This is it now:

This is the type of gable we're adding:

Farmhouse Renovation · More Info

I think that white rails/posts would be great. I think that you can get them in vinyl which would make maintenance easier. Just be sure to get beefier posts. I have seen many homes where the contractor uses skinny posts....they detract from the look...IMO.

I'd love white rails and posts! I don't like the vinyl, though, and low maintenance is pretty important to the guy who maintains the exterior (DH), so I'm trying hard to like unpainted wood. :/

We had a similar farmhouse vibe for a previous house & used stain instead of paint to cut down on the maintenance. The porch rails were all stained white and the floor was stained gray.

White stain?? I will look into that, thanks!

BTW, Annette, I love those pics, but I don't know that they fit with the style of our house (which you hadn't seen yet). And, grapefruit, we're definitely beefing up the posts!

Don't use wood. Use something like Azek.

tibbrix, we're looking into composite decking, but is there such a thing as composite posts and rails? They would be nice if not budget busting. The posts and rails I've seen with composite decking have been wood covered with vinyl sleeves, which I don't love. Maybe I was looking at cheap brands?

Yes, there is. My father got them for the front porch of his beach house. They look great. As far as budget busting goes, you have to figure in maintenance costs, like painting, rotting/replacing...I know that painting my front porch railing and posts, let alone replacing them, is definitely not a maintenance project I ever want to do, so I would definitely go with composite materials for something like that. (I have to re-side and trim my house. I'll definitely go with Azec for the trim. Looking at fiber cement for the siding now. I"d prefer cedar shakes, but I just really, really, really do not want to have to clean and retain and replace them every 4 - 5 years). I then try to find other areas where I can save the money doing that to justify the extra expense for the composite material. I mow my own lawn, 1.5 acres, for example. I wash my own windows. That kind of thing.

An example:

http://www.architecturaldepot.com/PP5X102.html?gclid=CNXNla3PgM8CFcsehgodS7QEwg&ppcsclkid=cMGI5r3qifKo&ppcstrkid=1115274693&ppcsu=xhg7f5djqtopedhcra

Thank you, tibbrix! My searches were just returning vinyl sleeves. Now I have a good starting point.

BTW, this is the back of our house, where I really do like the cedar-clad posts, but somehow I'm not sure if that feel would translate well to the front. (Not particularly farmhouse in style.) Opinions?

For the railings we used a composite called TimberTech. Almost identical to Azek but less $$. We cut down the 36" spindles before assembling. We liked our old rail height of 32" so we went with that again. We love the new porch! And no more painting!!

We replaced vinyl siding a few years ago with fiber cement and love its no maintenance quality too!

It's beautiful and inviting, prairiemom. Thanks for the visual!

I went back and looked at your current front porch and the unfinished wood just seems to disappear. The white composite would really make the whole front show beautifully.

You're welcome, and good luck!!

fouram - One of my favorite kitchens and back yard timberframes :)

Yes, while I love your timberframe, I agree that the style is not optimal with the front, but I bet a good architect (which you have, no?) could make it work.

Here's the front wood very poorly whitewashed with the gable you show. I think grapefruit1 nailed it, with her comment on beefier posts. Lots of trimwork going on here, too.

And hey, are those solar panels? You go girl!

If you want a painted look, look at azek for low maintenance. Our whole house exterior is vinyl and azek. It's not cheap, but it needs no maintenance at all.

The posts could be wrapped in white aluminum, which is very low maintenance. You'll need to find someone good with aluminum bending, is all (gutter, siding, or window guys are good options to pursue.) I agree with going with beefier posts when you redo. Love the mockup. It's going to look great!

oldbat2be, thanks for the compliments and the photoshopping! My architect might make timberframe style work in the front, but it is a bit of a stretch! While there will be a bump out on the front (16' section will be 4' deeper than the rest of the overhang), I don't think it's enough to carry off the timberframe look. It's hard to tell from the pic, but there's plenty of vertical space to give the gable a good pitch without interfering with the windows. When we replace the windows in a few years we'll give them substantial trim, but still no shutters. And, yes, we've got a nice solar system, and the power company now pays us, instead of the reverse! :)

Annie, I just love your house. The exterior has architectural interest without looking confused. Just lovely. And no maintenance: that's the holy grail!!

laughable, I didn't know you could get a freelance aluminum wrapper, interesting! However...

DH seems reconciled to a little exterior work. While not willing to spend so much on Azec as to go whole hog, he's thinking about a hybrid approach, which is what we did on the back of the house. So probably Azec wrapped beefy posts, composite decking, and then painted railings and spindles. At least all the painting will be at a nice height that way.

Pressure treated wood does not hold primer and paint well. That's why we had to repaint all of our railings every two years.

The TimberTech looks like painted wood, not plastic. I'll try to find our invoices so you can compare costs vs painting and repainting.

I can't find the invoice right now but each pine turned 6" post was $128. Each 8' section of TimberTech railing was about $200. We used cedar posts for the bottom stair newel posts. Including labor the whole redo was less than $7k. No more painting. In fact, painting the rails would negate the 25 year warranty.

This is very helpful info, prairiemom, thanks so much!