Solid wood Spindles and Rail from Western Spindle will:
- Increase your home's value (often by 30%)
- Create exceptional curb appeal, making your house stand out in the neighborhood
- Provide a satisfying outdoor experience on the front of your home
- Give a return on your investment that will make your stockbroker envious
Click ONLINE STORE to purchase our stock items. EMAIL or call (888) 459-9965 to place a custom order.
What size of spindles and railing should I use? How many will I need?
Example: You need a 36" top rail height to meet building codes. A typical setup would be to use a 4" toe space, 2x6 top and bottom rail (which add a total of 3" to the height), and a 3 1/2 inch skirting under the bottom rail (simply a 2x4 turned on edge). This gives 10 1/2 inches of height so all you have to do is subtract 10 1/2" from the desired top rail height to get the required spindle length. 36" minus 10 1/2" = 25 1/2". If you used a 26" spindle you would meet the building codes with a half inch to spare. This is a very attractive and practical setup, which makes our 4x26" Douglas Fir Porch Spindle our best seller.
Spindle Spacing
As explained in "Building Codes" below, the spacing you use between your spindles will determine the number you need to order. Using 4" spindles, the most common spacing is every 6" on center. In other words, from the center of one spindle to the center of the next is 6". This means you will need two spindles for every foot of railing.
Building Codes
The first step in finding the size and quantity of components is to research your local building codes to find if there will be any restrictions. This is much easier than it sounds. The most common building codes affecting the railing system of your porch will be height and spindle spacing requirements. If you are using a contractor, he should know or be able to find out about any applicable codes. Otherwise you will need to contact your local authorities. Below are some links that might be of some help.
Commonly, municipalities will require:
- A minimum of a 36” top rail height (measured from the floor of the porch to the top of the top rail)
- A maximum of 4” of space between the spindles at their narrowest portion. With a 4x4 spindle, this means they will need to be spaced at 6” on center, or two for every one foot of railing. For example, if you have an eight foot space to fill, you would need to order 16 spindles.
Many applications will not have to meet the building code requirements.
- In some instances such as a registered historical property, you may be “grandfathered in" and can remodel to the original specification.
- Inaccessible areas: Spaces that are not normally accessible, such as a dormer window, usually do not have to meet the otherwise applicable building codes. Railings in these areas are simply cosmetic and do not have to meet the requirements of usable railing.
I have my own idea for a spindle design style. Can you make it?
Yes. The spindle designs we can make are limited only by your imagination. Send us a picture or a drawing and we can get it close. For an exact duplicate, send an original. Many of the spindles and porches you see on this website were made in such a way. See examples of some of the restorations we have done on our RESTORATIONS page.
How do I care for my millwork when it arrives?
- Always keep in mind that your new millwork is good old fashioned natural wood and needs to be handled accordingly.
- Although we use only "dried" wood, it still contains between 5% and 20% moisture. All woods eventually assume the moisture of the environment in which they are stored. Problems arise when the moisture content changes too quickly. Protect it from very wet or (especially) very dry environments.
- Never store unpainted millwork in direct sunlight, even for a few hours. This will invariably dry the wood rapidly which causes checking (small cracks between the grain). In extreme cases it can cause splitting.
What types of finishes should I use on my new millwork?
- Always use high quality oil-based primers and paints (or stains and top coats as your project may entail) on all surfaces, including ends.
- Do not neglect the ends of your millwork. The end grain gains and loses moisture more readily than the side of the grain and needs to be protected. If you plan on putting a top coat on after the project is put together, then make sure to apply the primer before building.
- Go to your local professional paint store for the best advice and products. These types of places often have more knowledgeable help and higher end products than the big box stores. You will pay a little more than you would at the big home improvement centers but a little extra investment up front will pay off in the decades to come.
What type of hardware should I use when I build?
We recommend using only high quality, exterior grade stainless steel hardware for your porch. These products will resist rust, corrosion, staining, discoloration, and bleeding. You’ve invested the time, money, and energy in seeking the absolute best solid wood products from Western Spindle; don’t skimp in the building phase and jeopardize that beautiful porch!
Save a trip to the hardware store! Click Stainless Steel Porch Hardware to purchase from our online store. Buy your hardware with the rest of your porch products and save on shipping.
Architectural Styles
Victorian
Primary period of home building: 1840 to 1910
Victorian, as it refers to a style of home, is a broad term encompassing many different building styles and building methods. Generally speaking, a Victorian home is one with an irregular floor plan, a prominent porch, towering spires, and intricate woodwork. Gothic Revival, Second Empire, Queen Anne, and Gingerbread (among others) are really substyles under the Victorian umbrella.
