recommendation and ideas - balcony railing - BB choice

[laura vianello]

Hello, I love Baltic Birch and the visible edges. I have been building an attic bonus room with birch (mix of BB and Ply, I am attaching a pic of my knee wall inset cabs) and I would love to keep the stile and the fact that I have plenty of left over. I need to build a short stair baluster (see pic with one example of the layout) but I am not sure which way to go. I would love to use baltic birch for the post and the railing (I know it is kind of crazy) but I also like the cabling/rod railing. Looking at the MA code I can see only dimension for height of the baluster and the space in between the railing. Do we have any limitation on using railing horizontally instead of vertically? Cabling and rods are typically used horizontally (see example in the picture) but on another forum somebody suggested that horizontally is a safety hazard if you have a child (my are big). Do we have code restriction on indoor application of rod/cabling. Does the post (3.5" min) needs to be one piece or can be 5 layers of 3/4 4" wide glued together? Where can I find birch simple square post (in case it needs to be one whole piece)? I really do not want a fancy newell. If I cannot go for railing and rods, is there any limitation on the thickness of the railing? Thanks, I hope I am posting in the right forum session. balcony example.jpegIMG_4399.JPG

[Wayne Lomman]

Laura, for residential construction, its OK to make up a post from multiple layers provided that you use a structural glue which in practical terms means epoxy or resorcinol. Cheers

[laura vianello]

Thanks so much for answering!

[Tom Bender]

Turn the rods vertical or diagonal

Make the post as a hollow box. That puts the face on all sides.

The railing must be able to resist 200 pounds force in any direction.

Nobody is going to check on the type of glue you use.

[laura vianello]

Thanks for your input!