Could someone educate me on wire cable for deck railing? Gulf of Mexico salt water is a big factor. I have been looking at a DIY kit for the deck, and some places do not recommend stainless 316 grade for anything near the coast, but to use a 2205 Stainless Steel rods instead. Any words of wisdom in this regard?
Meeting local code requirements would probably clear up any questions, if getting it inspected is part of your plan. That’s where I would start.
The cable systems can be a good bit of maintenance in areas with large temperature fluctuations or high humidity as thermal expansion and contraction really effect the tension kept on the springs. If you go this route, buy the cable tensioning gauge and keep it handy. It looks nice when it's adjusted properly, but it typically takes work to keep it that way. The SS balusters look great too and are pretty my much maintenance free after installation. My only gripe is that the rail sections come in preassembled lengths, so the spacing at the ends don't always match. It's a small thing to most, but I'm extremely detailed and picky when it comes to these things. As far as recos on which to go with regarding coastal weather, is follow the manufacturers recommendations in case you have an issue down the road. Both will look amazing when installed correctly. Good luck!
Here's one I did a few years ago. It turned out great, but getting the tension right on the radius while keeping the posts plumb was fun!
316 is normally used for sailboat rigs...dont you have one of those?...maybe get with local chandlery and see what they have. Although due to internal corrosion you're supposed to replace it every 10-15 years...not sure if there is a better version besides Dynema. Myself...I would find something like 1x19 1/4 or 3/8 16 SS and go to town.
I just did this with all my decks and they suck. Tension on the wires keeps loosening and I'm running out of screw length to tighten them. Looks good tho.
I'm redoing my 20x15' deck surface and railing currently. After removing all the rotted dock boards, the joists and framing looked very good so slapping down some composite boards and piecing together a DIY cable railing. The plan was to build my own railing posts and get them powder coated but I ended up finding some Vevor brand posts on sale locally so going with those. The 2" square tube wall isn't as thick as I was going to spec but they look decent enough and were less than I was going to pay for the PC alone. 750' of 1/8" SS cable arrive from Amazon and I'm sourcing tension fittings and crimps now. Seems straight forward enough but I'll know for sure once I have all my materials and actually start putting it all together...
Thanks to this thread, if i will ever go from vertical balusters to horizontal cables, i will make sure to include a gravity based tensioning system
Hmm, never thought of cables, I have a 30'x30' dock on the lake that I was thinking about using hog panels... cables might be better and easier...
Fiberon for the primary surface and then Trex for the picture frame in a different color. Joist tape went down right after I pulled the old boards. The 2" wide stuff I got didn't stick the best around the corners/side of the joists but it should still help protect the horizontal surface once the composite is down.
My experience as a mechanic at food plant for 18yrs: stainless braided wire and drive chains will stretch damn near 25% over their life. Stainless steel is a weird material to work with as far as machining, grinding, and cutting but under tension it's like taffy. I can't recall how many times I've seen mechanics put the shiny chain on thinking it'd last forever and be jumping or replacing sprockets within a week or so.
Was there a deck height waiver on your build that allowed the cable rails to bypass the "let's not choke a child" building code? Thought I read that building codes dictate no opening (vertical space between cable rails) shall be more than 4 inches. The rules are always changing, can't keep up with this stuff.
We transport hazmat chemicals in 316 SS all the time. It holds up to most anything My folks did their deck 2 summers ago in it. Ill get pics this weekend.
Anything under 30" finished height doesn't even need a railing. Aside from that, it was for a designer that I've worked with for 20+ years and she elected to forgo permits.
