pvc railing
how do you secure those pvc railing systems to your deck...from what i see at lowes there is a bottom plate that get screwed to the deck floor and then the post sits in that...does seem to secure..am i missing something...thaks I believe we are talking about the same product. It is not PVC all the way through, but rather composite-centered that is covered in white vinyl. Its strong stuff. I just got through installing it on my new deck and it wasn't easy. Are you trying to install it on an existing deck, or a new deck? If its a new deck, they sell brackets and you attach the posts to the rim joists much in the same way you would with 4x4's except you don't run a bolt through them - you use their expensive bracket system. If you are putting them on your existing deck -then - yes - they sell that plate system. It doesn't look strong to me either, but if they sell it, it must pass code somewhere. Be sure to check with your local inspector. As I said, I just got through installing this Severe Weather system. I am very happy with how it turned out, but I will add two caveats: Its very expensive by the time you get through getting all the accessories, and doing 45 degree angles is simply a pain in the neck. Feel free to write back with any questions about this system - I consider myself an expert on it now. I'm going to be putting a vinyl railing on my deck, but from HD, not Lowe's. It will be the Williamsburg railing, which looks like turned balusters, not square. Anyways, I have a choice of mounting the posts either way. If I choose the Williamsburg posts, which look turned, then they have to be mounted on top of the deck boards because they won't slide over the 4x4 posts. If I go with the square posts, they can be slid over the 4x4s. I think anything that's bolted to the deck frame is the strongest, so I'm going to use the square post covers. It's all a matter of what you want it to look like, and what you deem safe enough. This is a good subject. I looked at both closely as well. Some other key differences: 1. HD has a product that is already notched and can be bolted to the outside of your frame. That's very convenient if you like that look. 2. The Lowes product is hollow - and what's nice about that is that its very easy to mount post lighting and drop the wire down through the post. 3. Both are expensive....seriously pricey once you buy all the accessories - but both look very good. In the end, I chose the Lowe's - but its a matter of preference. I agree that mounting them to your deck is not a good option when you can attach them to the framing. Let me know if you have questions once you start putting in the railing - that can be quite tricky and I have some good tips I learned from my errors. I installed last year vinyl railing system from lowes (at home) and its work beauty. First of you want to use the 4x4 with the sleeve over it it's the best way to Do it, beside with 4x4 you can mount them to the main stricter with carriage bolts And you good to go, it will never move this century for sure, as for the carriage bolt they Always need to be mounted in cross not in straight line, as for dimensional lumber 4x4 is about 3.5 inch ,and lowes ,HD or any supplies house will carry what you looking for in particular. Good luck Originally Posted by deckgrasshopper Let me know if you have questions once you start putting in the railing - that can be quite tricky and I have some good tips I learned from my errors. Do tell! I'm assuming that the post covers won't fit snugly over the posts. I had read somewhere once before that they should be shimmed so they are tight. I was thinking about pushing the corner ones into the corner of the post so the extra space is on the outside on both the side and the front. I figured those are the sides that will possibly get pushed on from on the deck, not from the outside. Not sure about posts down the straight runs. Just push them against the inside of the posts and pick either the left or right to push them all to. Shimming might take care of the problem for me though. Any other gotchas? I did not slide mine over existing posts, but rather built the deck from scratch and just used the SevereWeather posts as is - they are strong and don't need the insert. It sounds like you have posts and are going to put these over the top - a couple of gotchas: 1. The fit is going to be good, not pefect. If you shim it, I agree, make sure you shim them all on the same side so they line up equally. YOu are only talking about 1/8 tops here though. Actually - if your posts are not pefectly aligned (say your rim joist was a bit bowed) this is a chance to make the posts more well aligned. Once shimmed - you will be sinking screws through the sleeve into the wood in order to secure the railing. I doubt highly you will get anything less than a solid-feeling post. 2. Before you go shimming etc..you might want to take advantage of this slight room to put some lighting on your posts. I did it (for 50.00 you get a transformer and 6 lights from Lowes/HD of low voltage post lights). You just affix the lights to the sleeve and run the wire down the gap and under the deck where it connects to a main wire you'll run. I love my lights - its so nice at night to have that downlighting for ambience. 3. If you don't have angles - then this is going to be a pretty easy job. It would help to have a 2nd person- but I did it alone with minimal frustration about the ballusters. The railing is all about placement of the brackets - there are no ballusters to cut. Just get the brackets on and snap - you are done. 4. You will probably have to cut your posts to get the desired height - they are sold in 48 length. Don't worry if the cut isn't perfect - it will get hidden by either the decorative base ring, or the decorative post cap. If you don't have angles (45 degree) - this is a very forgiving, easy to install system. (But very expensive) Originally Posted by Crocostimpy Do tell! I'm assuming that the post covers won't fit snugly over the posts. I had read somewhere once before that they should be shimmed so they are tight. I was thinking about pushing the corner ones into the corner of the post so the extra space is on the outside on both the side and the front. I figured those are the sides that will possibly get pushed on from on the deck, not from the outside. Not sure about posts down the straight runs. Just push them against the inside of the posts and pick either the left or right to push them all to. Shimming might take care of the problem for me though. Any other gotchas? did you shim the sleeves. If so how and with what? deckgrasshopper, Just because a big box store sells it, don't assume it meets code ANYWHERE, and chance are about even as to whether it'll meet code in the jursidiction where your is located. There are different systems for attaching vinyl railing. The ones I use all call for a wood 4X4 to be bolted to the deck framing and a sleeve slides over that once the decking is installed. Whether the style that has a bracket bolted to the decking (PLUS THE ADDITIONAL FRAMING UNDER THE DECK BOARD!!) will meet your local code or not is strictly up to your local bldg. dept. Shimming the sleeves usually isn't necessary. Once the rail brackets are attached with 1-1/2 screws, those screws will be embedded at least an inch into the 4X4. Just make sure the sleeve is plumb and square before attaching the brackets and that your screws don't pull it around. Originally Posted by rapat62 did you shim the sleeves. If so how and with what? Well, that house and deck are now gone and I will be looking to do it all over again at our new place, but yes I did end up shimming them. I don't remember exactly how thick they were, but I'm thinking about 1/4. I slid a vinyl sleeve over a post, pushed it into a corner of the post, and measured what I'd need. I went and bought a bunch of 1 by whatever thickness pieces of wood and cut the length the same as the sleeve, so the shims would sit on the decking. I dropped the shims in after the sleeve was slid over the post. In most cases I had to tap them down into the gaps. The faces of the vinyl sleeves tend to bow in a little so that made the shims snug. That's good, because they won't move around later. I used two shims for each face gap, or four per post. I agree that you don't have to shim the sleeves, but I'm anal about everything and I figured it didn't take much more time to just do it. Incidentally, if your doing a vinyl railing, now's a great time to run low voltage lighting through the railing. I picked up a kit that had lights that mounted on the posts. Mount them just low enough so that when you're seated you can't see the bulbs. You'll have to bore some holes through the posts to pass the wires to the lights, and to the next railing. Snake the wires up the first post through the gap between the post and the vinyl sleeve. We were very happy with how it turned out, and hated to leave that house. Oh well, the next one will be even better! http://www.picattic.com/viewer.php?f...gra986nmqe.jpg I did a some research on vinyl railings and got samples from these two websites www.usavinyl.com and www.weatherwise.com both seemed very sturdy with aluminum reinforcement in the top and bottom rail. weatherwise offers a nice handrail system. I plan to order my railing from usavinyl and handrail from weatherwise. It will be matched with quadra PVC decking, with the posts being 4x4 treated coming up out of the frame. Deck should be complete by mid August.
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