DIY and Repair Guides

Aside from serving as a beautiful decorative feature, a deck railing is designed to serve as a reliable safety feature. Its primary purpose is to prevent people from falling off the deck area. In case you have an elevated deck at home, make it a safer place to stay by learning how to build deck railings.

Materials Needed

The primary materials you need to perform this easy task include an electric drill, a wood saw and a 2-inch-by-2-inch wood. Likewise, you have to prepare galvanized screws, a 2-inch-by-4-inch wood and carriage bolts. In addition, it can help a lot to have a paintbrush and an outdoor stain.

Steps

When planning to build deck railings, it is very important to base them on the rules set by the building codes of the area you are living in. For instance, every spindle must be at most 9 inches apart from each other. Likewise, the railing must stand at least 4-feet high. Calculate how much wood you need to complete this project and then buy them at the nearest hardware available.

Get the wood saw and then use it to cut the 2-inch-by-2-inch wood for the spindles. In every spindle, drill a couple of holes, one of which must be 1? inches from the bottom part of the deck. Put the second hole approximately 1? inches from the top part of the deck. These holes will serve as markers. They must be smaller than the carriage bolts.

Use the electric screwdriver to bolt the spindles in place. The use of carriage bolts is preferred because of their stability and strength. Flush the spindle pieces against the bottom part of the deck. Be careful with this step because even a simple mistake can be noticed easily.

Cut the 2-inch-by-4-inch wood into smaller pieces. Use a screw to attach each piece to every spindle piece. If necessary, combine two pieces of the cut 2-inch-by-4-inch wood to form a joint. Lastly, decorate the deck railings with a matching stain or simply paint them with your preferred color.

Additional Tips and Other Helpful Information

Making the right measurements can help you achieve better results. Committing errors can be costly because they will only prolong the process of completing this project. The more time you save, the more time you can have to improve the details of your work further.

It is better to buy pre-cut wood at the hardware store to make things a lot easier. While using power tools like the wood saw, protect your eyes from wayward debris by wearing safety goggles.

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