Requisite Railing Issues

Written by Jaqui Lividini

When it came time to construct railings for the porch, we ran into some difficulties, as is wont to happen in these renovation endeavors. This time the issue had to do with finding the proper method to install the railings without creating a permanent obstruction of our beloved ocean view in the process.

The first option we considered was Greek columns with shingle bases to keep the railings in place, but the problem with that was that every 10 feet or so, there’d be a giant column that blocked our view! Next, our fantastic Design Development Project Manager, Jeffrey Thomas, suggested we just eliminate the columns and use only the shingle base to support the railings, and this way we wouldn’t lose the view. Great idea, right? Well, yes and no. When we came back to the house to check out the changes, we hated the way it looked!

Tempers began to fly and a great dramatic debate ensued about what we should do to fix this problem. After much deliberation, we ended up looking to our neighbors’ porch for inspiration.

Our neighbors went through a similar issue with their porch railing and they solved the problem by vertically placing supersized spindles in the middle of the railings that are equidistant to one another. This alleviated the problem in a manner we were all pleased with and now we are on to the next one—problem that is. Come back next week to find out all about it!