How to Put Up Freestanding Columns on a Patio

Patios are a favorite place to entertain guests, enjoy family time or just to sit with a good book and read. With outdoor furnishings, plants and your own personal touches, patios can be one of the most attractive, appealing areas of your home. Decorating and personalizing these favorite hang-out areas are limited only by your budgets and imaginations. One of the more popular decoration accessories is free-standing columns. They can be decorated themselves or used as support columns for roofs that will provide more shade. They are often used to support pergolas.

Instructions

Locate and measure the columns far enough away from the overhang (eaves) of the house to clear it without coming into contact with the house itself. Add at least 8 inches or more to the overhang width measurement, if you want to locate the columns close to, but not up against, the overhang of the house. Drive stakes to mark and locate these distances from the overhang.

Measure off and mark on the patio itself the locations for the other columns. Drive stakes just outside each spot where you plan to erect the columns. Keep the locations aligned by tying construction cord to the stakes. Allow 8 to 12 feet between the columns, depending upon how you plan to situate them.

Be sure to keep the columns properly aligned to the house. Check the alignment to the house by measuring from the overhang to the first column location. Record this distance and mark the other column location nearest the house to match it.

Use post hole diggers to dig the column footings.

Remove the patio paving stones where you plan to install the free-standing columns. Set them aside to be cut and reinstalled once the columns are in place. Rent an auger or post hole digger and dig the holes for the column footings. Dig each hole at least 24 inches deep and 12 inches wide. Haul the dirt taken from the hole away in a wheel barrow

Insert 12-inch piping into the holes. Stand 8-foot 4 by 4s into the piped holes. Pour quick-set concrete around the 4 by 4s to fill the hole. Use a level to make sure the 4 by 4s are straight. Allow the quick-set to harden and firmly set the posts. Saw the 8-foot 4 by 4s to 48-inch heights.

Keep the columns aligned for adding a top later.

Keep the columns aligned and in proportion to the height of the house overhang. Tack a site pole or story pole to the fascia board of the overhang of the house. Use this site pole as the reference point from which to mark and trim the columns. Measure down 12 inches from the top of the fascia board to get the cut-off height of the columns.

Turn the hollow columns upside down and fit them over the 4 by 4. Use a combination square and the measurement taken from the fascia board to mark the columns all the way around for trimming. Pull them off the posts after marking them and saw them to length with a jig saw.

Thicken the 4 by 4s with 1 by 4s nailed to them. Drill three holes into each column at 6 to 8 inches from the bottom and at 28 inches from the bottom. Also drill four evenly spaced holes 1 1/2 inches from the tops and bottoms of the columns. Cap the columns over the posts and screw them to the thickened posts, using your level to make sure they stay level.

Slip the bases over the top of the columns and attach them. Install the capitals into the tops of the columns. Drill 3/4-inch holes into the tops of the columns. Insert 6-inch long, 1/2- inch diameter PVC pipes with 90-degree elbows into the holes to vent the columns.

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