"Lee" wrote in message
. ..
Another non-DIY question. The house I'm getting ready to sell has a
wrought iron railing on the porch steps - about 3 steps worth from the
sidewalk to the cement porch. Sometime last yr the end upright piece broke
(square hollow piece, not one of the twisty spindle things). The two ends
still "touch" but it's apparently broken through.

Obviously I'm going to need to repair it before showing the house, so that
it doesn't scream deferred maintenance. And it's not something I can do
myself, so I'll end up calling one of those 1-800-handyman places.

So here (finally) is the question: several people have told me that "they"
sell some sort of insert that goes inside the hollow upright to hold it
together, like a stent. Any idea where I'd find that, or what it's called?
I'd like to get one ahead of time. The problem I ran into the last time I
called the 800-handyman type place was that, although he did a good job,
he charged by the hr, with a 2 hr minimum, and part of that time was
involved buying supplies. So I'm figuring if I already have the pieces he
might need I can save a little $. Or am I better off having a new railing
ready just in case? And if so, do they have them at HD etc, and how would
I know what to buy? (ie, do I look for a certain size or incline?)

Thanks.


Are you trying to save a little money because it's generally good to try
whenever possible? Or, are your finances so awful right now that you have
no choice but to do this repair the cheap way?

I agree with Smitty: You're pushing your luck trying to do this in any way
but the best way. Replace the thing.

I live in a city of about 200,000 people, and if I look for "Metal" in the
yellow pages, there are several pages of listings. Rather than call all of
them, I'd call a mason to get the name of a metal shop than makes and/or
repairs wrought iron fences. The mason works on porches, so he should have a
name or two to give you.