An old deck gets a face lift and new railing
Did you know that of the 33 million plus decks in the US and Canada that the average life expectancy is eleven years? Yes, those are the figures. Of course this varies considerably depending on what materials were used and how carefully any given deck was built.
Patrick Kerr found himself facing this reality.
His deck was located in a spectacular setting, extending off the main floor patio glass slider doors and bordered by lush greenery. The decking was showing its age. Railing posts that had been set in and bolted to the joists were soaked and deteriorating.
Boards were cracking, or rot was beginning to show up here and there. So Patrick opted for a fairly simple face lift. He removed all the decking himself, inspected the joists and beams for their condition.
All was fine. The framing and under structure was rock solid. He had no desire to rebuild the railings the same way as before – setting them into the joists – if he didn’t have to.
He was looking for a wood post anchoring solution that would allow him to avoid all the framing, blocking, bolting techniques required to properly build a wood railing that would meet minimum code standards. He also did not want to cut notches in the decking to fit around each post.
What to do?
His searches lead him to the Titan wood post anchor, an internal surface mounted post anchor where most of the anchor is driven deep inside the post eliminating a lot of bulky unattractive steel on common post anchors.
But the post anchor also had engineering testing and guidelines behind it so Patrick was confident it would please the local residential inspector.
This meant a huge reduction in skill and labor compared to the “build in to the joist” method that he had just replaced because the posts had started to rot. It also meant as long as the post spacing was kept at a maximum of 6’ apart, he could position the posts with a lot more freedom regardless of where joists were.
All he had to do was install a flat 2×6 or 2×8 blocking piece between joists wherever he wanted a post underneath the decking. He was able to easily position posts, secure them down and even carry the railing down a small four riser stair case.
Each railing section was pre-built using the Dekorators basket style black balusters. The sections were fitted snugly between each post. Patrick opted for toe –nailing the 2×4 top and bottom horizontal rails to each post instead of using and railing connectors.
Regardless, the results were beautiful. And this was an easy job for him.
It can be this easy for you too. If you are looking at a similar situation – rehabilitation job on your old deck – consider the Titan solutions.