The term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of architectural styles predominantly employed during the Victorian era. As with the latter, the period of building that it covers may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria after whom it is named.
In the USA, Highly decorated houses are sometimes called gingerbread houses.
Notable Victorian era cities include London, Boston, Richmond, Charleston, Saint Paul, St. Louis, Louisville, Galveston, San Francisco, Glasgow, Melbourne, Manchester, Mumbai, Pittsburgh and New Orleans.
In the USA, The South End of Boston is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places as the oldest and largest Victorian neighborhood in the country. Old Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky also claims to be the nation's largest Victorian neighborhood.
Richmond, Virginia is home to several large Victorian neighborhoods, the most prominent being The Fan and Church Hill. Church Hill has the distinction of being the place where Patrick Henry gave his famous Give me liberty or give me death speech at historic Saint John's church. The Fan is best known locally as Richmond's largest and most 'European' of Richmond's neighborhoods and nationally as the largest contiguous Victorian neighborhood in the United States. The Distillery District in Toronto contains the largest and best preserved collection of Victorian-era industrial architecture in North America.
Although the general public often incorrectly refers to a Victorian era house as a Victorian "style" house, Victorian era refers to a time period and not to a style. Although architectural historians generally agree that there are about eight primary architectural styles prominent in the United States and Canada during the Victorian era, Victorian-era residential architecture in the United States and Canada was a procession of styles borrowed from every country and every era in history.
Victorian-era homes can be one, two, or three stories high, with the homes in Eastern US cities tending to be three stories and homes in Western US cities more typically two-story homes or one-story cottages. In some regions of the US, Victorian-era homes may have an octagonal or rounded tower and a wraparound porch. Multi-colored Victorian era houses are often known as Painted Ladies.
Quoted in part from: Victorian architecture, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Victorian_architecture&oldid=221923714
Colonial
Primary period of home building: Up to 1830
American colonial architecture, also called Colonial Georgian, characterizes the style of domestic architecture, church buildings and some institutional and government buildings that were built in America from the earliest colonies until the Neoclassical architectural style locally called "Federal" replaced in for high-style buildings in the 1780s.
The defining characteristics of Georgian architecture are its square, symmetrical shape, central door, and straight lines of windows on the first and second floor. There is usually a decorative crown above the door and flattened columns to either side of it. The door leads to an entryway with stairway and hall aligned along the center of the house. All rooms branch off of these. Georgian buildings, in the English manner were ideally in brick, with wood trim, wooden columns and entablatures painted white. In the US, one found both brick buildings as well as those in wood with clapboards. They were usually painted white, though sometimes a pale yellow. This differentiated them from most other structures that were usually not painted.
A Colonial-style house usually has a formally-defined living room, dining room and sometimes a family room. The bedrooms are typically on the second floor. They also have one or two chimneys that can be very large.
See Wikipedia, American colonial architecture, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_architecture
Queen Anne
Queen Anne refers more to the amount of intricacy a Victorian home possesses than any certain trait. They are often larger houses with complex floorplans and large wrap-around porches. Many have multiple round or octagonal spires with steep roofs. This style is probably the most recognized by the general public as "Victorian".
Queen Anne Style buildings in America came into vogue in the 1880s, replacing the French-derived Second Empire as the "style of the moment." The popularity of high Queen Anne Style waned in the early 1900s, but some elements, such as the wraparound front porch, continued to be found on buildings into the 1920s.
In America, Queen Anne generally refers to an era of style, rather than a specific formulaic style in its own right. Unlike its British counterpart's use of "crisp white trim" (see the example from Lebanon, Illinois), Queen Anne in America eschewed white for bold color resulting in Polychrome paint schemes on exteriors, often referred to as painted ladies, a term that rose in popularity in the 1970s. E. Francis Baldwin's stations for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, built variously of brick and wood, are also familiar examples of the style.
Quoted in part from: Queen Anne Style architecture, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Queen_Anne_Style_architecture&oldid=220745226
Gingerbread
The term "Gingerbread" as an architectural term simply refers to highly decorated Victorian houses. They often incorporate detailed scroll and millwork. They are different from other types of Victorian houses in that intricate woodwork is used in nearly every imaginable application. The result is an almost fairytale-like aura.
Customer Testimonials
Katherine V. of Derby, New York writes: "[The exterior spindles and railing] came yesterday, I absolutely love them. Wanted you to know that and how impressed we are with the quality. We will definitely be using you for our two back porches in the spring! Look forward to working with you again!" 10/7/2008
Increase the value of your biggest asset by 30% in one month. Click ONLINE STORE to purchase our stock items. EMAIL or call toll free (888) 459-9965 to place a custom order.
