How to Wrap Porch Columns – A Porch Makeover

Are you embarrassed by the way your outdated front porch looks? It’s time to remove the frustration and give your porch a makeover. Let’s start the makeover by learning how to wrap porch columns to finally update your homes curb appeal.

HOW TO WRAP PORCH COLUMNS

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Before I jump into how to wrap a porch post, I want to let you know that this porch was not there before. That’s right, we added a front porch to an existing house. And if you are wondering about the process, visit the post here. Here’s what our home looked like before.

 

Something I want to mention is how close to the concrete your trim should be. If you wanted you can take the trim all the way to the concrete. But if water happened to get under the trim, it would sit directly on the trim, which could ruin it over time.

What I suggest is having a gap. So for the boards that wrap around my post, they are about 1/2″-1″ from the concrete.

Ok now onto wrapping the porch post. Please note that I am wrapping 4×4 post.

The sides to wrap first are the left and right sides of the post when you are facing the porch. These sides will have the 4″ trim boards the front and back will have the 6″ boards. So measure the post (from concrete to top of post) and subtract 1/2″-1″ for a gap.

TIP: You will want to measure each side of the post because the measurements could be different.

Then cut the 4″ boards and 6″ boards to these measurements. If you need to, use a jigsaw to cut notches!

Next, clamp the 4″ boards into place on one post. Check the fit of the 6″ board on the open side. Your 6″ board will most likely be too big for the post. So measure the overhang, mine was 3/8″ which is the same size as the panel I used on the other parts of the porch.

Cut 5 spacer pieces at about 3-1/8″x5″ for one post, I needed 10 spacers for my porch.

Place these spacer pieces against one side of the post, remember the 4″ boards are already clamped into place. So unclamp the top clamp and insert one piece then reclamp. Unclamp the bottom and place the other 4 pieces.

TIP: Measure the board before so you have the center of the board to make sure a piece is placed there.

SIDE NOTE: I placed my pieces toward the inside of the porch so that I would not throw off the spacing of the post to the edge of the concrete.

Make sure the 4″ boards are flush at the top of the post then nail into place with the 2-3/8″ nails. Make sure the nail is placed wherever a 3/8″ spacer piece is placed.

After clamp the 6″ board, making sure they are flush at the top then nail them into place. Do this for all posts.

TIP: Remember the metal base that is holding the post into place. Do not put a nail there. It’s a good idea to make sure where it is!

Now it’s time to add a trim piece to the bottom of the wrapped post, let’s call this the baseboard. The baseboard will be from the 6″ trim board. For one post, cut a piece for the left and right of the post (it will be about 5″).

Before placing these pieces, grab a 1/4″ or 3/8″ pieces of scrap board. This board will be used to make the baseboard not sit directly on the concrete. I decided to use 3/8″ because it’s what I had on hand!

Place the 3/8″ (or 1/4″) board on the concrete then clamp the baseboard into place. Remember the edges will be flush.

Nail the baseboard into place then move to the other side and install the other baseboard the same way. Then measure for the front and back baseboard. Install these the same way as the sides. Add the baseboards to any other posts the same way.

To help you see the process of wrapping the porch columns, I also videoed me installing the trim to the post.

I hope this tutorial will help you finally update your outdated porch into something you can truly LOVE by wrapping the porch columns. No more being embarrassed!