Settle this debate...update in 1st post

[lexi]

So our deck is being redone. It will have white railings and a stained floor. 

I was anticipating there to be 4 horizontal railings  on all sides. 

There are currently 3. I don’t think this is safe and secure enough with small children and a large two story deck. 

I want the rails to be like the ones in the first picture (but white obviously). The second picture shows the current railings. What do you think? 

Update: Thanks for all the thoughts. I shared my concerns with my hubby and we discussed vertical railings. He agreed with me that it would be best. So he stayed home from work and now I have vertical slats on my deck. It looks amazing. I’ve had two sick kids and I’m 38 weeks pregnant and I’ve felt overwhelmed with the deck stuff. So I’m thankful that my hubby took care of it all. I truly feel like I can’t even think about it anymore or make any rational decisions. I guess being 9 months pregnant is really mesding with me (not to mention the heat!) Now the lower deck is being redone. So glad there is progress and it won’t be much longer until I have a new deck  

 

[PeachyDoodle]

I prefer the look of the first picture.

However, if time and/or cost is a factor, I don't think the second look is terrible. It doesn't seem to be that far off the ground, so I wouldn't be terribly concerned about falls. I would definitely supervise very young children on any deck, of course.

[J-rap]

I'm with you.  I'd want to add the 4th.  It just looks too open and tempting!

[lexi]

Time and cost isn’t a huge factor. I’d rather it be done right and I’d rather it feel safe. 

And yes, I agree. The wide open space is too wide and tempting. I have a small dog and a toddler. It just makes me nervous. 

And I feel the 3 rails looks unfinished or something. It just doesn’t look right. 

[Annie G]

What does your local building code require? Ours talks about spacing not wider than 4 inches (and our inspector carries a ball to test that) but that’s for vertical balusters.  What does code say about the kind you have?

[Soror]

I think the 4 railing looks better and is significantly safer.

 

[Noreen Claire]

It's your house and your money. Have it done the way you want!

 

FWIW, I agree that the giant spaces between slats would scare me with a toddler.

[marbel]

I could see myself being really bothered by having too much space between the rails, and not being able to relax on the deck till my  kids were old enough not to pass themselves through the spaces.  Also I'd probably be really nervous with guests.   

Aesthetically, they both seem fine to  me. 

What is code for that sort of railing? (ETA as has been said while I was typing slowly.  :-) )  I wonder if that would be a problem reselling.  (I understand that may not be a factor at all but mentioning it anyway.)

[KungFuPanda]

I like the more open look. I wouldn’t make permanent design decisions based upon parenting a toddler. Choose what you want to live with long term and just babyproof or supervise in the interim.

[Innisfree]

I'd prefer four rails with small children around.

[Guest]

I would not want that much space, even with my own children not small and no little dogs. 

[kiwik]

I would check the building code.  I don't think another rail would make much difference to a determined toddler. And it would make climbing on to the top rail a lot easier.

Eta.  I think having a tempting ladder round my deck would worry me more.

 

 

 

 

[Selkie]

I'm with you - I would be concerned about kids or a small dog falling through those widely spaced rails.

When our kids were little, we put up 3' tall lattice along the inside of our deck rails. It was inexpensive, looked nice, and kept them safe and sound. Once they were old enough, we took it down.

[I talk to the trees]

I agree with you. Add another rail.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Another vote to check the building code. It will specify how much of a space there can be between railings. 

[Katy]

I'd equally space two rails (one in each open space for a total of 5) OR I'd put up hardware cloth or chicken wire, or possibly steel cable in the spaces.  Mostly because it's more difficult to patch the holes in vinyl than it is in wood, so just moving them would be more difficult.

[flyingaway]

I’ve never before seen horizontal deck rails so my brain things they both look weird. But I would like the second one best if the bottom rail was brought up about six inches and then the middle rail split the distance, if that makes sense. 

[ktgrok]

No way. It needs to be either redone to keep kids from climbing/going through or plexiglass or whatever put to block the opening or something. No way. You have a toddler. And you said it is a second story deck. Toddler falling from the second story? No. 

