deck railing

[djhplanning]

Anyone have a good way to create this railing?  It was a very common railing design in the 1980's and 90's.  2x6 flat top rail, 2x4 vertical under top rail, 2x2 balusters fastened to bottom of deck rim.  I only need to draw only with existing conditions, not new decks.  I have always struggled to find a good way to draw this and usually end up with just showing the top 2x6 rail, no vertical 2x4, and no balusters extended down below the floor level, just to the top of the decking.

[DBCooper]

Are you still on X13?  If so, then there is no easy way to do this.

 

This can be done in X15 just using the various settings in the railing dialog.

 

[djhplanning]

55 minutes ago, DBCooper said:

Are you still on X13?  If so, then there is no easy way to do this.

 

This can be done in X15 just using the various settings in the railing dialog.

 

Looks great!  I am using X15 but don't seam to have any more options than I normally did in the railing dialog.  I think you may be using 1 1/2" newel posts spaced at 5 1/2" and extended down the thickness of the rim joist? How about the vertical 2x4 member under the top rail? A custom drawn top rail?

[DBCooper]

I used a negative offset for the bottom of the railing to drop the balusters down.

I used the horizontal offset for the whole railing to get the balusters to mount to the outside of the deck.  

I hijacked the bottom rail to make it a vertical 2x4 and moved it up and in to mount under the top rail.

I turned off the newel posts.

 

[djhplanning]

4 hours ago, solver said:

 

Please update your signature.

 

I did a search on deck railing and found your answer on the first results page simply by looking at the thread title.

 

 

Yeah ya did.  You don't know either huh?

[djhplanning]

4 hours ago, DBCooper said:

I used a negative offset for the bottom of the railing to drop the balusters down.

I used the horizontal offset for the railing to get the balusters to mount to the outside of the deck.  

I hijacked the bottom rail to make it a vertical 2x4 and moved it up and in to mount under the top rail.

I turned off the newel posts.

 

I will play with some of these thing tomorrow.  Thank you so much for your help, it is much appreciated! 

[Doug_N]

This can certainly be done.  Deck.plan

[ValleyGuy]

On 2/13/2024 at 5:24 PM, djhplanning said:

Anyone have a good way to create this railing?  It was a very common railing design in the 1980's and 90's.  2x6 flat top rail, 2x4 vertical under top rail, 2x2 balusters fastened to bottom of deck rim.  I only need to draw only with existing conditions, not new decks.  I have always struggled to find a good way to draw this and usually end up with just showing the top 2x6 rail, no vertical 2x4, and no balusters extended down below the floor level, just to the top of the decking.

We are able to make any type of rail(s) that we need, just make a mldg and place it in your library. Replace the default rail(s) and rotate, raise/lower until it is what you want.

[Doug_N]

Here is a sample of two versions of a cantilevered guard rail, one doe with an assembly of 3d solids and one done with an automatic railing using a moulding profile for the top rail.

 

  

 

The auto railing, unless someone can think of a way to do this, the top of the balustrades are flat.  Assembling the model can be done with sloped tops.   

Deck Picket Cantilever Pickets.plan

[DBCooper]

@Doug_N I think you are doing it the hard way.  You don't need to manually assemble your railing using 3D solids.  Just select one of your sloped top balusters, convert it into a millwork symbol, and then just replace your default balusters with your new symbol.  Boom, fully auto now.

 

I think the stacked railing is a good way to handle the top rail but in my previous picture I cheated by just using the bottom rail and moved it up where I wanted it.

 

[Doug_N]

9 hours ago, DBCooper said:

@Doug_N I think you are doing it the hard way.  You don't need to manually assemble your railing using 3D solids.  Just select one of your sloped top balusters, convert it into a millwork symbol, and then just replace your default balusters with your new symbol.  Boom, fully auto now.

 

I think the stacked railing is a good way to handle the top rail but in my previous picture I cheated by just using the bottom rail and moved it up where I wanted it.

 

Hi Coop.   Thanks for the method.  Railings in  CA are not intuitive but with perseverance and some ingenuity it is a pretty good tool.  Great insight.  Thanks again.

 

 

[Doug_N]

OK, so thanks to DBCooper, I have this whole deck railing thing sorted out.  Please see the railing library file, and the sample deck.  This deck is only to demonstrate the principles of constructing a deck with cantilever balustrades, offset railing and stacked profile top rail.  Everything you will need should be in the attached library and the deck sample file.

 

Sample Deck with Cantilever Balustrades.plan External Deck Railing.calibz

[GeneDavis]

I think @ValleyGuy has the right approach, and it models the top cap and rail, with 1.5" square baluster butted to cap at top and bevel cut at bottom, seen in almost all those decks built back when this was the fashion.  

 

Plus, if you are a newbie with Chief and interested in learning new things, you get to create a molding (the 2x cap and top rail) and a solid (the baluster) you save as a millwork item.