What should we do??

Question

My parents are doing a porch/deck on our house, the only thing they dont agree on is what to do for the railings. They both agree that they HATE the ones that look like a fan, or shell. What do you think we should do???

Answer 1

I agree with the post that you should check local codes for the maximum spacing.

Our company once installed railings and balusters on a deck similar to the ones found on this site http://www.deckorators.com The types shown on that site can become pretty pricey if you are talking a lot of railing, but it may be worth a look. I have also seen glass panels used before that had a great look. Just a couple of suggestions. Good luck!

Answer 2

get a cat

it is cool

Answer 3

Most city areas have a lot of rules about size of opening ect.  think the first order of business is finding the laws of your area.

Answer 4

I have made many railing out of  1/2"  re bar. here is what I do

Most railings on decks are 2x4 or 2x6 so whatever you use it doesn't matter.

You lay out the railing's on the ground flat and side by side. Now  you can also use the narrow side of the wood also , it is up to you.

I take a drill and a  1/2" spade bit and drill holes 12" on center in both pieces of the railing. make sure not to drill through all of the way. now go down and buy some full lenghts of 1/2" re bar and cut each of the bars into the same lengths.

Now before you install all of the re bar 12" on center you can paint them black or any color you like.

Now you can install each and every one of them in the first rail(typically the bottom rail is used.) Then with help install the top rail into all of the tips of the re bar so that it all close's up and nice and even.

Now take that rail and mount it to the deck.

Hope this helps

ROSCoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Answer 5

Obviously you have 2 valid suggestions regarding code issues, which would be especially relevant if the deck surface is at any dictated level off ground, to require rail and balusters, or horizontals. That should addressed first.

The designs might number into the dozens and I think a fan/shell is overkill even for someone wanting everyone to notice in an OOO AH sense.

Certainly simple is verticals, at code. You might find some clues in this general search link.

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=an20...

Just my two "sense"

Steven Wolf

AKA: The Deck Doc Source(s) 45 plus years a carpenter/contractor