[bolt.]

I don’t think either version is safe for babies and toddlers without direct and attentive supervision.

The open one is SUPER open... it barely defines the barrier and is incredibly easy to crawl through, lean through or tumble through by tripping nearby.

The 4-slat one is basically a ladder to the top of the railing, and it would still be quite easy for a small child to get through the gaps if they wanted to do so.

I’ve never seen either kind in real life, so I suspect they are probably against code in my area. If I were in your shoes, I’d accept either one, and put up lattice or plywood to childproof it as needed.

[marbel]

After reading all the "ladder" comments, I started thinking about places I've lived that had balconys/decks with railings. They all had vertical slats.  I don't remember how close together, but, pretty close. But no ladder effect. 

[Petrichor]

I agree, 4 rails looks better and safer. I really like the look of the top ledge in the first pic too. Not sure if that is included in your plan for the finished deck though.

[Petrichor]

Oooh, hadn't thought of the ladder that it would create. A wooden lattice piece to discourage climbing would look nice too. Is there a reason why you didn't want to go with vertical slats?

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

 

Another vote to check building codes.

[MerryAtHope]

Check building codes and/or with your insurance agent--they'll drop you if it's not to code. Agreeing that it should be vertical slats, not horizontal (we did a rail a couple of years ago & I think they had to be 4").

[ashfern]

All of my kids would climb those horizontal rails. 

[BarbecueMom]

We had the second-picture type railings on an upper story deck when we bought the house.  And we tore them out and replaced them with vertical balusters before our toddlers were allowed out there.  Honestly, I've gone through phases where I've banned anything climbable from the deck.  I had nightmares of them dragging patio chairs or the Little Tykes table over to the far end to stand on, leaning too far over the railing, and falling.  It's turning my stomach just thinking about it.

They are back out there now that my youngest is turning five, but the chairs had been in the basement for a couple years.

My vote is neither.  Vertical balusters or a sunburst pattern railing.

[Rachel]

Another vote to see if that meets building codes, in our area they are pretty strict and if a child could fall through it wouldn’t be approved. 

[gardenmom5]

doesn't look safe.  who is doing the railing?

  but yeah - what is the building code?   I actually had a contractor refuse to do what I asked (I won't have shed any tears if he got canned for that.) - the city, which had to sign off on the work - refused and made them come back and fix it.  (the boss sent someone else to fix it. which cost the boss more money. two days labor for what should have only been one.)

[gardenmom5]

even without a toddler, small child, dog - it's too wide. unless you plan on plexiglass - in which case the middle rail is superfluous and detracts.

I used to see horizontal rails all the time- on houses built in the 50's/60's.   then they went vertical.  and all the houses I used to see with horizontal rails - had vertical rails when they replaced their decks.

[Liz CA]

Aesthetically, I prefer the 4 railing look. Only the middle board needs to be moved up or down to make room unless you want all boards to be configured differently.

I would worry not only about my children and dogs but other people's kids as well since we occasionally have guests with young ones, even more often when our son was still younger.

As far as building codes go...in the house behind yours, I see vertical slats, close together. So, yeah check the codes. It would be a shame if you built it and had to tear it down again.

[Spy Car]

Forgive the rushed Photoshop job, but I'd be inclined forsomething like this:

 

 

Bill

[gardenmom5]

why is the middle support post not flush with the top of the top rail? all the other posts are flush.

[brehon]

Actually, the deck rail on the house behind yours looks safer than either 3 or 4 horizontal rails. I’m surprised horizontal rails are allowed in the building code. 

[RootAnn]

When our deck was redone, I only wanted two rails. Code wouldn't allow it, so it was plexiglas or vertical slats. We have vertical slats. DH hates them because they fall out when it is cold (bad contractor cutting job). I dislike them because they just don't look right and block my view. (ETA: Something like these.) But, code, you know. *sigh*

So, I agree with the others. I'm shocked if what you have now is allowed per code!

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Liz CA said:

Aesthetically, I prefer the 4 railing look. Only the middle board needs to be moved up or down to make room unless you want all boards to be configured differently.

