Hi, just joined the forum. I have read lots of the threads on balustrades and have learnt a lot, but none quite cover my problem.

We have a deck with pergola on a recently bought house. Highest drop is 1200, so it needs a good balustrade. What it has are 1 metre high rails, but no balusters. There is a lower rail, centred at 150mm above the deck. Rails and intermediate posts are 70 x 70 mm. End and corner posts are 100 x 90 mm. The rails appear to be rebated into the posts a little and nailed, I guess at one end the rebate is deep enough to allow insertion.

I was thinking of adding a 15 x 10 timber strip along the outside edge of the rails, under the top rail and on top of the lower rail, and then fixing balusters against that, probably angle screwed into the rails. So it would end up being a bit like the stepped lower rails you can buy now. But I noticed with a similar problem that one response was that the strip might not pass inspection. Not that there will be an inspection, but I want the job done right.

To add to the problem, I have found one rail which appears to have some decay, for most of its length a firm finger press on the top sinks noticeably in. But if I replace that rail, then maybe just replacing the lot makes sense.

Any ideas?

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