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missouriboy
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2013 05:12pm
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I need to add some railing for safety on the cabin I am building. I think I have settled on wire fence type of railing. I think this will be the least obstructive of the view also. I would love to see pictures of any porch railings, especially if it includes wire but open to other ideas also. This is a creative bunch and I'm sure many of you have really cool ideas. Thanks.
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MJW
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2013 07:59pm
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Lowe's prebuilt rails. Installation currently in progress.
Fast and easy and less than the cost to build them yourself.
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borisvonf
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2013 10:13pm
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I have a covered porch and used the flip flop bench kit from northern tool as my railing. These flip from and seat with back rest to 1/2 of a picnic table. I got seating, table space and a railing in one package.
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borisvonf
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2013 10:19pm
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Here's a pic all in bench mode
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borisvonf
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2013 10:30pm
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Table top
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ShabinNo5
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# Posted: 13 Sep 2013 11:14pm
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Not quite done.
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MI drew
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# Posted: 14 Sep 2013 09:57pm
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Here's the one I did for our loft its the same as the ones I have done on a few decks. 4x4 post, 2x2 spindles, 1x3 trim, and 2x6 top. Never been a fan if posts that extend past the hand rail, it makes for a week railing if pushed on. I run my 2x6 tops as long as I can and splice on top of a post. Splices are cut at 45deg. Makes for a tight fit.
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PatrickH
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# Posted: 15 Sep 2013 08:45am
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Heres ones I did on our deck posts are cedar and the balusters are aluminum and the rest of components are made from composite deck boards machined down to the sizes I needed
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CootersShabin
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# Posted: 19 Sep 2013 02:13pm
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I scored some railing panels on craigslist. These coupled with the PT deck kind of ended up Too nice for what we wanted, but I was up against a deadline and like a lot of things it ended up being more than acceptable when finished.
Cooter
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Sammies cabin
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# Posted: 19 Sep 2013 02:58pm
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I got a buddy of mine to do my railing and it turned out great. It does take some skill however and was certainly beyond me. I acted as the gofer for this project...
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CaveShacker
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2013 01:58pm
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Missouriboy, the railings everyone shows in answer to your question are really great, but I know the time and sometimes the expense is up there compared with wire fence. I was thinking of wire fence for a picnic deck out in the woods, but found a yellow plastic mesh fencing (and a lot cheaper than wire fence) at Home Depot that I was able to paint green for a decent look. It's nothing as nice as the others shown here, but half a roll went in for about $25.
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missouriboy
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# Posted: 23 Sep 2013 08:56pm
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Lots of cool deck railings. Keep them coming.
Caveshaker, can you post some pictures of how you attached the fence to the the posts? Can you see it on the outside or is it all enclosed in wood?
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leebree
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# Posted: 17 Oct 2013 02:58pm
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Another example for you. Cedar 2x2 balusters vertically screwed into 2x4s.
The 2x4s were bevelled with a circular saw (no table saw available!). I intend to top the railings with a 2x6 top rail, which will strengthen the whole assembly and raise it up to regulation height (36").
Once we got going, the project went fairly quickly.
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FishPCreek
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# Posted: 23 Oct 2013 10:01pm
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Been along while since I have been on or posted.
Here is what we did. Got the pre-finished cedar spindles from an Amish contractor who had made an interior handrail that the owner did not like - got them at a buck a piece.
Rails/support are pressure treated so a mix of modern and more rustic.
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Rossman
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# Posted: 24 Oct 2013 05:30pm
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Quoting: borisvonf I have a covered porch and used the flip flop bench kit from northern tool as my railing. These flip from and seat with back rest to 1/2 of a picnic table. I got seating, table space and a railing in one package.
I love these!!
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missouriboy
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2013 06:14pm
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Lots of great ideas everyone. They all look great. So I finally finished my deck railing with the wire so the view is a little more open. My wife still complains that the top blocks the view but at least it is safe for little ones now. I sandwiched the ends between two 1 x 2's so no sharp edges are exposed and prying little fingers can't get to them. So enjoy the pictures. Just my take on a porch railing.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 27 Oct 2013 06:46pm
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Just a reminder that if a baby can get his/her head through, they can get their body through. Codes call for no more than 4 or 4-3/4 inch opening along the guard rail
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rmak
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# Posted: 17 Jul 2014 04:36pm
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Hi folks! I resurrected this topic because I am looking for ideas for a porch/deck railing myself. I constructed a simple skeleton with 4 X 4's I had lying around.