I would worry not only about my children and dogs but other people's kids as well since we occasionally have guests with young ones, even more often when our son was still younger.

As far as building codes go...in the house behind yours, I see vertical slats, close together. So, yeah check the codes. It would be a shame if you built it and had to tear it down again.

This is me, too. We have a raised, huge fireplace hearth with a sharp brick edge. I put foam bumper edging on it when we first moved in and there it remains, 15 years later. It is not beautiful. But it is much safer. I plan to keep it there until I move, if not beyond that for the next owner. 

I could not live with myself if a little niece/nephew/grand or friend’s child fell into that horrible edge when I had removed the bumper because it isn’t pretty. And hey, even my rough-housing boys could have a terrible mishap with that hearth. So it stays. Looks notwithstanding. 

[LifeLovePassion]

Another vote for horizontal slats less than 4 inches apart, that is what code is in our area. If you ever sell, an inspector could flag it as a problem. 

[KungFuPanda]

How ‘bout this? 

 

[Ellie]

ITA with you completely.

[EMS83]

14 hours ago, soror said:

I think the 4 railing looks better and is significantly safer.

 

This.  Also, yes, the bottom rail is too low.  If it can't be reworked with more slats, I'd insist on wire mesh of some sort to cover the huge gaps.

[TechWife]

I think it needs the four slats, but I also think you need to call the city or county inspector and see what he says about the horizontal slats. 

[Carrie12345]

Safety-wise, I come from a family where chicken wire is a completely acceptable safety measure. ?

Style-wise, as someone who HATES her giant front porch rails, please get what you really want NOW, instead of hating it for who knows how long.  We had a nightmare contractor who had his own "brilliant" ideas, and I just wanted to get him out of my life as fast as possible.  Now I have rails that are a very bizarre height for no good reason and I glare at them every day.

[katilac]

On 6/20/2018 at 4:08 PM, Dust said:

Oooh, hadn't thought of the ladder that it would create. A wooden lattice piece to discourage climbing would look nice too. Is there a reason why you didn't want to go with vertical slats?

 

Lattice is very easily climbed. 

On 6/20/2018 at 9:14 PM, KungFuPanda said:

How ‘bout this? 

 

 

 

Also very easily climbed. 

Closely spaced vertical slats are what you want if safety is the concern. Toddlers can get their heads stuck in verrrry tiny spaces. 

[sassenach]

The 3 slat option is scary. I’m shocked that anyone is arguing for it. 

[gardenmom5]

our vertical slats were about an inch too far . . . we wove chicken wire in and out.   nothing was going through . . . .  (now - we have something completely different. - though one deck the slats were simply "refaced" with 1/2x6's with an eldeweiss cutout so dh could be reminded of austria.  the other deck was completely replaced.)

[KungFuPanda]

41 minutes ago, katilac said:

 

Lattice is very easily climbed. 

 

Also very easily climbed. 

Closely spaced vertical slats are what you want if safety is the concern. Toddlers can get their heads stuck in verrrry tiny spaces. 

 

I was suggesting wire mesh/hardware cloth lining as a general lining idea. The squares weave can be as tight as you like. If a mouse can’t get through it I doubt a toddler will get his head stuck. 

I’d also be inclined to think of building and babyproofing as two separate things. Yes, be up to code, but get what you really like and plan temporary reinforcements during that short season of life. You’d have to be on a deck with a toddler anyway. You can change the rails all you like, but they’ll just move a chair to climb on it. 

[Soror]

So glad to hear your hubby fixed it and now you can rest easy!

[lexi]

Here’s the deck now (with another coat of paint going on soon). And ignore the weird glare as I took the pic through the glass door. Also, the right side did not have the slats in this picture so I’m aware it isn’t finished. But I’m happy with the progress. The bottom half of the deck is next! It has a completely different set-up as there is seating around two sides of it. But I’m excited to see how it turns out. 

[Soror]

It looks great, kudos Mr. Lexi!

[Annie G]

Looks great!!

[gardenmom5]

yeah for the update.  now you can just finish working on that baby.