Parts of a Porch – Roof, Columns, Railing and Skirt

All 15 parts on the diagram

Show the list

Start here: 7 main parts 7

Roof The porch has a roof of its own, below the house roof.
Column (post) Columns stand on the floor and hold up the beam and roof.
Steps Wood steps have treads to stand on and risers between them.
Floor (deck) Its boards slope a little away from the house to shed water.
Baluster One of a row of small uprights between the two rails.
Top rail (handrail) The bar along the top of the railing.
Beam Spans from column to column and carries the roof.

From the front 5

Skirt (apron) Lattice in a frame: it keeps animals out and lets air through.
Frieze The band between the column tops and the roof's edge.
Bracket A decorative piece where a column meets the frieze.
Newel post A post at the top or bottom of a stairway.
Bottom rail It holds the lower ends of the balusters off the floor.

Cut through 3

Rafter Rafters slope down from the house wall and carry the roof.
Ceiling Boards fixed under the roof framing, hiding the rafters.
Pier It goes into the ground and carries the floor and a column.

How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-30; a name is kept only where two of these use it. (1) US National Park Service, Preservation Brief 45, Preserving Historic Wood Porches, https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1739/upload/preservation-brief-45-wood-porches.pdf : its drawing The Anatomy of a Porch (pier, fascia, floor or deck, column, the architrave, frieze and cornice of the entablature, newel, top rail, balusters and bottom rail of the balustrade, girder, ledger, joist, beams that span from column to column, plate, rafter) and its repair sections (the apron, skirt or latticework keeps animals out from under the porch while allowing air to circulate; the floor slopes away from the house; steps; ceiling boards; brackets). (2) Crisp and Mahoney, On the Porch, https://archive.org/details/onporchcreatingy0000cris , read as passages through the Internet Archive's full-text search: porch roof, column, newel post (a post at the top or bottom of a stairway), balustrade (the combination of a handrail and a baluster, and the optional bottom rail), baluster, bottom rail, step riser and tread, porch skirt, piers, frieze, column brackets, ceiling, beam. (3) Building Porches and Patios, https://archive.org/details/buildingporchesp0000unse , read the same way: the basic parts of a porch include the roof, the posts and beams, the floor; the railing's posts, top and bottom rails and balusters (sometimes called spindles); porch ceiling; steps. (4) Wikipedia, Porch: columns, deck, railing, balusters. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A porch is a roof on columns over a raised floor at the door of a house. These are the names a carpenter or a parts list uses for it, from the roof down to the piers.

Read the full guide

From the front

Columns stand on the floor and hold up the roof. The frieze is the flat band under the roof's edge, and a bracket may trim each column top. The railing between columns is a balustrade: a top rail, a row of balusters and a bottom rail. The skirt, or apron, screens the space under the floor, and a newel post stands at the foot of the steps.

Cut through

Rafters slope down from the house wall and carry the roof. The ceiling hides them from below. A beam runs from column to column under the rafters, and a pier under the floor goes into the ground.

A skirt of lattice keeps animals out from under the porch and still lets air move through.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a porch called?

From the top: roof, frieze, brackets, columns, the railing with its top rail, balusters and bottom rail, the floor, the skirt under it, the steps and their newel posts. Inside the roof are rafters, a beam and the ceiling; piers carry the floor.

What are the parts of a porch roof?

Rafters carry the roof covering. They rest on a beam that spans from column to column. The ceiling is fixed below them, and the frieze is the band on the outside, under the roof's edge.

What is the railing on a porch called?

A balustrade. It is made of a top rail, also called the handrail, a row of small uprights called balusters or spindles, and usually a bottom rail.

What is the lattice under a porch called?

The skirt or apron. It is usually a wood frame round lattice or sawn boards, and it keeps animals out from under the porch while air still moves through.