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I am rebuilding a redwood deck using some of the ideas from the “Furniture Grade Deck” article in FHB a couple of years ago. The Deckmaster brackets give a nice clean look to the deck itself, and I’d like to carry as much of that over to the railing as I can.
Can anyone suggest a durable method of attaching the cap rail that doesn’t involve exposed screws or brackets? I have thought of countersinking and plugging the screw holes, but am a bit leery about the plugs popping. How about a shallow mortise and tenon joint? Would a polyurethane glue (Gorilla Glue) work for this application (or for the plugs, for that matter)?
Any suggestions on attaching the rails to the sides of the posts? For the deck in the article they used short sections of copper tubing. I could easily bore the holes in the posts with a drill press, but don’t have access to a horizontal boring machine which they used to make the mating holes in the ends of the rails. Any other ideas or pointers to ‘invisible’ brackets?
Thanks
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I built several railings on decks of our house with pre-shaped cedar top rails. The rails had bevels cut along the top edges, but on the bottom, there was a shallow (0.5") groove which was about 1.5" wide that ran the length of each piece. I installed it on top of the horizontal rails (2x4's) which were center-mounted to the posts, with the "longer" side facing out & the "shorter" side facing up & down. I removed about 1/8" off of each side along the top of this 2x4 so the top rail fit snugly over it....basically a very shallow (& continuous) mortise & tenon joint. I then countersunk some deep holes into the top rail & fastened it w/ stainless steel screws, & plugged the holes w/ matching plugs, w/ a small amount of glue, & sawed the plugs flush after a few weeks (to let them expand from the external moisture). Applied a solid stain a few months later, & have not had a single problem since. Since you are using redwood, though, I doubt you'll be staining.
Good luck.
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KEN, JUST PREDRILL THE RAILS FROM BELOW AND SINK THE SCREWS. THEY BECOME CONCEALED, AWAY FROM THE WEATHER.
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I am rebuilding a redwood deck using some of the ideas from the "Furniture Grade Deck" article in FHB a couple of years ago. The Deckmaster brackets give a nice clean look to the deck itself, and I'd like to carry as much of that over to the railing as I can.
Can anyone suggest a durable method of attaching the cap rail that doesn't involve exposed screws or brackets? I have thought of countersinking and plugging the screw holes, but am a bit leery about the plugs popping. How about a shallow mortise and tenon joint? Would a polyurethane glue (Gorilla Glue) work for this application (or for the plugs, for that matter)?
Any suggestions on attaching the rails to the sides of the posts? For the deck in the article they used short sections of copper tubing. I could easily bore the holes in the posts with a drill press, but don't have access to a horizontal boring machine which they used to make the mating holes in the ends of the rails. Any other ideas or pointers to 'invisible' brackets?
Thanks