Firm up posts and railings?


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Old 06-24-15, 07:47 AM
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Firm up posts and railings?

My 4' posts are lag bolted to the 2x12 frame of the deck, and I installed plastic railing last year from the local home center. I'm not happy with the tightness and strength of the rails and 4x4 pt posts. It looks nice but if you leaned against the railing much, i'm sure they would let go.
What next? should i replace the 4' posts bolted to the deck frame and set new 8' ones in the ground and bold to the frame ? use threaded rods thru the railing to pull everything tighter?
 
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Old 06-24-15, 08:02 AM
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Lag bolting deck posts used to be common, but isn't recommended or code compliant any more because as you say, it isn't very strong and tends to loosen with age. There are a number of specialty brackets made to provide more support. The choice depends on how your deck is framed and what kind of access you have underneath. A couple photos would help.

Here's an article with some information to get you started: Code-Compliant Guardrail Posts - Professional Deck Builder Magazine
 
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Old 06-24-15, 09:32 AM
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