Footballjoe Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I am turning a house to get it ready to be rented. When the owner husband built the deck years ago he did not put railings on it even though the deck is 32 inches off the ground. I know the rail height should be 36 inches but I have not found anything on what code usually requires for the spacing of the posts. The deck needs rails on 2 sides. The side without the steps is 16 ft 3 inches. Anyone know? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'canes2004 Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I am turning a house to get it ready to be rented. When the owner husband built the deck years ago he did not put railings on it even though the deck is 32 inches off the ground. I know the rail height should be 36 inches but I have not found anything on what code usually requires for the spacing of the posts. The deck needs rails on 2 sides. The side without the steps is 16 ft 3 inches. Anyone know? Thanks Not sure on the code but my deck is 10x24 and I used 4x4's and spaced them 4ft. Worked great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuke'em ttg Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 I am turning a house to get it ready to be rented. When the owner husband built the deck years ago he did not put railings on it even though the deck is 32 inches off the ground. I know the rail height should be 36 inches but I have not found anything on what code usually requires for the spacing of the posts. The deck needs rails on 2 sides. The side without the steps is 16 ft 3 inches. Anyone know? Thanks wow Joe not sure i know...usually i'm only concerned about ht. 32-36 and 4" max inbetween spindles....i've never gone more then 6' between 4x4's i guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 Looks like 4 foot spacing will be the safe bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelBunz Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 (edited) Joe.....most of the prefab railings out there at the big box stores are 8 feet in length. So that's a pretty good gauge on how far apart the posts should be between railings. Besides......if you are doing this from scratch.....most dimensional lumber out there comes standard in 8 foot lengths. Go beyond that and you are jacking the cost up unnecessarily to span between your posts. Edit to add: You can certainly half that if that's the look you are going for. Most important point of all this if you aren't going prefab......especially since you are renting......is the spacing for the spindles. Just like inside the house......you must make sure it is safe for kids. Meaning they can't stick their head through and get stuck......or slide all the way out. Edited October 10, 2009 by SteelBunz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 Joe.....most of the prefab railings out there at the big box stores are 8 feet in length. So that's a pretty good gauge on how far apart the posts should be between railings. Besides......if you are doing this from scratch.....most dimensional lumber out there comes standard in 8 foot lengths. Go beyond that and you are jacking the cost up unnecessarily to span between your posts. Edit to add: You can certainly half that if that's the look you are going for. Most important point of all this if you aren't going prefab......especially since you are renting......is the spacing for the spindles. Just like inside the house......you must make sure it is safe for kids. Meaning they can't stick their head through and get stuck......or slide all the way out. Actually I am fixing the house up to be rented. I have a carpenter friend who is going to meet me in the morning to look at it and get me straight. He knows the codes inside and out and is one heck of a tradesman. Te 8 foot spacing may be sufficent but I would perfer 4 to 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelBunz Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Yeah......that's what I said.....you are renting it out. Not living there yourself.......lol. You will be the landlord.....right? I was just pointing out that if you rent to someone with children.....or children come over......and there's an accident because the spindles weren't spaced correctly, you might be inviting a lawsuit. As far as the spacing for posts, as long as they are very secure, the spacing is purely aesthetic up to a point. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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