By: Pedro L. SanchezAlso published in:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RailingRelated link:www.deciron.com/railings.aspx

RAILING SYSTEMS

“Railings” is a term applied to the structure that is installed alongside a staircase abalcony or a deck for safety purposes.Generally speaking, a railing system would be installed on the edge of a deck or astairway; however this is not a fixed rule. The railing could also just provideenclosure, or simply separation to an area within a building or house.Commonly used synonyms are banisters, balustrade, guardrail, handrail, veranda,or simply rail.

RAILINGS COMPONENTS

Railings basically consist of 2 or 3 horizontal rails, somehow connected together toform a rigid structure. The top rail is usually referred to as hand rail, and is the part that is accessible tohand grabbing. The handrail is usually placed at waist level, within 34 and 42 inchesor 87 to 107 cm, from the floor, depending on the application, and coderequirement. The bottom rail is usually placed 2 inches or 5 cm above ground leveland serves as foot rest when a person is leaning against the railing. The most common method of connecting together both, top and bottom rails is withstraight pickets or balusters. However there is limitless materials, designs and formsthat could be used for this purpose.Railings are usually installed in between posts and walls, but also may include poststhat are provided as part of the railing system. For longer spans, manufacturersusually provide in- between legs that just connects the bottom rail to the floor. To connect the railings to house pillars and walls, the railing system includes weldtabs, for metal railings and rosettes and brackets for wood railings.

CONSTRUCTION CLASSIFICATION AND CODE REQUIREMENTSResidential railings

By the international building code and its interpretations by the differentmunicipalities, it is common that residential railings are to be at least 34 inches or86 cm high from the floor to the top (the value 36 inches is what is normally usedwithin manufacturers), and are required to be installed if the deck area is above 30inches from the ground, and the balusters (pickets) have to have a maximalseparation of 4 inches in between, and the width of the top rail should not exceed 25/8 inches in width. They also have to be built sturdy enough to allow a horizontalforce of 200 pounds. Normally this criterion is just hand tested by the city inspector.In case of wall mounted railings, most of the time they are required to becontinuous and to end against the wall. However in some places the wall return isnot required. The minimum height requirement is 30 inches or 76 cm.In staircases, the standard 36 inch height is measured from the tread nose,vertically to the end point of the top handrail. When the staircase is open at itssteps, it is generally required that they don't allow a sphere of a maximum of sixinches diameter pass through, if a bottom plate is provided. If that is not possible,the balusters should be attached directly into the steps.

Commercial railings

Commercial buildings have a different code treatment, based on the fact that theyare open to the public and liability issues play a greater role. Therefore, commercial railings that act as guard rails are required to be at least 42inches high from the floor to the top of the handrail. In case of a stairway railing, thesame requirement applies; however, a side mounted railing at a maximum of 36inches is required. It is also a mandate to provide an extension at the lower end.All the other requirements are the same as the residential code.

MATERIALS CLASIFFICATION OF RAILINGS BY THE CONSTRUCTIONWood railings

Wood railings are the most common type of railings used on decks and interiorstairways. A carpenter can easily craft a deck railing using regular lumberpurchased in any hardware or lumber store. However, one can find readymadecomponents for wood deck railings.For interior stairways and interior balconies, there are specialized companies thatproduce all the components needed.

Handrails and pickets are manufactured in different shapes and in different types of wood. There is also a wide selection of newel posts, terminals, rosettes and brackets thatcan be purchased and assembled on site.Steel balusters are also combined with wood tops and connected directly into thefloor. This application normally applies to inside railing systems.

Iron Railings

The second most used railings type are iron railings. The term iron refers tocommercially available mild steel. Strictly, an iron railing would be a cast ironrailing, however the term applies to the common mild steel railings. The biggest advantage of installing an iron railing on a deck is that the view is notinterfered, because it is possible to manufacture them using narrow-width profiles,like ½ inch bars or tubes, and at the same time get the same sturdiness andsecurity of a wood or vinyl railing.Iron railings are long lasting, and with proper maintenance its appearance does notchange with time, as wood railings and aluminum railings do.A well painted iron railing will last forever.Iron railings and Aluminum railings can be classified into these basic categories andsubcategories:

Standard picket railings:

This is referred to a plain picket railing, with two rails one at the top and one at thebottom. Light ornamentation could be included under this classification, in mostcases overlay picket castings placed every 2 or four pickets.Usually a 1 ½ inch channel or plate is used as a top and bottom railing. Howeverone inch square tubing is also used and on the top rail and a molded cap, called“Dixie cap”, is commonly installed on top of it. Another approach is the use of rectangular tubing, usually 2x1 but also 3x2 tubes, especially for the top rail.

Ornamental picket railings:

This term refers in most cases to a railing with ornamental vertical pickets, whichcould be twisted pickets, hammered pickets, scroll pickets or combination. The restof the constructive specifications could be the same as the standard railings,however, in many cases thicker profiles are used, like 1 ½ inch tubes and 2’ or 2 ¼ ‘cap rails for a bulkier appearance.