HOW TO OFFSET RAILS AND POSTS

[dskogg]

I want to offset both the posts and rails on a deck privacy screen, ca only seems to allow newel offset,

how do i do both?

[dskogg]

bring in say 4" inside deck edge or even 1.5" so the posts can sit inside perimeter rim joist

[tommy1]

This is what I do to move the railing further in. Make the deck with the deck tool that has no railing with room definition. Place a deck railing wall inside the deck and make it no room definition and move it to where you want it on the  deck. Pretty easy and simple.

[SNestor]

Keep it simple.  Just increase the width of the railing wall.  Done. 
 

Chief centers the rail on the width of the wall.  

[steve_stuart]

11 hours ago, SNestor said:

Keep it simple.  Just increase the width of the railing wall.  Done. 
 

Chief centers the rail on the width of the wall.  

Sounds quite simple, are you doing this in the Wall Type? If so, won't that increase the width of your railing as the railing width follows the wall thickness, correct?

[steve_stuart]

Disregard my question, didn't go far enough in modifying the railing wall, realized the railing width can be changed in the Rails tab of the DBX. Thanks for the tip, I have struggled with this multiple times.

[steve_stuart]

Thanks Eric, even simpler!

[SNestor]

1 hour ago, steve_stuart said:

Sounds quite simple, are you doing this in the Wall Type? If so, won't that increase the width of your railing as the railing width follows the wall thickness, correct?

No. When you increase the width of the wall type assigned to your railing...only the wall width increases. The railing width components are defined separately under the railing tab.  

[Dermot]

Just to clarify...

 

The width of rails can be specified to be the same as the wall width or they can be set to a specific value.

The railing is always centered using the thickness of the railing "wall".  Making the wall type thicker is the easiest way to move a railing in from a deck edge.  A very thin wall will allow you to move the rail so that it is centered on the deck edge. 

 

There is no "easy" way to move a deck railing out more from the deck edge for situations where you want to attach the railing to the outside of the deck.  There are a variety of work-arounds to do this, such as Tommy's suggestion above.  Using a search on this forum will show you some other techniques.  This is a frequent request and already on our lengthy todo list.  If it is something you need, please free to submit another feature request because the more it is requested the faster it moves up the list.

 

You can also offset the newel posts independently of moving the railing using the wall thickness.  This can be useful if you need to align the rails to one side of the posts.

 

[BeachHouse1]

On 7/9/2020 at 4:31 PM, solver said:

Increase the thickness of the wall.

Thanks Eric,

That opens up a whole new dimension.

[dskogg]

only issue with increasing rail wall thickness is it shows up on plan that way, fixes 3d view but not plan view?

[SNestor]

29 minutes ago, dskogg said:

only issue with increasing rail wall thickness is it shows up on plan that way, fixes 3d view but not plan view?

 

To tackle the wall line issue you could create a new layer called "walls, deck rails" and assign the "no line" line type. This allows your interior rail walls to work as normal..where you want to see the lines...but your deck walls lines disappear. 

 

[dskogg]

steve but then how do i show the deck rail in plan,  just draw in lines for it?

[SNestor]

Just now, dskogg said:

steve but then how do i show the deck rail in plan,  just draw in lines for it?

 

Open the railing wall, go to the Newels/Balusters tab; uncheck "use default"...and specify a color and possibly a transparency. 

 

Now...it's not a perfect solution by any means...because all the components take on the same color and transparency...but, if you use a solid color it will define the rail width clearly. You probably will have to play around with it to find out if it works or not for you. 
 

 

No doubt...it would be nice if Chief allowed us to turn off the wall lines...without turning off the lines that define the railing.

[SNestor]

@dskogg - here's a deck rail example, brown fill, 25% transparency.

The walls lines are turned off in the layer...

 

I've also set the width of the wall to 9" wide on the general tab.

 

  

[SNestor]

@dskogg - I think using an invisible wall and a railing wall with no room definition might actually be a better method...see attached. It can be tricky if you only want the rail wall pushed in a couple inches...you may have trouble getting the railings to join properly. But - the end result and railing display may be worth the effort. 

 

Stairs placed against the deck will not automatically create a doorway opening...but, that might be a good thing. Just place your own and size it as needed. 