Hope to see ideas for what I can put in the railing.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 18 Jul 2014 09:27pm
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FYI - I love the horizontal cable railing look but it's not to code here. Once I learned why I had to agree. Little kids climb them like ladders.
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rmak
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# Posted: 19 Jul 2014 07:45am
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Yes, KinAlberta. And these wire cables are very expensive. I'd like to find wire mesh like this photo. The squares look to be about 4 or 5 inches. I looked at wire fencing and hardware cloth at a number of hardware stores and couldn't find it.
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missouriboy
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# Posted: 19 Jul 2014 09:13am
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Quoting: rmak I'd like to find wire mesh like this photo
I used fencing which you should be able to find at any big box store or farm supply store. I believe mine are 2 x 3 squares. You can see a picture in my post above. It may not be as stiff as what you have in this picture or what you are wanting but it is reasonable priced and works.
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rmak
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# Posted: 19 Jul 2014 09:29am
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Thanks, missouriboy!
Yes, I saw your porch. Very nice. Since we are digging a pond right in front of where the railing is I was hoping for the least obstructed view. I thought the big squares in the photo I found would give us that. If I can't find any big square wire like that, I will probably go with the 2 X 3 like yours. Did you have any problems stretching it and making it flat? I know it comes rolled up.
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missouriboy
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# Posted: 19 Jul 2014 09:40am
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Not really. My wife and I did it by slowly unrolling it and tacking it as we went along. You do have to be careful not to pull to hard or it will bend easy. It is not a very stiff wire. If you have little ones that may be pulling or pushing on it much it might get deformed easy than some other heavier gauge wire. You might check out wire cattle panels. I know it is much stiffer but I think the squares are also much larger and may be to big to use or meet any codes if you have any.
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rmak
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# Posted: 19 Jul 2014 11:23am
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Thanks again, missouriboy.
Lookng for Cattle panels was the ticket! I found some at Tractor Supply with 4 inch square holes. Some of the reviews said people used it for deck railing. I appreciate your help and will post some photos when I get some.
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paulz
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2018 11:35am - Edited by: paulz
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Bump. Some of this stuff looks so great I'm almost afraid to post. But I need to figure out what I'm going to do for my deck railing, thinking I ought to figure it out now before I screw any deck boards down.
As you can see I'm deep in the redwoods, got tons of it but kind of a pain to mill into smaller boards. I thought about using some smallish 6-8" diameter trunks for the posts and leaving the bark on. Or maybe cut some of the long crescent shaped leftovers from squaring my deck board logs into 4x4s with one edge still bark. Maybe some small branches for ballisters? Or just go buy some already finished redwood 2x and 4x4s and do it the easy way? Heck I don't know, any ideas?
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rockies
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2018 07:24pm
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You should check local building codes. If your deck is above a certain height off the ground (typically 2') your railing needs to be 42" high. Also, railings won't usually be approved if a child can climb up horizontal rails.
As to pickets, the spacing can't usually be more than 4 inches apart (to prevent a child's head from getting caught) but cable railings are an unknown. If the cables can deflect (for example, if a child manages to shove his head between them) they could get trapped between the wires so even if your initial cable spacing was 4 inches it could still be a danger.
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paulz
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2018 10:09am
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Thanks Rockies. I've also read that posts must be 6' oc or less but I see many that look like more.
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Absolutely
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2018 10:38am
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For my bunkie I bought glass from Lowes. It was, IIRC, 60" x 36". I used a 2x6 for the top rail at a height of 42". There's a 2x4 on the bottow, 3" above the deck. I ripped a 5/4" x 6" deck board to restrain the glass.
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paulz
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# Posted: 14 Apr 2018 06:15pm
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Looks good. No glass for me, no view, only more (*&^ trees. Today I hauled some old logs up there and propped a couple up at the post corners for a look. Can't hardly see them, just look like more tree trunks. Maybe that's good, I dunno. Price is right.
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Borrego
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# Posted: 15 Apr 2018 07:49pm
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I used the landscape 'poles' from Home Depot/Lowes, pressure treated, 3-1/2". Used stained Doug Fir for the horizontal pieces. Got some 2 x 2 inch poultry wire in black and stapled it to the wood... Here's a pic before I put the wire mesh on
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