well. The Historic railings article above says they should be no higher then the bottoms of the windows (not code now though).



Shown here is one screw into each end, and then 2 finishing nails to keep them from spinning


Screws used


Takes some time when you have 8 sections to make!


Couple of sections before coating with waterproofing (shown below).


I created a stop with 2x4s, so that I could quickly cut all the balusters to the same length. Also used dust mask and goggles as it's pressure treated, nasty dust.

Step 5
Because I knew I wanted to paint these, I did research on painting pressure treated wood. If you paint them when they are still wet, the paint won't adhere right. So after lots of reading here's what I did which so far has worked well.

A. I used clear waterproofing/sealer on all the wood prior to final installation. The reason for applying this, is that it allows the wood to dry slowly, which keeps the wood from warping, cracking, checking, which it can do if it dries too quickly.

B. I mounted the railings and then let them dry unpainted for about 6 months. I then sanded them with a 5" orbital sander, then primed them. To be honest I never got to the finishing layer of exterior white. The primer looks great still with zero peeling. Will finish painting some day!


This is what I used to waterproof/seal with to keep the drying slow. It's says "natural clear", but as you can see it's not clear, but once up (as I waited 6 months for them to dry) it looks better than bare/green wood.


I used this mitt to quickly get the waterproofing on to the completed sections, and top and bottom 2x4 rail sections prior to installation. Highly recommend, as a section only took a few minutes and I had 8 sections. I wasn't detailed with it, just slopped it on and then wiped it down to get rid of drips. I didn't use the glove when I primed the installed railings white, but maybe I should of... it was quick (but does leave a few fuzzy bits as it gets hung up on the rough cut wood).

Step 6
Mount the bottom railings, use 2x4 blocks that are 3" tall, for resting/spacer blocks under each end of the rail for even spacing above the porch decking (or however much space you want above the deck, not sure what code would say). I drilled pilot holes in from both sides of the railings, at an angle, through the rails to the columns. I used 3" #10 stainless steel screws that I put in far enough to bury the heads. So the bottom rail gets 4 screws into the columns, and so does the top rail when you install that. Totally solid to sit on, climb over, etc.... So far at least.




These have a special square bit, for the square drive tops. Stainless steel is soft and easy to strip if you don't make your pilot holes big enough. I stripped a few heads.

Step 7
Place your sections onto the bottom rail. Use 2" #8 deck screws to attach the sections to the bottom rail. Attached the top rail to the columns (3" #10 stainless steel) x 4 per top rail. Attach the sections to the top rail, screwing from the bottom side up, so the heads are hidden).

Step 8
I added a 3" tall footer in the middle of each section to keep the sections from sagging, and to make the strong enough for sitting on. I screwed mine in at an angle into the porch decking (3" #10 stainless steel) and one screw through the bottom rail into it.


Installed after the weather proofing. They looked good and stay this way drying for about 6 months.

Step 9
Use wood putty to fill all your countersunk holes. If you have any screw heads that didn't get bury, because you stripped them while screw gunning them in, like I did, you can grind them flush with the wood. Let the wood filler dry then sand. Then use exterior silicon caulk to fill in between any spaces were the sections meet the columns. Sand, prime and paint (I will some day). Acually with the sanding, I didn't bother between the balusters were it's hard to reach. The primer seems to be sticking so far. I let you know if it peels in a few years!


Finished result, and no more falls.










Used to close the gaps between the columns and my installed railings.


Used to fill screw holes


Used this white primer after the 6 months of drying, and then a good sanding off of any of the leftover waterproofing sealent. One coat was all it took for great coverage. Turned out so well I haven't yet gotten to the final coat.


Will use when I get around to the final coat!

Notes
It important that you use the right kind of fasteners for your type of wood. I may not have used the right kind of screws for pressure treated wood. I found this out after the fact. So find out what types of screws are best for pressure treated or your wood. Some will breakdown or rust as the chemicals react, but this is beyond my knowledge. So do some research. This article on fasteners and pressure treated wood might help. I've not read it yet!

Resources
Historic Porch Railing Info.
Bob Villa Video: Porch Railings
Bob Villa Video: Porch Railings 2
Building Porch Railings Article
Building Porch Railings Article 2
Pressure Treated Wood Info.
Pressure Treated Wood Info. 2
Fasteners and Pressure Treated Wood
Fancier railings and posts for the more advanced...
Fancier railings and posts for the more advanced 2...
High Quality Porch Parts
How to install porch railings with round posts
How to build and install porch railings

Products
GE Silicone II Window and Door
DAP Plastic Wood Filler
Grip-Rite Screws
Power Pro Outdoor Wood Screws
Painting/Staining Mitt
Sherwin-Williams, A-100 Latex Exterior Primer
Sherwin-Williams, Super Paint, Exterior Latex Satin
BEHR, Waterproofing Wood Protector No. 300

Disclaimer: This is what I did. This does not mean this is the best way, the right way, to building code, or even safe for your needs. So you are on your own with your project. I make no promises about the information presented here. I'm just a do-it-yourselfer, not a professional at all, sharing my story. So if something goes wrong with your project, you are on your own. Good luck, and have fun!

All content and photos, copyright 2008, Dover Projects.

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