4/27/2016     John Gobble     0

Credits

Truth be told, I am kind of a chicken when it comes to starting projects like restoring pillars. However, that's what great friends are for. So I would like to thank my friend and wood-restoration coach, John Voyles, who provided me with guidance, a place to work, and the tools necessary to complete the job.

Before and After

Tools and Supplies

As all good project go, I will start with the list of tools and supplies that were needed for this project:

1. Work Area: You will need a large enough area that is dry, clean, and relatively climate controlled, if possible.
2. Stands: It helps to have saw horses or something like them on which you can place your pillars. These will keep your work off of the ground and save your back!
3. Sander: I used a DeWalt 5-IN Random Orbit plam sander with 60 grit sanding pads. This sander worked great and helped quickly remove old paint and get me down to my working surface of the pillar.
4. Vacuum: I used a Porter-Cable 7812 10-Gallon vacuum to collect dust. This particular vacuum connects to the DeWalt sander and collects dust as you sand.
5. RotFix: If you have areas of your pillar that are rotten, you will need something like RotFix, which is a two part Epoxy Kit that impregnates rotten wood and makes it hard and stable to build on.
6. Bondo: Yup. That's right. 1 Gallon of good old fashioned Bondo, which I picked up at Napa Auto.
7. Wood filler: I used Elmer's Wood Filler to fill the sectional cracks in my pillers.
8. Pillar Bases: Since my pillar bases were effectively dead, I chose to purchase the closest match to what I had, which ended up being Pillar Top Cap's for 8 inch pillars. Home Depot was the only local vendor that had these in stock. As seen in the vidoe below, these worked out perfectly.
9. Hardware: I used 3in bolts for rotted areas of my pillars that required a lot of bondo to provide a mechanical connection to the wood.
10. Air Compressor & Nail-Gun: So that I didn't have to drive a nail in by hand, I used an air compressor and nail-gun to secure the pillars at the base and cap after restoration.
11. Miscellaneous: Hammer, putty knife, and paint.

The Restoration Process

Step 1: Take down

Before I started, I had to determine if my pillars were load bearing (e.g., they supported weight). This took about 2 seconds to determine, since some of my pillars were loose and could be pushed over.

Once I established that my pillars were not load bearing, I was able to remove them from the house and relocate them to my work area.

Step 2: Prep

My pillars were pretty bad off. They had been repainted over the years, but the paint on the outside faces (away from the house) had either flaked off completely, leaving exposed wood, or were cracked and beginning to flake.

I started my prep by sanding with the orbital sander using a 60 grit pad. I sanded each pillar and removed all flaky paint, rough wood, and anything else that needed to be smoothed. This step took the most time, but provided the base from which the repairs could begin.

Step 3: Repair

Wood Filler

My pillars are constructed from seven peices of wood, joined lengthwise. As paint weathered over time, these joints began to separate; in some places joints were 1mm apart. I used Elmer's Wood Filler to fill the cracks, then sanded excess surface material using the orbital sander.

My pillars only required one application of wood filler.

RotFix, my rot fixing hero

Prior to my work on this project, I was unaware of RotFix, which is a two part, Epoxy-based product that is designed to waterproof and reinforce wood that has been compromised by rot. And this stuff did the trick; after one application to the rotted bottoms of my pillars, I was able to apply bondo and begin rebuilding the pillar bases.

If you use this product, be sure to place something like a piece of cardboard underneath your work area to catch the runoff, since you will want to be generous and ensure that all rotted areas are amply covered.

Bondo

At the outset of this project, I was at a loss for what type of material to use when rebuilding the rotted-away portions of the pillars. For example, I could have cut the rotted ends off completely, then tried to rebuild using wood, but this approach seemed more problematic, since I would still need to join the two sections of wood, I would still need a tapered finish, etc. After considering our options, my friend, John, recommended using bondo, since it is easy to work with (it can be sanded), it is durable, and it finishes well with the wood.

If you have not worked with bondo, be prepared to apply, sand, repeat. In areas that were really damaged and required many applications of bondo, I had to apply up to 6 or 7 times to ensure that I had a good surface from which to work, and sanding after each application helped me know which areas needed additional buildup or had air pockets that needed to be filled.

In cases where you need multiple applications of bondo, you only need to wait for 20-30 minutes between application and sanding (per the instructions on the can).

Bondo served two functions for my pillars: 1) it built up areas of the pillars that were completely rotted away, and 2) it created a 1/4 inch buffer at the base of each pillar to account for my new, shorter bases. To my delight, the bondo worked marvelously and should serve as a long-term fix to my problem.

The only question that remains is, "Will the bondo separate from the wood over time with the changing of weather?"

Application

Repairs Complete

Step 4: Paint

Once all of the crack filling, bondo applying, and sanding was complete, I was ready to paint - the easy part. In my case I picked up high-quality, outdoor, water-based paint from Lowes. My primary goals were to 1) seal the pillars from direct contact with the weather and 2) to provide them with a nice finish.

Step 5: Installation

After all restoration steps were complete, I was able to place the pillars back where they belonged under the eve. This required a little bit of work to ensure that each pillar was aligned, leveled, and in the correct position on the base and under the house.

I used an air compressor and nail-gun (with finishing nails) to secure the pillars to the eve and base. Alternatively, you could use a hammer and nails, but I did not want to upset the pillars during the installation, and the nail-gun did the trick.

Once the pillars were installed, I caulked around the pillar-to-cap and pillar-to-base joints to ensure they were sealed and then painted the joints to complete the installation.

Done!

I estimate that each pillar took 2-3 hours to restore. Aside from borrowed tools, which saved me $$, my total materials costs were as follows:

• RotFix: 1 package, $40.00
• Bondo: 1 gallon, $25.00
• Wood Filler: 1 container, $11.00
• Paint: 1 gallon, $35.00
• Sanding Pads: 1 package of ~15, $10.00
• Miscellaneous: ~$40.00

Grand total: ~$161.00 (a lot less than ~$2,000 for new pillars and the lot!)