On Tue, 19 May 2009 19:25:23 -0400, "cshenk" wrote:

"mm" wrote

I'm making a small, low balcony, just 28" off the ground.

Am I generally required to put a railing around this? The railing
would interfere with the view of the yard.

I looked more and found some more. On a diagram at the end of the
Baltiomre County Building Code, it says

1. One handrail is required for 4 or more risers.
2. Two handrails with guardrails are required for floor surfaces more
than 30" above grade.
3. All risers must be of equal height.
4. [stuff about tread spacing]

So these are clearly about steps, but it does show that the 30" height
makes a difference there. I coudlnt'' find anything about when a
railing around the "floor surface" is required. Plainly if it were 7
inches above grade, a railing woudln't be needed. I wonder where the
borderline is.

It seems a 4 riser set of steps requires a handrail, and it says
minimum 8" concrete under deck posts. I was just going to use the
cinder blocks that the original builder used. I hope the inspector
considers this a repair and not a new deck. Maybe he'll skip these
things, but I don't think I'm going to put a lot of effort into all
this in case he tells me it's no good now and I have to start over
from scratch.

It gives a third choice including Use approve Anchoring System for the
posts. I wonder if resting on a cinder block is approved. It's been
doing that for 30 years.

It also says "Use Approved Joist Hanger". I would probably use them
because I'm a rank amateur , but surely a pro can still bulld a deck
without metal joist hangers. Don't you think?

This is probably not the same building inspector they send out for new
construction. One of my neigbhors is annoyed at me, and filed a
complaint, so this is the complaint inspector. I wonder if his
standards will be the same.

Safer though.

Yeah, but no one EVER goes there but me, and I only passed through it
on the way to the yard. Now that the stairs will be right in front of
the opening in the sliding glass door, and it's only two feet deep,
I'll never go on the rest of it. (I had been thinking of taking out
the whole deck and just putting in steps. But this is easier and
looks nicer, and as a table or work bench when I'm in the back yard,
it will have some uses.)

The actual question is code dependant on your area.
I have not seen any in my area of Virgina of that heght without rails if
that helps.

OK, you've prompted me to look again, and to look harder, and I
noticed stuff I hadn't a few days ago. It's only 91 pages. Is that
it, or is there something longer?

At the end I found a section on decks, and this is all it says "5.
Railings, footings, etc.- These and other details of the deck can make
the difference between a good job and a disaster. Please read the
requirements carefully and make both yourself and the inspector
smile!"

It doesn't say where the requirements are but following this page are
3 pages of diagrams of decks, and in one, it says

One handrail is required for 4 or more risers.
Two handrails with guardrails are required for floor surfaces more
than 30" above grade. Etc.

On the web it says: The Baltimore County Code says that it adopts the
ICC International Building Code, 2006 Edition.

If I put in steps, is a railing required next to a 28 inch high set of
steps.

Again, area code dependant. In my area, I see many with no rails that go
even farther than 28 inches as long as it is a private house. I'm generally
a sort of local hobby worker who helps add rails to structures like that
when an older or disabled person needs them in a private house and can't
afford to pay to have them added.

Searching for "rail", I found this. I was about to ask you what it
means but I found something in the sketches that explains it.

R312.2.1 LADDER EFFECT PROHIBITED: REQUIRED GUARDS SHALL NOT BE
CONSTRUCTED WITH HORIZONTAL RAILS OR OTHER ORNAMENTAL PATTERN THAT
RESULTS IN A LADDER EFFECT. FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS SECTION THE
RADIATING DIAGONAL GUARD DESIGN KNOWN AS CHIPPENDALE DOES NOT
CONSTITUTE A LADDER EFFECT.

The text is confusing to me, but I found comments in the sketches of
decks that said "Railing shall not be constructed in horizontal
position that results in ladder effect." near a pictures of railings
with vertical rails. Shorter and much clearer IMO. Finally it's clear
that they consider the ladder effect unsafe. Kids will climb on it or
catch their heads in it and hang themselves, off the ground, unlike a
fence, where they can slide down to the ground.

That's exactly what I and everyone in the n'hood had, horizontal
rails, but all the new ones afaicr have vertical posts, like an open
picket fence. A lot more trouble to make. I hope they leave me alone
on the since it's 2 inches below 30.