Five Ways to Make this Summer's Porch or Deck Makeover a Success

Penn Fencing Announces Five Tried and True Ways to Make this Summer's Porch or Deck Makeover a Success

For those who are considering a makeover for porch or deck this summer, there is a set of little known vinyl post, floor and railing makeover products that can make a porch look like new and improve the architectural detail without a major structural renovation. Chad Galbreath of Penn Fencing Inc. explains how vinyl post wraps, vinyl cladding, vinyl post sleeves, OnDeck™ and vinyl railing kits can improve homes at a substantial savings.

(PRWEB) June 19, 2008 -- For those who are considering a makeover for porch or deck this summer, there is a set of little known vinyl porch renovation products that can make a porch look like new and improve the architectural detail without a major structural renovation. Even if an old wooden porch or deck is structurally sound, the posts may have vertical stress fractures, chips or weather discoloration that cannot simply be painted or stained. Chad Galbreath, President of Penn Fencing, Inc., which has been selling and installing vinyl products for over 30 years, suggests "rather than replacing everything, it is faster, easier and cheaper to simply cover the weathered areas with vinyl, replace the railings and finish the railing posts with stylish post caps".

Major issues like rotting lumber may or may not mean replacing the entire porch or deck. Consider having the existing structure checked by an independent home inspector before investing in complete replacement. According to Galbreath, "inspection may reveal that only a few bad spots must be repaired to make the existing porch or deck safe and secure". Once any damaged components are replaced, remove the old wooden railing and pickets, cover porch support posts with vinyl post wraps to hide the repaired, fractured or weathered areas and install new matching vinyl railings and pickets. Vinyl covering is not a replacement for support posts, so make sure that supports are sound before covering them.

There are five vinyl makeover products which are easy to install and maintenance free:

1.  Vinyl Post Wraps: Post Wraps are relatively inexpensive vinyl material designed to cover 4 X 4 inch porch posts where the porch has an existing roof. By simply wrapping the existing support beams rather than replacing them, there is no need to remove the roof support posts which would also normally require installing a temporary roof support during construction.

2. Vinyl Cladding: Cladding is thicker and more substantial than vinyl post wrap but also a little more costly. It is designed to cover 4 X 4 inch, 6 X 6 inch or 8 X 8 inch posts while keeping the major porch or deck structure in place. Like vinyl post wraps, cladding saves money because there is no need to buy new lumber or dispose of any old treated lumber as with a full porch or deck replacement.

3.  Vinyl Post Sleeves: Post Sleeves are designed to slide over new posts prior to installation. To build a new porch or create a new addition to an existing porch or deck, use vinyl post sleeves for the new posts and then vinyl post wraps or vinyl post cladding to cover old sections of the existing porch or deck to match. The whole project will look completely unified and new.

4. OnDeck™ vinyl deck board cover is designed to install over existing sound wood deck boards, concrete decks, docks and patios. Over time, deck boards can begin to look shabby no matter how many treatments are applied. The OnDeck™ covers eliminate splinters and they never need painted or stained. Homeowners can expect to install OnDeck™ for about 20% of the cost of replacing the boards.

5. Vinyl Railing Kits: There are many matching styles of vinyl railings, pickets and rail posts available to give a porch or deck project a new style and professional look. Railing kits consist of the hand rail, pickets and hardware to mount the railing. Additional rail posts may also be needed to attach the end of the hand rail where there are no existing porch columns like at the bottom of a stair case. Vinyl post caps fit on top of each railing post to give the post a finished look. The caps come in interesting styles and can even come as solar post cap lights.

All of these products are maintenance free so they eliminate bi-annual painting or staining projects making these five makeover products a great value now and in the future. A full selection of vinyl post wraps, vinyl cladding, vinyl post sleeves, OnDeck™ and vinyl railing kits can be found on the Penn Fencing Web site by clicking the links above or visit www.pennfence.com.