Park City Wood and Deck, Stylists: Cable rail with deck restoration

November 2013

This job was incredible for a number of reasons. First of all the timing was impeccable as temps in Park City had dropped too low to work we were able to enjoy fall like conditions on this Big Cottonwood area deck.

The clients were also a joy to work with. They knew what they wanted and they were receptive to our ideas and we came up with a great plan. Very pleasant indeed and I would like to thank them for everything.

This deck sanded beautifully and with double acid wash we were able to remove all remaining screw bleeds. The color was perfect and we did a second coat due to the overall dryness and porosity of the wood.

Top landing before sanding, this represents the condition of the entire deck when we started.

The view...

The final product

The rail frame was newly installed and upgraded to 1/2 inch through bolts on most posts and 1/2 lags where through bolting was not possible. I am a big believer in big heavy hardware for post installation, especially with cable where there is a lot of lateral tension.

This rail system will bring rail maintenance down by a large factor since what they had before was a *&^*load of wooden balusters with several coats of semi-transparent (film forming) stain and areas of weathering. We can now re-stain the railings in 1 day with 1 person, or a half day with 2 people, which is similar or less than the amount of time it would take to do maintenance on the deck. Compare this to 3 guys working for 2-3 days and using a ton of stain and you get the idea.

The wood on this frame will also a. be easier to stain than the previous wooden railing and b. experience less wear than a full wood railing. There are many areas on a wood frame railing that are horizontal and spaced tightly. In comparison, only the cap rail is horizontal with this system, which is the easiest railing component to stain and/or restore.