Monday, March 07, 2016

By John Voket With the wide variety of deck designs and materials we've been talking about over the years, it occurred to us that we're not paying enough attention to the railings. So we made the acquaintance of James Pader, whose North Carolina-based Mountain Laurel Handrails imagines and designs a huge variety of railings for clients around the country.

Pader has been personally building artistic branch railings for more than a decade, and shipping them nationwide for the past five years. He recently assembled a list of 200-plus pictures of deck railing ideas and designs, organized by type for quick reference on his company’s website, AWoodRailing.com.

According to Pader, when either building or remodeling, there are many different deck handrail ideas to choose from. The first consideration should be the space where you're fitting in the deck. Is it a comfortable, cozy space, or is it wide and expansive, with long-range views?

The character of the space and also the home will determine how to best design the deck to fit. This should always be the No. 1 consideration.

A well-designed deck begins with planning, Pader adds. Deciding on the basic deck style will determine a lot of other details. The top 10 deck handrail designs and materials for this year, according to Pader and his sources, are:

1. Horizontal Wood 2x2 Handrail Design
2. Craftsman Vertical Wood 2x2 Railing
3. Asian-Inspired Craftsman-Style Wood Railing
4. Rustic Triple Horizontal Board Handrail
5. Sideways Arrow Wood Railing Design
6. Horizontal Rebar Rustic Handrail
7. Different Width Vertical Board Railing
8. Double Vertical 2x2 Baluster Design
9. Continuous 2x6 Top with 2x4 Balusters
10. Horizontal Metal Pipe Handrail 

To learn more, and view dozens and dozens of deck railing ideas, check out Pader's website, AWoodRailing.com.

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