Installing a New Deck Railing

Installing the Stairs

old stairs

old stairs

The old deck stairs were not safe. There was no base footing-- they simply rested on the ground. Standard pressure treated wood stringers were bolted together to achieve the necessary height, but years of frost heave and the stress of traffic had split one of the stringers. In addition, there was no railing of any kind.

There are a number of options for stair stringers available, from the prefabricated ones that had been used here to high quality composite systems.

I chose to use the Insta-Step brackets by Dek-Mate. This was not a cheap option, but I figured that the brackets could be reused on the next deck.

patio stone base

The first step was to have a solid base. I created a level pad using patio stones on a 4 to six inch bed of stone and stone dust for drainage.

Getting the location of the pad right took a bit of measuring and re-measuring. In a perfect world, the landing pad would be a nice level patio area, but my sloping yard was a little more challenging. In the end, though, I managed to get it right!

first step installed

insta-step

The instructions included with the Insta-Step Brackets were pretty straight-forward. First I built the seven steps I needed, and measured the stringers and cut the required angles. The templates for the angles are included with the instructions.

I attached the stringers to the deck skirt using Simpson Strong Ties. Then it was just a matter of installing the steps. Before getting to this point, it would have been a lot easier to lay out the stringers and pre-drill all the holes before assembling the stairs in the field.

For the railing, I screwed 2x2 blocks to the stair treads, and screwed the balusters to the blocks. The top rail was installed next at the appropriate angle. The balusters were trimmded even with the rail and the capping was installed next.

I messed up on the spacing of the balusters, choosing to center a baluster on each board of the treads. What I did not take into account was that there is a slight overhang on each step. Oh well! They may not be the best looking steps in the world, but they are a whole lot safer than what was there.


deck gate

The final component of the deck railing is a simple gate. This is a definite case of function over form. I simply used two 2x4s for the top and bottom rails, and screwed several balusters to them. I really didn't take much time to plan it out, and if it looks like a rush job, that's because it is!

With the gate in place, the dog can come with us out on the deck without a leash and we don't have to worry about her suddenly taking off after any squirrels or birds.

Lumber is a commodity and as such its price fluctuates. But for the record, this project was done in the summer of 2005 and the cost of materials was in the range of $600 CDN. Pretty expensive railing considering that it is somewhat temporary, but this was a necessary upgrade.

Project completed in the Summer of 2005