 

[DougDM]

Such BS,  paying almost $600 bucks a year I should be able to make a simple hand rail the way they are made in the field...and to code. It's easier to make them in SketchUp. Make a cad detail of the rim joist and elevation of the stairs stringer (separate the two)  Export the deck rim joist and an elevation view of stringer as a dwg file. Import to SU, do your railings work, save as skp file, Import to CA and place in plan. This one took about 20 minutes to make. I already had parts in SU.

[Doug_N]

Here is the challenge that I have for doing deck railings where the code has proscribed this as one of the designs that a BCIN designer can use.

 

 

There may be a simple way of doing this, but I have yet to discover it.   This is especially true for irregular deck designs with octagon bump outs etc.  

 

[SNestor]

@Doug_N -

I made this video long ago...but, it should give you at least one method of constructing a face mounted deck railing.

 

 

[Doug_N]

Steve,

 

Wow that is pretty amazing.  I suppose you could do the pickets only one molding, and the railing and rim joist as a second molding.  That would eliminate the lines in vector view.

 

[glennw]

3 hours ago, Doug_N said:

Wow that is pretty amazing.  I suppose you could do the pickets only one molding, and the railing and rim joist as a second molding.  That would eliminate the lines in vector view

 

 That is exactly how I have mine setup - this is an oldie.

You can add whatever horizontal moldings you want, independent of the balusters.

Doing it this way allows for a bit more flexibility as it allows different rail sizes and profiles for as many rails as you want.

This one has 3 moldings - 1 for the balusters (a Symbol Molding), one for the top rail and one for the vertical top rail.

 

 

 

 

[Katy_DDR]

I've only been using this program since last summer and I'm continually amazed how much has to be 'faked' in for such an expensive program that's been around for so long.  If they give me a tool for stairs, I should be able to easily place the Newel posts on either the ground or the last step, and have them at the top of the stairs or not.  For the first few months, I thought my problems were my learning curve.  Reading this forum has helped me realize it's not me, it's the program, and to not be so hard on myself.

 

That being said -- my solution today to get the Newel posts where I want them was to turn them off so the railed balusters are floating in air then I manually placed newels approximating [I seriously HATE approximating anything when we should be able to place things exact in the computer] their locations.  Is there another easier way to achieve this?  Preferably a setting within the stair tool itself that I haven't found yet?

 

Thank you all!

Kt on X12

[robdyck]

Just now, Katy_DDR said:

Is there another easier way to achieve this?  Preferably a setting within the stair tool itself that I haven't found yet?

NO. I also manually build parts on plenty of stair types. It is terrible, but the more you do, the quicker you get at it. I've have submitted requests that all the components for stairs be editable like an architectural block, but to no avail. Placing newel posts manually is currently the only way to properly control their location.

[Katy_DDR]

7 minutes ago, robdyck said:

NO. I also manually build parts on plenty of stair types. It is terrible, but the more you do, the quicker you get at it. I've have submitted requests that all the components for stairs be editable like an architectural block, but to no avail. Placing newel posts manually is currently the only way to properly control their location.

 

Thank you Robert!  That actually makes me feel better, that I'm not alone in this frustration and that I'm not missing something. 

Cheers,

[Alaskan_Son]

@Katy_DDR,

 

Depending on the specifics of the situation, you can also turn off the railing entirely and use a manually placed railing wall set to Follow Stairs...

...this has challenges of its own but can serve as a very good way to refine newel placement for many situations.

 

Don't have time to elaborate on all of them, but here are a few more tips as well:

• You can use Invisible walls to define your decks, rooms, or platforms and No Room Definition railing walls for your rails
• You can place wall breaks to force a newel to generate at that location.  Stop wall from rejoining by either alternating wall types or flipping the new wall section.
• You can refine wall break locations by using a small perpendicular Room Divider wall.  Place a break at that room divider and then drag the Room Divider to control the break location.
• You can use molding polylines for railing components
• You can use Polyline Distribution Paths for railing components
• You don't have to approximate locations.  Create a CAD Detail From View of your Plan View and then Cut/Copy snaps from that view and Paste Hold Position back into your Plan View.  This way you can place objects with precision.