This is an excellent quick-start guide that you can use in conjunction with some common sense to achieve exceptional outcomes. The first thing to remember is that having a beautiful deck stair railing in Calgary or elsewhere does not need complex math. Continue reading the article to understand building better yet elegant stair railings and stairlift.

Points To Remember

The rise and run of the stairs dictate the angle of the stair railing. The bottom and top rails are parallel to the line drawn by each stair tread’s nose. Place a long straightedge on the steps to view this line. The straightedge would touch the front tip of each tread all the way down to the lowest step if you built the steps correctly, with the identical riser and tread combination and the required 1-inch tread overhang over the riser. This information is crucial to start with your deck railing in Calgary or wherever you live. You will also need to take care of the following points:

Strong posts

The deck railing’s support posts must be very secure, and they must be in the same relative position on each tread. In other words, if the top post on your deck is put back 3 inches from the edge of the deck’s decking board, then all the other posts on the stairs going down must be set back 3 inches from the edge of the stair riser they’re resting on.

It’s critical to keep the posts at the same spacing and location so that the rails link to them at the same height above each tread. This ensures a consistent sightline and a professional appearance. It also creates a secure railing.

Height of the railing

The height of the deck railing in Calgary and other areas is specified in the construction code, although you have considerable freedom. Remember how the straightedge made a line around the tips of the stair treads? The top deck stair railing must be no less than 34 inches and no more than 38 inches above the line linking the tops of the stair treads if you extend a vertical line up from this sloping line.

The angle of the cut

The angle of the cut for the deck railings is easy to calculate. You clamp the bottom rail to the posts with the extra railing extending past the posts after your railing posts are in place and secure. Ensure the bottom railing is at least 1 inch above the stair nosings’ tips and is parallel to the sloping line established by the tread nosings’ points.

Carefully draw the line where the vertical posts meet the railing using a pencil. These are the cut lines you’ll be working with. Use your miter saw to cut on the proper side of the line.

Secure connection

The vertical posts must be appropriately connected to the bottom and top deck stair rails. Use screws that won’t rust and will go all the way into the posts. A shaky connection between the post and the railing is the last thing you want. To avoid splitting the wood, drill pilot holes first.

Some deck builders use a massive piece of plywood that has been cut to create the parallelogram that the railings and posts generate when all the components are attached to verify the railings are in the right place.

Put another way, if you put a piece of plywood on the stair tread nosing tips and lay the long edge on them, the long top edge would be parallel to the stair nosings, but it would be excessively tall. You can draw a mark on the wood at the 34-inch level that fits the code requirement using a 4-foot level lying at the tip of the lower stair tread. You can now build the top of your handrail by making a similar mark with the level on the top tread and then snapping a line between the two lines. You can also see where the wood sheet comes into touch with both supports.

Uniformity

Cut the three odd lines using a saw, and you should have a parallelogram that fits nicely between the two posts. The top line should parallel the plywood’s bottom edge if you followed the instructions correctly. As you move up and down the steps, your top cut line depicts where your hand will contact the top of the railing. When you look at this oddly shaped piece of wood from a distance, it should appear excellent and uniform.

Conclusion

The steps are the final component of the deck building. It takes a little maths and a little know-how to build stairs. If these details are complex for you, the best investment you can make is hiring professional deck builders in Calgary or wherever you live. They will build beautiful stair railings for your decks. Deck stair railings in Calgary and other areas also come with specific construction codes. Professional deck builders will take care of all these requirements for you.