Half Columns

Our half columns are designed to be glued flat to a wall surface to simulate a column where none existed. But some customers want to use them to wrap around unsightly poles or other structural elements. This isn't a problem, but does present a few challenges in getting a perfect finish at the seams. Lets take a look at the column half's in their right out of the box condition.

Here we have the popular N1030-2 Capitol that is part of our Polyurethane Half Columns. Pointed out are some of the surface imperfections. While these present no problems for columns that are glued to flat walls, mating these two pieces together will take a little massaging of this area to get a great fit.

Pushed together, you can see the seam that needs to be filled to create the appearance of a single piece.

Here are the tools I used to get this capitol to align better. Some 80 grit sandpaper and a sanding block fashioned from some scrap 2x4. Obviously if you have a orbital sander or air file this could be a little easier to do. The main goal is to get the mating surfaces flat so when they are together there is no seam.

Wrap the sandpaper around the block and commence to sanding. The better we make them match here, the easier the finishing steps are.

Now we have the two halves sanded and ready to be glued together, we can see that the vertical seam is all but gone. This takes a little work to get the half's to this point but is completely obtainable.

The seam on the top (actually the bottom of the capitol) can be sanded if needed. Most of this area will be invisible once the capitol is installed and I recommend holding off on sanding this area flat until you dry fit the capitol in place to see if it needs any adjustments.

The top of the capitol is open but the bottom comes together and has no hole in it. You'll need to cut an opening for your application.

After you have assembled the capitol around the post and the glue has dried, you can use spackle to fill in any areas the need to be mended. After the spackle has dried, sand the surface smooth and you're ready for paint.