Question: Our home, built in 1993, has four wooden columns leading up to aportico.
In having them painted we found that wood in at least two of the columns is rotted. We do not know whether the columns support the portico but assume that they do.
How can this be repaired?
Answer: Sometimes columns like yours are just wrapping around a post that's doing the real lifting, said Christian Kelleher, owner of the Craftsmen Group, a company that specializes in historical restoration projects.
In that case, the critical issue would be whether the post is intact or also decayed. The best way to determine that would be to snake a borescope – a device that has a tube with a lens that's linked to a camera – into an opening in a column base.
If there is a post and it is intact, your problem is mostly cosmetic. Using a two-part epoxy resin, a repairman could stiffen the rotted wood and fill any gaps. Injecting the wood first with a borate preservative will help prevent more rot.
Many painters have experience with epoxy consolidants, however, so you might ask the painters who are working on your house to do this. But first determine whether there are intact posts hidden inside. Home inspectors and pest-control companies often have borescopes, which are also used to inspect for termite damage and other hidden issues.
If there is no intact post at the centre of each column, epoxy isn't enough to solve the problem.