To me they are not top heavy, they are distinctive. I like it a lot!

I think it looks good. Besides now you can put things up there (pot of flowers, pumpkins...)

Pretty house!

I think they do match the other posts, and the top balances the bottom of the individual post. When I was just looking at the first two pics, I thought that it was top heavy, but when I see it in context with the rest of the porch and how the other posts are, I think it looks just right.

I would give yourself a few days, or even a few weeks to get used to it, and then consider if you want to have it changed.

Yeah, they are a bit heavy, but they work with your lovely house overall. I think if the hand rails were beefier, the end posts would tie in better. But if you don't want to/can't make that change, the end posts are fine just the same. They're very welcoming and homey.

Maybe just a tad, but not enough to change it. It does go with the other columns and your house is so pretty, I would never have given it a thought if you hadn't mentioned it. Are you the type to obsess over details? I only ask because I am that way, but I usually get over it and let it go.

Another thing is that sometimes the camera plays tricks with proportion. In the photo the top cap looks larger than the bottom on the column. Are they the same size?

Another thought I had. Would it be possible to add some more trim to the bottom of the column to make it larger in contrast to the top? I can't tell if you have room to do that but it would be a very easy fix.

Those tops are far too big for the railing IMO - it would drive me crazy. Maybe they look bigger because they're flat on top?

I really like them. Like said above they'll be great for flower pots, pumpkins and any other holiday decor.
Take a picture of your home from the street where the whole house shows. I'm betting you'll see they aren't as big as they seem up close. Live with them for a week and I'll bet you'll not notice them at all.

Yes, they do look heavy, or a bit out of proportion. A beefier handrail would have carried them better. If you are wanting something more 'graceful,' as you describe, then go for it. If he was ad libbing the design, he really should have checked with you first to see what you like.

Curious how high the risers are. They look quite low. There are standard dimensions for steps, due to tripping hazards. I believe it's code around here.

That aside, what a very beautiful home!!

The large square cap that is there doesn't bother me. It is the 2 X 4 underneath the cap that seems to make them so boxy looking.
We made the steps a little wider when we rebuilt them so that the end post rests on the step and not on the brick. So that post is now shorter and then with that 2 x 4 trim underneath it it makes the whole post seem really really top heavy and short to me.
I found a 15 year old picture from the first summer we were in the house. It's not the best since it is not digital, but you can see the changes we made and how the top cap was trimmed out.
I'm the type that will obsess about them not being right LOL
Squirrel, I've never thought about the height of those stairs. Now that you mention it, I think they are shallow.

I see the step height is just the same though. It looks like you changed the brick at the landing? I just love it. Do you know what type you used?

You may have to wait a bit, but I'd have him change those out. For all we pay for these things, it's not that much to ask, I don't think.

chloe you hit it dead on - I was about to say it's not the top cap but the box beneath. It's the wrong proportion and you can see that in comparison with the other posts on your porch. Have him shorten them up - if you can get him back. But overall it looks wonderful!

BTW - we purposely built our fron steps with a shallow rise - it's easier for the elderly. Nothing against code in that. As long as the rise is consistent from step to step and the treads are proper depth, it makes for an easy climb.

I don't have a problem with the posts or the caps, as they seem in proportion to the others on the porch. My issues are that the railing seems skinny (but also appears to match the existing porch railing) and the bigger issue, that the posts should have been at the side or front of the bottom step, not sitting on it.

What a pretty house! I think the posts look a bit top-heavy, but I probably wouldn't have noticed it had it not been pointed out. Compared to the previous tops, I do prefer them angled in with the detail, and if that's what you prefer then I think he should redo them.

I think a taper is needed. Here's a shorter version and then a staggered version (just straight, not curved like the originals). The top piece still feels a bit too wide to me. I think I'd lessen the amount it overhangs as well. Hope some visuals help.

