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deck railing safety



 
 
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  #11  
Old June 29th 05, 06:56 PM
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jojo wrote:
In my city, horizontal railing and bullwire railing is against code for the
very reason that
it forms a ladder.
International residential Code says, vertical railing with no part of the
railing that a 4" sphere can pass through.

Not saying you have to follow code, but it is a huge safety hazard.
jojo


I'd like to add that if you do not follow local code, you may have
trouble selling the house when it comes time for that (esp. if the
prospective buyer has an inspection done).

Call the local building department for help.

Annette



"Stephanie" wrote in message
...
DH is building us a new deck out the back of our house. We live in a

raised
ranch on a hill. So the deck is about 8' off the ground. To save money, DH
wants to use horizontal rails. What spacing would be safe to ensure little
toddleheads have no risk of getting through? While nothing supplants
supervision, I would rather be safe. *My* reaction to the horizontal

railing
was that the spacing would be so small as to eliminate the cost benefit to
going horizonatal, and would be terribly ugly. What do you all think?

Stephanie



  #12  
Old June 29th 05, 07:49 PM
Rosalie B.
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Ericka Kammerer wrote:

Stephanie wrote:

DH is building us a new deck out the back of our house. We live in a raised
ranch on a hill. So the deck is about 8' off the ground. To save money, DH
wants to use horizontal rails. What spacing would be safe to ensure little
toddleheads have no risk of getting through? While nothing supplants
supervision, I would rather be safe. *My* reaction to the horizontal railing
was that the spacing would be so small as to eliminate the cost benefit to
going horizonatal, and would be terribly ugly. What do you all think?


I think no way in heck would I have deck rails that form
a ladder... ;-)

My kids climbed even though the rails were vertical and even though
they couldn't get their feet through the spaces.

Personally I'd put whatever spacing you wanted, and then put chicken
wire or plastic sheeting on the inside of it until the kids grew out
of that stage.

grandma Rosalie
  #13  
Old June 29th 05, 08:32 PM
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I have strong opinions on this one.

When our youngest was 18 months old, we drove our oldest son (then 8)
to his first day at summer camp. We were all sitting on built in seats
on the deck of the main dining hall, talking to the camp nurse when
our daughter who was sitting between her brothers somehow managed to
skootch backwards bum first and go between the horizonal rails - they
were probably a foot apart. It happened in a heartbeat, and due to the
the way the ground sloped at the side of the building, she fell at
least 10 feet, just missing a pile of rocks. She had the wind knocked
out of her, so when we all ran around the edge of the deck, she was
lying still in the leaves and dirt - and I had one of those out of body
moments when I thought we'd lost her - or at least she'd never be okay
again. An ambulence was called, and off we went to the hospital with
her strapped to a spinal board (she wailed all the way since she wanted
to be picked up). Turned out, probably because she landed in the leaves
and she was so small, she had no serious injuries.

When we went back to pick up our son two weeks later, the camp had
changed out their railing - and put in vertical slats. If you had seen
the original railing, you would never have thought a toddler could get
between those slats, and like I said, she was through there in two
seconds flat - three adults were within grabbing distance of her and
none of us even saw her starting to wiggle backwards. It was like one
second she was sitting there and the next she was gone.

Most safety experts will tell you - horizontal slats facilitate
climbing - and if a kid can climb the railing, they will. There should
be no horizontal slats that form a ladder up the railing. Railings
should be at least a meter high (i.e. 3 feet), with a closely spaced
vertical slats bet - usually 4" centers. Don't try to save money on
this one.

Its been 6 years since she fell and I still think about it all the time
- and I can't tell you how many dangerous decks I've seen since then
that give me a sick feeling.

Mary

  #14  
Old June 29th 05, 09:41 PM
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wrote:
I have strong opinions on this one.

When our youngest was 18 months old, we drove our oldest son (then 8)
to his first day at summer camp. We were all sitting on built in seats
on the deck of the main dining hall, talking to the camp nurse when
our daughter who was sitting between her brothers somehow managed to
skootch backwards bum first and go between the horizonal rails - they
were probably a foot apart. It happened in a heartbeat, and due to the
the way the ground sloped at the side of the building, she fell at
least 10 feet, just missing a pile of rocks. She had the wind knocked
out of her, so when we all ran around the edge of the deck, she was
lying still in the leaves and dirt - and I had one of those out of body
moments when I thought we'd lost her - or at least she'd never be okay
again. An ambulence was called, and off we went to the hospital with
her strapped to a spinal board (she wailed all the way since she wanted
to be picked up). Turned out, probably because she landed in the leaves
and she was so small, she had no serious injuries.

When we went back to pick up our son two weeks later, the camp had
changed out their railing - and put in vertical slats. If you had seen
the original railing, you would never have thought a toddler could get
between those slats, and like I said, she was through there in two
seconds flat - three adults were within grabbing distance of her and
none of us even saw her starting to wiggle backwards. It was like one
second she was sitting there and the next she was gone.

Most safety experts will tell you - horizontal slats facilitate
climbing - and if a kid can climb the railing, they will. There should
be no horizontal slats that form a ladder up the railing. Railings
should be at least a meter high (i.e. 3 feet), with a closely spaced
vertical slats bet - usually 4" centers. Don't try to save money on
this one.

Its been 6 years since she fell and I still think about it all the time
- and I can't tell you how many dangerous decks I've seen since then
that give me a sick feeling.

Mary


I absolutely second this! I am currently building my own house and
since I was an accident prone child I can see various things that my
kids could get into trouble with. DS#1 will be 4 next month and DS#2 is
10mo. I have had an interesting time convincing people IRL that I don't
want a deck that sits 10 feet in the air (it is very popular here with
the rolling topography that we have). We will have a deck, but it will
only be about 3 feet high (we will be on a crawlspace), and will not
have an integrated bench.

I have a couple of personal fall stories, but not involving decks (one
involving myself when I was five yo and fell about 12' and one when
DS#1 was 10 mo and he fell over the arm of the couch and directly on
his head). These things happen incredibly fast.

annette

  #15  
Old June 29th 05, 10:19 PM
Irene
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Most building codes in the US require spacing such that a 4" sphere
can't fit through, and that it not allow climbing.

Irene the architect

 




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