Porch Columns 2

Porch columns add a touch of the past to a home. If you look at the plantation houses of old, you will see that they all had columns on the front porches. You can have these columns to stand alone or you can make them part of the railing along the porch. There are many designs to choose from and you can have them made from either wood or metal - whichever compliments the exterior of your home.

The styles of columns for porches are:
• Doric
• Ionic
• Corinthian
• Egyptian
• Romanesque

The Doric and Ionic columns come from the style of ancient Greece. Doric columns are smooth with a rounded top and fluted sides. They do not have a separate base. The Ionic columns have scrolled ornaments at the top and are more decorative. These columns do have a separate, rounded base.

The Corinthian columns also come from Greece, but they do have Egyptian influences added to them. This is evident in the inverted bell you see at the top of each column. The base of these columns is rounded like the Ionic designs. In the true Egyptian design of columns for a porch, the lotus flower is evident. The top of the column tends to be tapered. Romanesque columns are more modern and tend to be square. They do need a large base, often shaped like a trapezoid, but you can also have them resting on piers.

As you can see, you have many choices in columns when you want to make this addition to your porch. You can decorate them for the seasons of the year, with lights, wreaths and flowers, which only adds to the appeal of your home.

The whole idea of columns is to provide support for the roof of the house that extends over the porch. Some people choose to have brick columns when they have brick on the exterior of the home. Whether you choose wood, brick or metal, you can expect to have to do regular maintenance on the columns, just as you do on the rest of the house.