{{!gwi}}

Squirrel , we did go back with the same number of stairs.
I have gotten so used to them I don't even notice that they are shallow.
Did you mean what kind of bricks?
They are used bricks from a warehouse in Kansas City.
They say Vicksburg VP&B Brick Co.

Dim, I thought that if he split the top 2x4 in half it might help. If he splits the bottom one we would have to replace the second tread since he has notched it.
Les, we had it that way originally and it was a real problem with the bottom of the post rotting out because of the sprinklers. We purposely changed it to a wider step and that may also be part of what looks funny to me, having the post sitting on the first step rather than on the brick makes the post so short.

It seems that most of you ,Graywings, Amylville, Barb, artlover and justgotabme don't mind them the way they are.
AntiqueSilver, you don't like them at all.LOL I'm kind of in your camp, but I can't start all over at this point.
I'm hoping some small modifications will help.
Thanks everyone for your input

Squirrel, I was so slow getting that other response up, I didn't see your visuals.
Thanks so much! I was going to hit my husband up to draw some for me when he got home. He used to work as a architectural draftsman (many years ago LOL) when he was in college. Now he won't have to.
I had thought about cutting that 2 x 4 down and my husband had thought about the staggered verson. Now that I see them I think the staggered verson looks the best.
I wonder what it would look like with no trim under the cap.

chloe here's a link to a bunch of porch railings and newels - not one of them has an expanded base - maybe that's part of what makes the proportion look off.

Here is a link that might be useful: Porch newels and railings

I think if you made the carpenter trim the top of the posts the way they were done originally, it would make all the difference. Your lovely house & lawn should draw the eye - not the out-of-scale newells. Another reason the new posts look heavy is because the posts' large bases are more exposed whereas previously, their size was incorporated with the bottom step. I completely understand that you can't change the bottoms but if you retrim the top, it should make them appear more graceful.

That's very true about the bases accentuating and disrupting the flow, dlm. I think when I've seen a broader base element, it usually starts higher, maybe 2/3. There are so many variations out there, though. Whatever looks good works! as far as aesthetics go. The newel posts do appear a bit short, though, probably in part because the rise is so shallow.

You have a very charming house......I didn't really notice until you posted the older picture - I prefer the older picture of the post. But your impatiens & caladiums are so pretty as well as your brick walkway.

Smiles:)

I did a virtual too by adding more trim (on the left post) I think the bigger boxed area looks more like it fits instead of just busting out from the post below it. I really didn't notice how big it looked until I saw your before.
{{!gwi}}

Why not build a brick base at the bottom step for the posts to sit on? That would eliminate the rotting issue, I would think.

I like the staggered/stepped one that SH did, but I like justgotabeme's molding solution just as much and it's easier, so my vote is for adding the half round/beaded molding. Wonder how that would look on the columns as well?

Your original instinct is right, I think, and although the easier fixes would help, I don't think you are going to be satisfied until the trim at the top is changed. Newel posts should follow the same kind of proportional guidelines that govern columns, with a heavier base than top. The original design looks correct to me, and I think you should have him come back and change it, even if you have to pay a little more to have him do it. If you weren't absolutely specific about what you wanted at the beginning, you might have to pay him...if he didn't do what you asked him to do, he should redo it as part of the original agreement.

Now...as to the treads and risers, I'm sorry to throw a spanner in the works, BUT no other construction detail is more related to safety than the design of stairs.
There is a specific relationship between treads and risers that should be followed. Those measurements relate to ergonomics - the way we walk naturally up and down a flight of stairs. A shallower riser like yours requires a wider tread, so that the two measurements always add up to between 17 and 19 inches. The closer the two are to being equal, the lower the total can be...for example, a riser at 8" can stand a tread of 9" (although a big-footed guy will likely have trouble with it...), and a riser of 6" requires a tread of at least 13" - 13-1/2" is better. Most local building codes reflect those standards.

