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Peter Stahl
08-12-2007, 10:28 AM
My Brother wants me to help him build some railings for his deck. The old ones aren't looking good. He wants to go PT wood because of budget with 2 X 2 ballisters and wants the more traditional old house type of railing look not the screw them to the side of 2 verticle 2 X 4 look like a lot of deck builders do. What do you use for top and bottom rails and how are they attached. Thanks, Pete

Jim Becker
08-12-2007, 10:30 AM
Some folks buy pre-prepared top and bottom rails that have grooves for the balusters; others will build up a panel with the balusters between some 1-by and then put those between top and bottom rails. There are likely other methods, too.

Jeffrey Makiel
08-12-2007, 11:46 AM
Pressure treated railing parts are still available, but are beginning to disappear with the advent of composite and PVC railing kits now available.

The downside to composite and PVC railings are that they they are expensive. However, they are maintenance free and don't twist and crack from wood dry-out. I just did a railing system installation for a friend using FiberRail system by Fiberon. Nice quality and went together well.

My own deck was made from all P/T wood about 14 years ago. We made all the railing parts in my shop. However, as the wood aged over the first year, there was a lot of twisting and checking. Some parts needed to be replace, which was not easy. About every year, but not more than every two years, the deck must be re-stained. Re-staining has preserved the look very well, but it's a lot of work.

If I did it again, it will be most likely composite railings (like Trex) that goes over some sort of reinforcement. The fiber based, and PVC based systems seem too plastic like. But that's only my opinion. Composite deck materials also have invisible fastening systems now. No more split deck boards or visible screw heads.

-Jeff