Building deck. Don't want to obstruct river view. Any thoughts on
stainless steel wire cables instead of balustrades and/or where to buy?

"riverhome" wrote in message
oups.com...
Building deck. Don't want to obstruct river view. Any thoughts on
stainless steel wire cables instead of balustrades and/or where to buy?


I don't know, but I were looking for this, I'd call my town's public works
department. They use similar stuff for guard rails. I'd bet they could point
me in the right direction.

"riverhome" wrote in message
oups.com...
Building deck. Don't want to obstruct river view. Any thoughts on
stainless steel wire cables instead of balustrades and/or where to buy?

Check with your building inspector as to what he will accept. Thee is a
maximum spacing to contend with but there may also be a minimum thickness.
Falling against a thin wire would be very painful.

Balustrades with a sheet of tempered glass or Lexan between?

Maybe a boating supply store would have plastic coated cable.
"riverhome" wrote in message
oups.com...
Building deck. Don't want to obstruct river view. Any thoughts on
stainless steel wire cables instead of balustrades and/or where to buy?

That's a really good idea.


"Jeff" wrote in message
...
Maybe a boating supply store would have plastic coated cable.
"riverhome" wrote in message
oups.com...
Building deck. Don't want to obstruct river view. Any thoughts on
stainless steel wire cables instead of balustrades and/or where to buy?

Its called aircraft cable and it comes in a variety of diameters up to 3/8"
or so. You will have to buy a long length, cut it yourself and use some
kind of crimp to form loops on the ends. These can now be threaded onto a
longer horizontal span you have streatched tightly. Once you find a place
that sells the cable, you will also find the tools and fastners used with
it. Some limited (smaller) sizes are available at hardware stores.

The problems with this design are the difficulty in maintaining the position
and tension on the short vertical cables. You could end up with a bunch of
bolted on cable fastners which won't look very neat.

I might go with a steel or wood pole for the rails and posts every 4 feet or
so to maintian tension.

Though my vote would be for 3/8" glass panels cut into balustrades. A
number of patterns come to mind like solid wall ( ---------- ), pickets
( - - - - - - ) or alternating ( -_-_-_-_- ). Can do this in plastic too
but won't last as long (WRT scratches and hazing)

A wire cloth (fencing material) with a custom plated finish would be trendy
too.




"riverhome" wrote in message
oups.com...
Building deck. Don't want to obstruct river view. Any thoughts on
stainless steel wire cables instead of balustrades and/or where to buy?

"PipeDown" wrote in message
k.net...
Its called aircraft cable and it comes in a variety of diameters up to
3/8" or so. You will have to buy a long length, cut it yourself and use
some kind of crimp to form loops on the ends. These can now be threaded
onto a longer horizontal span you have streatched tightly. Once you find
a place that sells the cable, you will also find the tools and fastners
used with it. Some limited (smaller) sizes are available at hardware
stores.

The problems with this design are the difficulty in maintaining the
position and tension on the short vertical cables. You could end up with
a bunch of bolted on cable fastners which won't look very neat.

How about using turnbuckles to adjust the tension?
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...allpartial/0/0

And, this cable claims to have less stretch than others, although who
knows....
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...allpartial/0/0


Boat places are generally 138 times more expensive than other sources, so
these are shown just for illustration purposes.

On 26 Apr 2006 09:02:17 -0700, "riverhome"
wrote:

Building deck. Don't want to obstruct river view. Any thoughts on
stainless steel wire cables instead of balustrades and/or where to buy?

I don't blame you. I only have a little stream but I was happy when
the highest rail, a 2x4, rotted away.

How about a horizontal railing in front of a 4 to 6 inch high rail.
Or a net?

So if you go beyond the deck, the net will catch you. I don't know
what angles are involved but it could be at the same level as your
deck, if you don't have to look down to see the river, or a foot or
two below the deck.

mm wrote:
On 26 Apr 2006 09:02:17 -0700, "riverhome"
wrote:


Building deck. Don't want to obstruct river view. Any thoughts on
stainless steel wire cables instead of balustrades and/or where to buy?


I don't blame you. I only have a little stream but I was happy when
the highest rail, a 2x4, rotted away.

How about a horizontal railing in front of a 4 to 6 inch high rail.
Or a net?

So if you go beyond the deck, the net will catch you. I don't know
what angles are involved but it could be at the same level as your
deck, if you don't have to look down to see the river, or a foot or
two below the deck.
Hi,
In my neighborhood we look down onto a golf course and a river plus
Rockies far away. Most decks have Lexan panels with thin Al posts in
between instead of wood railing. My deck is on second floor all enclosed.
Actually 3 season sun room that is.

On Thu, 27 Apr 2006 01:07:11 -0400, mm
wrote:

On 26 Apr 2006 09:02:17 -0700, "riverhome"
wrote:

Building deck. Don't want to obstruct river view. Any thoughts on
stainless steel wire cables instead of balustrades and/or where to buy?

I don't blame you. I only have a little stream but I was happy when
the highest rail, a 2x4, rotted away.

How about a horizontal railing in front of a 4 to 6 inch high rail.
Or a net?

So if you go beyond the deck, the net will catch you. I don't know
what angles are involved but it could be at the same level as your
deck, if you don't have to look down to see the river, or a foot or
two below the deck.


Build three steps down, a walkway along the outer edge,
and THEN the railing. That puts the upper edge of the rail
at about 16" above the upper deck.