Cable Deck Railings - Any suggestions?

[justride]

Middle of renovating my approx. 16ft x 10ft deck at the moment Thinking about installing a cable deck railings rather than the traditional wooden ones. Any good brands/stores to buy them? Any system that is better than others? My deck is on the second floor and at least 10ft of the ground so complying to code and safety is a must.

 

[GreyGhost]

I didnt think cable railings could meet code? Easily climbable. If you installed glass too that fixes the climbable issue but doubled your cost.

Edit:

Seems like my thinking was probably correct.

Are Horizontal Railings Allowed in Ontario? - Jay Fencing

jayfencing.com

I am assuming you are talking about horizontal cable railings. Vertical cables are just very expensive pickets and can easy comply with code if installed properly.

Edit 2:

A code change was contemplated to allow them. Not sure where it is in the process.

https://www.geobezdan.com/news/big-news-for-industry-ontario-is-proposing-to-allow-horizontal-guard-design/

 

[DownUnder]

Pretty sure horizontal railing is not allowed in Ontario. I wouldnt put it on a high deck especially as it's easily climbable

 

[crankcall]

If you go horizontal cable railings make sure the corner posts are ROCK solid, the tension to keep the wires taut is significant. Bowing and tip ins are common on installations not done well . You can buy all the components off amazon, Rigrite or sailright.
If you go the amazon route , chinese stainless will need occasional polishing , its stain less , not stain proof.

 

[GreyGhost]

If you go horizontal cable railings make sure the corner posts are ROCK solid, the tension to keep the wires taut is significant. Bowing and tip ins are common on installations not done well . You can buy all the components off amazon, Rigrite or sailright.
If you go the amazon route , chinese stainless will need occasional polishing , its stain less , not stain proof.

Tension really adds up. Something like 200 to 1000 lbs a cable. About 10 cables required. That's 2000 to 20,000 lbs of static force (some at significant distance from the anchored base. If it were me, I would use a structural top rail to eliminate the moment loads. Although, if I was trying to build a railing to code, I wouldn't be using cable in the first place. Once you add the plastic or glass to stop climbing, the deck gets hot (and expensive).

 

[timtune]

Pretty sure GG is correct. I wanted to go that route but it didn't meet code when I was looking at it about 5 years ago.

 

[GreyGhost]

Pretty sure GG is correct. I wanted to go that route but it didn't meet code when I was looking at it about 5 years ago.

The last deck I did used Kreg XL pocket holes and dominoes. Technically not an approved system that meets code but if functionally tested for compliance it would have passed easily. Each rail intersection had 2x#14 screws and the top cap was 2x8 keyed into the post and top rail with dominoes to keep anything from warping. You may be able to come up with a similar alternate solution to satisfy the inspector. Something like the cables run on the outside of the posts and a 2x12" cap with the outside in line with the cables to act as an obstacle to a climber. It would depend on your inspector though. Most wouldn't want to play along with that on a second storey deck.

 

[DownUnder]

Back home the city used the cable railings on top of cliffs without a problem, the strength and structure is fine. The issue in canada is they don't allow horizontal railings due to kids being able to climb them, it's a nannystate thing rather then a structural thing.

 

[crankcall]

Its not a nanny state thing , its a stop kids from falling to thier death thing. We cant get parents to supervise kids 100% of the time, nor can we tell kids to not climb railings.
I dont agree with it , but i understand why its a rule. It came into effect after a certian number of kids fell off decks and balconies.

 

[GreyGhost]

Its not a nanny state thing , its a stop kids from falling to thier death thing. We cant get parents to supervise kids 100% of the time, nor can we tell kids to not climb railings.
I dont agree with it , but i understand why its a rule. It came into effect after a certian number of kids fell off decks and balconies.

It is interesting that NBC doesn't have it and neither do most provinces now. It seems like a reasonable limitation. Cable railings are aesthetically interesting but aren't really solving anything. There are many safer options. Even if current owner has no kids, there is always a resale or visitor that may not understand until too late.

 

[OntFF]

Keep in mind, that specific municipalities may have additional bylaw/building code requirements.. I used to build decks and fences on the side for beer money.

Basic building codes applied everywhere, but one township had a deck collapse and hurt a bunch of people a few years prior; so they passed additional requirements as a local bylaw...
Generally, horizontal rails and bracing isn't allowed, unless it's designed and implemented in some way that's unclimbable... As much as I like the look, cable railings are no bueno here.

 

[justride]

Thanks for the feedback. Would hate for child to go over and get seriously hurt. Didn't realize the amount of stress on the cables.
Back to the standard

 

[nobbie48]

I would, at the most, limit their use to space blocking, the 4" maximum opening that a kid's head would fit through. The bulk of the railing would be conventional.

 

[oioioi]

I bet if you used barbed wire in place of cable, anyone wanting to climb would quickly learn that its a bad idea.

Of course I am just joking.

 

[GreyGhost]

I bet if you used barb wire in place of cable, anyone wanting to climb would quickly learn that its a bad idea.

Of course I am just joking.

That's an alternate solution. Mitigates the climbing problem. Run it by your local inspector. Hard to feed through the posts though. Would either have to go around the outside or fabricate in place. Maybe prison aesthetic is the next hot thing in the housing market.