I have seen pictures of cable rail balusters that seem to be spaced quite
far apart. I thought horizontal balusters were forbidden because kids could
climb on them. Then I saw this this pix with the cables and I thought I
could fit my leg through so a kid could certainly get through and fall. This
house was built on a CA mountainside. What am I missing? Sorry I do not have
a link to the pix.

--
Tekkie

=?iso-8859-15?Q?Tekkie=AE?= writes:

I have seen pictures of cable rail balusters that seem to be spaced quite
far apart. I thought horizontal balusters were forbidden because kids could
climb on them. Then I saw this this pix with the cables and I thought I
could fit my leg through so a kid could certainly get through and fall. This
house was built on a CA mountainside.

Canadian or Californian?

What am I missing?

Some reference (e.g URL) that provides enough information from which one
can draw a useful inference.

FYI - A baluster is vertical, by definition. In a cable rail, the vertical
elements are known as posts or pickets.

Typically, the horizontal cables are no more than 3" apart, but this
depends on the applicable building codes (often not enforced in rural
settings).

On 4/15/2019 4:00 PM, Tekkie® wrote:

I have seen pictures of cable rail balusters that seem to be spaced quite
far apart. I thought horizontal balusters were forbidden because kids could
climb on them. Then I saw this this pix with the cables and I thought I
could fit my leg through so a kid could certainly get through and fall. This
house was built on a CA mountainside. What am I missing? Sorry I do not have
a link to the pix.


Could have been changed after inspection.

My deck rail was not to code either. It was like that for 35 years, but
when I put the house on the market I brought it to code. I did not want
it to be a sale issue nor did I want liability if the new owner had a kid.

On 4/15/19 4:00 PM, Tekkie® wrote:

I have seen pictures of cable rail balusters that seem to be spaced quite
far apart. I thought horizontal balusters were forbidden because kids could
climb on them. Then I saw this this pix with the cables and I thought I
could fit my leg through so a kid could certainly get through and fall. This
house was built on a CA mountainside. What am I missing? Sorry I do not have
a link to the pix.



Lots of pics he
https://www.atlantisrail.com/cable-railing

The site also has this comment re codes"
"At one time building code restrictions limited the use of any
horizontal railing for general use, which would include cable railing.
In 2001, the International Code Commission (ICC) removed this €œladder
law€� restriction from the International Residential Code (IRC). Though
there is nothing stated in the IRC or International Building Code (IBC),
any state or municipality has the right to write in their own code and
to interpret existing IRC and IBC. With cable railing you should always
consult the local code enforcement official with your plans first. Gain
approval before the installation, not after."

posted for all of us...



On 4/15/19 4:00 PM, Tekkie® wrote:

I have seen pictures of cable rail balusters that seem to be spaced quite
far apart. I thought horizontal balusters were forbidden because kids could
climb on them. Then I saw this this pix with the cables and I thought I
could fit my leg through so a kid could certainly get through and fall. This
house was built on a CA mountainside. What am I missing? Sorry I do not have
a link to the pix.



Lots of pics he
https://www.atlantisrail.com/cable-railing

The site also has this comment re codes"
"At one time building code restrictions limited the use of any
horizontal railing for general use, which would include cable railing.
In 2001, the International Code Commission (ICC) removed this ?ladder
law? restriction from the International Residential Code (IRC). Though
there is nothing stated in the IRC or International Building Code (IBC),
any state or municipality has the right to write in their own code and
to interpret existing IRC and IBC. With cable railing you should always
consult the local code enforcement official with your plans first. Gain
approval before the installation, not after."

Thank you for the post. I really get the chills when I think of some kid
climbing the cables to stand on the handrail and...

--
Tekkie