![]() Wood railings are the traditional choice for wood decks. You may need to visit a variety of stores and do some research online to see what is available to you. You can even find decorative balusters, if that suits your fancy. The components of wood railings are usually readily available. The subsequent eight foot fall was not ameliorated by this point of view. The code inspector decided he could exclude the deck from code compliance because it was "free-standing" and not attached to the structure. Having local permission from someone who was un-trained or inattentive did not prevent an injury nor its consequences. Everything was fine until there was an injury. The owner did not want to obstruct the view, and the local building official approved this non-compliant structure. Watch out: I inspected a property with a high deck and no railings whatsoever. But in all cases the design/build project must comply with building codes about guardrail and handrail location, placement, and strength. Then you need to consider how your building code will limit your choices.Įven where code issues are not relevant, it is still necessary to view with great caution any trade-offs between safety and aesthetics.Ī railing on a low deck that is not likely to be used by children might call for a very different design choice than one on a high deck that is attached to a house where there are young children. One decision you must make in planning for railings is what material or materials you will use. But there are many potential variations on this basic theme. Deck Railing Choices of Materials & Stylesĭeck railings are generally made up of posts, rails, and balusters. At the end of this article we provide additional technical references on stair and guardrail safety and codes. Watch out: building a deck guardrail or stair handrail that is not safe, not securely fastened, or not graspable is dangerous and can contribute to a deck or stair fall and serious injury. ![]() You should focus on designing and building safe railings that will complement your deck while standing up to the bumps and bruises that are bound to come their way. Yet, while railings are a significant visual component, they exist for the purest of functions- they keep people from falling off the deck, The need to build railings that can perform their safety duty necessarily restricts the design options that are available, but it certainly does not eliminate them. While you may feel justifiably proud of the top-quality decking you bought and installed, it is the railing that will create the first impression of your deck for neighbors and passersby. Deck Railing Construction Proceduresįrom most vantage points, a deck’s railing is its most visible feature. We also provide an ARTICLE INDEX for this topic, or you can try the page top or bottom SEARCH BOX as a quick way to find information you need. This article series describes construction details for decks and porches, including deck structure, floors, ledger boards, guardrails, stairs and railings. ![]() Companion articles explain how to make or buy and install balusters to enclose the railing and how to make and install guardrails and handrails along stairs. Once our railing support posts are in place we describe how to attach the railing to the posts. Here we describe choices among types of deck railings, followed by explanation of how to build & connect the railing posts. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website. InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. ![]()
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