The trouble I see with your stairs is twofold...first, it looks as though your treads may not be deep enough for the shallow risers. But the second is more troublesome, and that is that the last riser is not the same height as all the rest. When we go up stairs, we automatically assume that all the risers and treads will be equal, and our natural stride conforms to the first one. If any of them is different, it creates a tripping hazard on the way up, and a falling hazard or a danger to our backs on the way down, when our foot doesn't meet the next level when we expect it to.

Did your guy pull a permit for the stairs, or were you grandfathered to rebuild the stairs as they were?

jgbme, it's amazing how the trim improves the end posts. It reduces the boxiness and really dresses them up. Nice job!

Very Charming! I love the whole look of the entryway... you can never have too much molding :) I'd probably add the extra pieces to really finish it off. Got any more house pics?

Juddgirl,I also prefer them done the old way.
Dim, thanks for the link to those posts. I wish I could go back and start all over.
Antique silver, I agree. The way it originally was is better.
ScoobyRuby, my Caladiums are kind of puny this year. Last year they were huge and cascaded over those little boxwoods and at the end of the season I had a lot of dead boxwood leaves because of the caladiums covering them. So this year I planted fewer and I think I ended up with not enough. Maybe next year I'll get it just right.
JGBM thanks for the virtuals. My husband did cut some trim and we put it up there . It still felt kind of heavy to me, but if we can't get him to remove those 2 x 4's then adding the trim underneath to soften it might work.
Les, I wish we could but we don't have any brick that would match.It is used brick.
ajsmama, yes, if all else fails , my husband could add that corner round.
Browynsmom, my understanding was he was to go back and do them exactly like they were. He says we discussed that he would use that 2 x 4 so it would match the top of the column. I told him if we had that discussion I don't remember it. I will call him again today.
As for the stairs, they were built that way on new construction. Boy you have a good eye to notice that the bottom stair was taller than the rest. I went out and measured. The bottom stair is 7 1/2 high. the rest are 4 3/4. I now wonder if the architect drew them that way or if the builder changed them.
I don't think this guy got a permit. I think he assumed that he could replace them without needing a permit.
Amw, the extra trim does help but I'm first going to try and get him to remove it.
He was supposed to give us a bid on replacing the porch floor so I though it would be easy to get him to change them. I guess I was wrong LOL.
Thanks everyone.
It's never simple is it?

Actually, I wasn't suggesting a staggered trim, just how a taper helped with the current proportions. I would do a standard and traditional configuration of trim pieces, similar to the original. The original looks a bit off to me, also, but the photo might be a little distorted. The uppermost piece of the current but tapered version still feels too wide to me. The original piece looks too big also, imo. I'd research photos of newel posts and find something you love for the top. Then draw it out to scale to provide construction drawings and dimensions for your carpenter.

Here you can see how eliminating the bottom piece elongates the posts. They no longer follow the bases of the other posts of the porch, but maybe B-mom can weigh in on whether that would not work, overall, irl. I'm thinking that I would prefer it elongated, and those posts are set off from the rest and individualized already. It flows better and is more graceful and proportioned, imo. I don't think they need to be based on the brick. Setting them above is a common configuration, so doesn't look odd to me.

Squirrelheaven's solution would work, but I think perhaps a bit of trim at the base would be good...I would suggest that the base box be made from material that is both thinner and wider that what's there now.
The existing base trim looks like 2X6 material to me...I think that boxing the base with 1X12 would correct the proportion there...taller, and slimmer. Then I'd pull the top trim off and replace it with a top plate (smaller) and moldings that match what was there before.

I'm thinking now that your guy probably used the existing stringers to rebuild? Or patterned the new ones on the existing ones? Which is how you would have arrived at the same stair proportions...? (For non-stair-obsessives, the stringers are the zig-zag pieces up the sides that hold the treads and risers...)

squirrel, you are a genius. Those end posts look fabulous. What an eye for detail you have.

