On Aug 27, 7:03*pm, "Charlie" wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message

...

I'm getting ready to replace the columns & railings on my front
porch. *The originals are wood, 16 years old, and beginning to come
apart at the finger joints, etc. *For a maintenance-free solution I
like the vinyl-over-pipe columns such as the HB&G PermaPost units, but
they have a bit of a sterile look to them (for lack of a better word)
and, I don't see any good way to attach a flag pole bracket. *I could
drill through into the pipe, but it seems there would be some risk of
goobering up the column trying to drill blind into a round pipe
without being able to center punch it first.

So, I'm wondering about low- or no-maintenance solutions that are of
some other sort of composite material, resin-wood combination, or the
like, but am not having much luck searching the Net. *Any advice or
experience here would be greatly appreciated!

What I might try is *temporarily securing the bracket to the column with
tape or baling wire or whatever and then using the holes in the bracket as
the drilling guide.

Charlie

Thanks Charlie, but locating the holes on the outside of the column
isn't really the problem. The concern is that I'd be drilling into a
round pipe in the middle of the column (after penetrating ~1" of
foam). Drilling a hole in a round pipe without starting with a punch
is hard enough when you can *see* the hole location, let alone when
you can't. Another concern is that tightening the screws down
(assuming the holes got drilled correctly) would distort and stress
the vinyl skin, and eventually cause it to crack.

Mike