Make More Money Building Decks: Railing (Part 3) Third of four articles

By Mark Clement I've written this series of articles to share some of the secrets used by production builders to get decks completed as efficiently as possible. I'm guessing that any time you can save is money saved, too. I've found that using this top-down system of deck building can save as much as a day's worth of work — and that sounds like "cha-ching" to me! Part 1 and Part 2 of this series focused on fast and reliable framing techniques. This article deals with handrails; the next will cover decking. Most of the decks I’ve built called for the decking to be installed after framing is complete. After that, the handrails were bolted to the outside of the band joist and filled in with rails and balusters. It works, but it’s not the cleanest look — and it’s tricky to get perfect. The handrail system called for on this deck is different. Required by the manufacturer of the material I used on this particular job (MoistureSeal or Lowe’s ChoiceDek), this system changes the order of operations — and makes for a safe, accurate and clean-looking handrail. These techniques can easily be adapted to other systems, but be sure to check local code. Post-Up Unlike many systems, this one starts with integrating the handrail posts into the deck framing. That enables me to get the posts exactly plumb, which greases the skids for rails and balusters later. Determine Post Locations. Start by laying out the post locations. The synthetic ChoiceDek posts must be 72 inches on center, max. I use the deck frame’s outside corners as control points for measuring and spacing posts as evenly as possible around the deck perimeter. The deck posts here laid out at 66 inches on center. Remember to include gate posts, stairs or benches in your layout scheme. Sometimes a post lands on a joist, but don’t alter either one. Instead move the post to whichever side is closest to proper layout — or tweak your layout. Spans are large enough that your eye won’t be able to pick up a few inches in post spacing. (Okay, your eye will because you know, but nobody else will see it. Honest.) Photo 25 Make Post Housings. Frame the housings from joist stock to capture the post bottoms. I cut the blocks between joists 1/8-1/4 inch short. It’s a fact of life that joists are never perfect, and if you have to pound a block into place, you’ll deform the band joist. But cut the block that bridges the back of the post a little long. Since ChoiceDek posts are 4-3/16 inches square, 4-5/16 inches works. When you fasten the blocking, pop a nail into the top, middle and bottom in each nailing location. Predictable nailing prevents obstructions drilling the posts for bolts; I'll talk more about that below. Production Tip About Cutting: Use a slide compound miter saw for small cuts. It’s safer than a circular saw, way more accurate and a lot faster. That’s a nice combo, if you ask me. Install the Blocking. It’s easiest to build the post housings piece by piece in situ rather than pre-building them. (Photo 25) Determine Post Height. Post heights can vary depending on several factors. The key to getting the height you want and need is to make sure you include all the variables laying out your post. Code usually requires a 36-inch minimum handrail height with a minimum 2-inch toe gap. For my project, it boiled down to form meeting function. My client determined that he liked the posts 40 inches above the decking. To get that 40-inch post, I had to account for the following: a 1-1/8-inch deck board thickness, a 3-1/2-inch toe gap, a 36-inch rail assembly, 1-1/8-inch decorative rail cap, and a post protrusion above rail cap Long story short, measuring 43-1/2 inches from the post top yielded the post my customer wanted. Install Posts. Square a line across the post at 43-1/2 inches, then set two nails about 1/2 inch deep right on the line as cleats. (Photo 26) Drop the post into the housing. The nails stop the post at exactly the correct height. No fuss, no muss. Photo 26 Photo 27 Photo 28 Drill for Bolts. With posts installed in their housings, drill through all framing using a 3/4-inch diameter auger bit. (Before you drill, however, take a close look to be sure the bit won’t hit any nails in the blocking. If you nailed the blocking predictably, you should miss all nails.) Install and lightly snug carriage bolts to get some friction on the posts. (Photo 27) Next, plumb each post (front/back, left/right). (Photo 28) Shim as necessary, then tighten carriage bolts. As you tighten, check that posts remain plumb, and make sure the bolt heads crunch into the joist. Production Tip about Tightening Bolts: Cordless impact drivers are aces here. Keep the ratchet handy, though. You’ll get boxed between framing members where only a ratchet or wrench can reach. Technique Tip—Shimming: Use wide cedar shingles as shims, or cut your own from a scrap of 6-by. A flat, wide shim provides the best bearing surface for the post. Narrow shims provide less bearing surface and give the post an opportunity to roll or shift. I didn’t have any cedar, so I took my 8-1/4- inch Skil wormdrive and sliver-cut the end of a 6-by scrap and made my own. They worked great. Setting the posts securely and plumb is the key to quick and accurate installation of both decking and the rail/balluster system. We'll cover that in Part 4. Mark Clement is a remodeler and author of The Carpenter’s Notebook and The Kid’s Carpenter’s Workbook, Fun Family Projects! Find out more at www.TheCarpentersNotebook.com. RELATED ARTICLES: Make More Money Building Decks: Framing (Part 1) Make More Money Building Decks: Framing (Part 2) Make More Money Building Decks: Decking (Part 4)