roof deck rail replacement

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jrhottle

Urban TIYer (try-it-yourselfer)
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I have a (roughly) 10' x 10' roof deck that sits on top of our flat roof (its a townhome)

A few things to note:
1 - Not sure what type of wood it is
2 - It's hard to get a good look at how it is secured to the roof... but it looks almost like it is floating. Im not sure how much of a concern this is yet.

It is basically a deck sitting on some joists, and the metal rail that goes around it is screwed directly into the deck (see pictures for reference).

I want to remove the metal railing all around it and install some modern horizontal slat privacy walls and re-stain the deck to match them.
However, it is super windy up there and I am not sure the most secure way to do this. The metal rails hold up fine because wind doesn't catch on them.
Currently we are testing it with a 6' x 8' privacy fence that is zip-tied to the metal rails. It wobbles a bit. maybe if the wood had larger spacing between the slats, it would be fine.

I am thinking of using Simpson Strong-Tie E-Z Base brackets to attach the posts to the deck, but not sure if that will be sufficient enough.

Any tips or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Here are some pics of how it looks today.

deck1.jpg

deck2.jpg

deck3.jpg

deck4.jpg
 
I made several tall sections on my deck where I wanted privacy but also wanted air flow. I did the layout where the vertical pieces were overlapped and staggered from inside to outside. I made mine out of 5/4 PT flooring planks and have about an inch overlap. The wind goes thru pretty well and there is no line of sight thru the walls.
You have quite a bit of strength in the metal rail you have now. Maybe you could leave it and let it be the support for the new higher walls. It gets its strength because it goes around the corner.
 
The deck is not attached to the roof so that it does not cause leaks and that rail system was used because it does not catch the wind and cause problems. You could be asking for big trouble.
 
@slownsteady - long story short, a lot of traffic.

This is in Chicago, and our neighbors to the west (we share a wall) have a roof deck that is literally 5 feet from ours.

To the west are a bunch of condos with top-level balconies that are slightly higher than ours.

@nealtw - I agree, which is why I posted this to see what other people thought.
I figured the best way to do this is to leave the rail to anchor it and put the privacy wall inside to disguise it. from the outside, it would probably be really ugly.

I keep thinking there has to be a way to make it work, though.

I also considered building two flower boxes that are about 4 feet high that mimic the style of a horizontal slatted privacy fence.

Something like this, but no wheels under it.
http://hospitalityfurniture.com.au/shop/image/cache/data/Planter Box Barrier High-500x500.png

Then it becomes sort of like a fence, it is heavy, and we can plant some greenery.
 
So, here is another idea - the wall doesn't need to be much bigger than 5' H x 5' W - the rest of it can be like 3-4' high.

What if I put a couple flower boxes in the corners to help provide an anchor/support like this picture below. Would that work?
I could anchor those down to the deck along with the wall, and then anchor them together

It would only be about half this size, but something like the first picture, but with a more modern feel, like the second picture

wall+boxes.jpg

new_boxes.jpg
 
Then you have to ask, how much weight the roof structure can take. We don't know if what was there is near the limit.
Just a thought, you could extend the steel posts and add a rail so you can hang curtains for privacy when needed. Costco has some new curtains that crank down and tie at the bottom. Paint the steel black, looks much better.
 
I like the planter idea. It doesn't even have to be a single planter, but an array strategically placed. My concerns in general would be weight (as mentioned) and wind resistance (also mentioned). If you do anything slatted or boards leave room for the breeze to slip through.
I'll also throw this idea out for your consideration:
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i:aps,k:gazebo privacy screen
 
Thanks for all the tips, everyone! I really appreciate it.
I am kind of bummed because I think its just not feasible to do exactly what I want.

@nealtw - already bought black paint to refinish the rail - i agree it looks better, but everywhere else on the outside of the unit uses green. Our 12-unit association has to all match, but there are only 2 roof decks and we can do whatever. It would look nicer in black, but it wouldn't match the rest of the exterior.

Anyway, it looks like I am going to have to try and make chicken soup out of chicken poop.

A few more questions for anyone still interested in this project: Should I remove the railing entirely to refinish the deck? If you look at the first set of pictures, it looks like the previous owners used some sort of red stain and did a terrible job (got it on the walls, the rails, the roof, etc....)
I feel like the deck itself isn't in the best condition (place was built in 1997, but I have no idea the history of the deck).

One more picture from Google Earth so you can see the overhead layout.
The wind resistance might not be too terrible because of the wall from the neighbors's stair case, and the wall from our staircase on either side.

roof_aerial.jpg
 
Well before I did much of anything I would be poking around to see how firm the wood is. It does look like treated but even that doesn't last forever. With the matching stairs for you and your neighbour, it was likely an extra the buyers could get from new. If the railing comes apart, it would be easy enougj to remove. Remmember that what ever you do, has to be taken apart when the roof has to be replaced.
 
I like Neal’s idea the best and did something similar on my hot tub deck. I built the wall solid and 48 high facing the neighbors house that is pretty close. I could have made it 8’ if I wanted but it then would have looked funny and like I was trying to build a barricade and at times we even like the view that direction. I then went up with a frame work built from steel pipe and painted another 4’ and hung roll up exterior shades from the top rail. They sell them pretty cheap I got mine at lowes 6’ wide. I have 2 sections covering 12’. They do blow in the wind so I ran a thin cord as a wind brace two places on each panel.

They look nice block the view and can be opened when not needed to let the wind thru. They could be attached to the rails you have now if you remove the caps.

I could take a pic of mine if you want to see how I did them.
 
thanks for the input - a pic would be fantastic, if you don't mind!
 
I will get a pic later when I get home.
 
before I did anything. be advised, you need to consult an engineer to determine the load limit of that roof.
this will entail
going to the building department, requesting an as built set of approved structural drawings for the building
having a structural engineer a cess , the load currently on the roof.



:2cents:
 
Last edited:
before I did anything. be advised, you need to consult an engineer to determine the load limit of that roof.
this will entail
going to the building department, requesting an as built set of approved structural drawings for the building
having a structural engineer a cess , the load currently on the roof.



:2cents:



especially in the winter with a snow load AND deck ..rut roo!!!!
 

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