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I’m building an old style porch. Where can I get good materials, such as balusters, rail and shoe rail? I have the CinderWhit brochure but they are out of my price range. Are there any other options? Thanks in advance for your time and expertise.
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Dave,
This sounds exactly like the thought process I already went through about a year ago before I built my front open air porch summer of 99. You can get square western red cedar and maybe even redwood balusters at a reasonable price ($2-4 each) if you don't mind going with 1" or 1 1/4" baluster thicknesses. When you get into the turned 2" and over range for thickness, the prices shoot up dramatically. I ended up with 2.25" turned cypress balusters, which were not inexpensive, but much less than those from CinderWhit. Check with your local lumberyard, forget about HD or Lowes for this stuff. I did use western red cedar for the top and bottom rails-I ran the bottom rail through my planer to make a "low slope roof" for the top of the bottom rail. I then cut the bottom of each baluster at an angle, corresponding to the slope of the roof. I did it for drainage of water and snow. I'm not a big fan of the ploughed out bottom rail with fillet strips between the balusters-great for trapping water and snow. Had a blast doing this project this past summer-wish I could do it for a livin'. Have fun!
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David, place in Texas http://www.vintagewoodworks.com has a bunch of porch parts. Lots of doodads, brackets, stair parts & misc. post, railing, & good stuff. They have a catalogue for $5 that has a lot of good pictures of the pieces & how they combine to use them for different effects. Definitely worth the price. Joe H
*Have you tried a salvage yard for originals? Our county historic commision runs a salvage yard and many things can be found at a reasonable price. Of course, refinishing will be necessary.Also, my top rail (1930's bungelow), besides having a beveled top to shed water, has a rabbit on each side of the bottom, I guess as a drip edge, but it also adds visual interest.
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I'm building an old style porch. Where can I get good materials, such as balusters, rail and shoe rail? I have the CinderWhit brochure but they are out of my price range. Are there any other options? Thanks in advance for your time and expertise.