Replies

1. 
   DustyandLefty | Jul 12, 2006 07:39pm | #1

   I just replaced an old spintered wood top stair rail with Trex last week.  This was for a back outside entrance from a laundry room so it didn't have to look the best.  I predrilled and counter sunk 2" coated deck screws.  Using a router on Trex works really well, so you can make custom profiles or shapes.  The customer was happy.

   My only Trex job before that was a full top & bottom rail + ballisters around a concrete porch plus a stair railing.  For the stair railing I ripped a piece of deck board down to about a 1x3 and routed a double rolled edge on it to make it easier to grasp.  I counter-sunk pockets (like what a Kreg jig does) and used stainless steel screws to join things together.  I wasn't happy with the stainless screws I used - they were too soft and some stripped out even with predrilling and using an impact driver.

   Gorilla Glue worked well for me on the miters and fastening the railing supports down to the concrete.  I was worried that the Trex would sag, so I put in reinforcing blocking between the bottom rail and the concrete every 3 or 4 feet between the posts.  Messy, but it cleaned up ok.

   Just my limited experience, I'll let those with more experience working with it give you the true expert advise.

   Dusty and Lefty

1. 
   JDRHI | Jul 12, 2006 07:57pm | #2

   Thanks for the reply.

   My biggest concern is the fabrication. I haven't been happy with the Trex to Trex connections. Material doesn't seem well suited for fasteners to grab to.

   J. D. Reynolds

   Home Improvements

1. 
   DustyandLefty | Jul 12, 2006 08:11pm | #3

   Yes, you're right.  That stuff is slippery.  I think my sequence was that I did the bottom rail to the posts, then the top (not the cap), predrilled the ballisters, did them one at a time to get the spacing correct, and used at least one pair of clamps to hold each one while fastening it.  Then the cap rail.  Then the blocking underneath the bottom rail between the posts so that somebody standing on the rail or sitting on the cap wouldn't tear the whole thing apart. 

   I try and do as much cutting and routing of this stuff outside as possible.  When I cut it inside my shop the gray plastic dust and curls make a real mess.

   Oh, it does take stain however.  I think I used a walnut gel stain on the porch railing to get it to match the shingles of the house.  This was back when you could get what ever color of Trex you wanted so long as it was plain gray.

   D&L

2. 
   MikeSmith | Jul 12, 2006 09:36pm | #4

   screws & nails..

    we did a deck  with the trex rail  in the photo section

    

   see"another deck with a view "

   Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
1. 
   JDRHI | Jul 12, 2006 10:43pm | #5

   Mike.....I'm planned on predrilling from the underside of the bottom rail, and then screwing up into the balusters. (Maybe a galvy finish toenail to keep them from spinning?)

   I was then going to predrill on an angle (toenail) up through the top of the balusters in order to screw to the underside of the top rail.

   Galvy deck screws? Will they bite into the Trex?

   J. D. Reynolds

   Home Improvements

1. 
   MikeSmith | Jul 13, 2006 01:51am | #6

   here's that pic of Barry comming down the stairs

   View Image

   we used the assembly jigs that Trex gives away

   we screwed the bottoms ( like you propose ) and pinned the tops by using SS finish nails thru the sides of the top rails...

   we made up all of the rail sections then dropped them over the brackets and screwed the brackets to the sections

    Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

1. 
   JDRHI | Jul 13, 2006 02:33am | #7

   Great....thanks Mike.....unfamiliar with the jigs.

   I'll look into them.

   J. D. Reynolds

   Home Improvements

1. 
   woody1777 | Jul 13, 2006 05:36am | #8

   Mikes got it right, use the trex jigs and brackets. Any other way you try with the decorative rail is gonna make you want to kill your self. Been there done that and it aint cool. =0

    

     A human being should be able to change a diaper,  plan an invasion,  butcher a hog,  conn a ship,  design a building, write a sonnet,  balance accounts,  build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specializtion is for insects. - robert heinlen    

2. 
   Matt | Jul 16, 2006 07:33pm | #9

   How is Barry doing these days?

1. 
   MikeSmith | Jul 16, 2006 07:56pm | #11

   physically... ok

   memory-wise... not well, he's in a home near Albany not far from his son

   i miss him all the time... what a nice guyMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

2. 
   Matt | Jul 16, 2006 08:11pm | #12

   Hummm - That is both good and bad...

   I've kinda got out of the MC thing.  Too many bad stories.

   A guy got killed in front of my jobsite a few months ago.  I didn't "go look" but some of the other guys did...  There is one of those white crosses with plastic flowers on it where it happened.  Do they do that in New England?

   I've worked some with a heavy equipment operator who is paralyzed from the waist down from a MC wreck on a possibly world famous stretch of road here in NC called "The dragon's tail".  He has a special trailer/hoist thingy with remote controls that he uses to set himself from his wheelchair into the machine de-jour.  He is a great operator and I have told him at least once or twice what an inspiration he is with what he has to deal with and his great attitude toward life.

3. 
   MikeSmith | Jul 16, 2006 09:16pm | #13

   yes.. the white crosses are all over NE too..

    as are a lot of Memorial events for  the deceased , and foundations set up in their memory

   but most are auto , not MCMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

3. 
   Matt | Jul 16, 2006 07:47pm | #10

   I did a few decks using almost exactly the same Trex railing components shown in Mike's pic.  I used SS trim gun nails to pin things in place and then made the actual connections with SS regular or trim head screws or painted TrapEase screws that are made specifically for composite material.   I must be getting old - I can'r remember how I connected the top of the pickets to the top rails.

   I have not had much luck with Trex and glue - including gorrilia glue.  The bond was not that strong.