If we remove those bases the second tread would need to be replaced because he notched it to fit the base.
He patterned the new stringer on the existing one. I guess we never realized that the steps were odd and so we told him to build them the way they were , only wider so that the posts would rest on the first step. The end posts were set in concrete and so those were reused and he added new trim. That was another reason to leave them the way they were.

To pull those posts up I think would have torn up the brick.

That cap is 11 1/2 inch square. The square of trim under it is 9 1/2 and the post with trim is 6 1/2 inches.
the wood that he used to build the trim measures 1 1/2 X 5 1/2 so you're right, it is 2 x 6.

What was there before was crown molding, I think 3 1/2".

Squirrel I think it looks better without that bottom piece too.
I live in the part of the country where this style porch and steps is very unusual so it has been like pulling teeth to get them to do what I want. They just don't seem to get it. I know back east this sort of thing is more common and the construction people really know what they are doing.

ok, here are changes to the base trim. I did have to adjust the center detail for the taller base, which seems about 12" high to me.

Is this a phone camera? The pixels seem to be interfering with cutting curves for the cap detailing ¡size>

{{!gwi}}

awwwww, mmmmm xo!

Squirrel, thanks for doing all of these.

I took these pictures with a Cannon G9.

I like the first one you did a lot. Did you change the size of the cap?
It looks like you kept the thickness of the 2 x 6 and just made in narrower . Is that right?
I don't care for the second one at all.

I think squirrelheaven is right on the money, given your constraints, and I agree with you, chloe, in spite of what I said before, that the first is better for you. So I can shut up now!

Oops, you're right. I had been playing with a smaller top piece on the cap. So this one is smaller than the existing one. The box beneath was also made a bit narrower

I think the posts are both quite lovely. The cap is still just staggered, for the effect of tapered trimming.

Here are the offsets. The little piece at the top is the corner of the above virtual. You can see the actual beneath. Just below the actual but before the red box is the actual box size. The red box shows what was lopped off of the width of that box. Looks like it might be taken in 3/4" to 1" on each side, with the box below being 1/2" to 3/4" narrower than it is currently.

{{!gwi}}

chloe I'm guessing by the Caladiums that you are in the south and don't have to worry about snow and ice. But if you do have true winter weather, that's another reason to do without the bottom trim - it's a catchall for water, ice, snow and with freeze/thaw will be the first part of the system to rot.

squirrel you are a marvel. I tell ya, I would not contemplate purchasing a house or remoding an existing one without your input about 'what could be'.

Thanks, dlm : ) I don't know how people make some of these decisions without visuals.

Chloe, double-oops, the left post has a smaller cap -- the right post does not. I'd just replace that one tread that was notched. I wouldn't think it would be that big a deal, other than that he probably won't be thrilled with changing things, generally. Hope he didn't use glue in his work. I would think that would be harder to deconstruct without damage.

Dim, I live in the mid south. We do get snow and ice from time to time, but it doesn't stay around all winter like it does up north.
Squirrel, I wish I had posted before we rebuilt these stairs. I like the no trim at the bottom and then the short trim at the bottom, both with staggered trim at the top. That bottom tread has squares cut to fit over the post that goes down to the brick, so I suspect that he probably would have to do a small amount of trim to cover up a less than perfect cut. I don't think he used any glue other than I saw him use something from a caulking gun to attach the cap.
Browynsmom, appreciate your input about the stairs.
I mentioned it to my husband and he was familiar with the rules for stair treads from his college days when he drew for a architect. I just had one question for him LOL. Why did he let the builder get away with building them like that and why didn't we correct them when we rebuilt? Men!!!

Here's the other view. Note where the center detail ends with regards to with or without the base trim. The caps are trimmed back in these shots, as is the base trim.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I can't believe how much better that looks than what I have. I guess I should have thought it through better before we started.
Now I just need to talk my husband into spending even more money on those stairs.LOL

I can't believe how much better that looks than what I have. I guess I should have thought it through better before we started.
Now I just need to talk my husband into spending even more money on those stairs.LOL