Deck Railings

Sooz and I have been discussing our new deck lately. Mostly we talk about how much we love it!

But we are worried a bit about its height. From the back corner, it's a pretty decent drop to the rocks below. I posted a long time ago about having a railing of some sort along the front of the house, but we never got around to it. (Frankly, our solution to having a deck that was a bit too narrow was to instead build a nice big one.)

I really don't like the idea of a permanent railing along the deck. I fear it would disrupt the flow of the house. But a possible solution was right under our noses. We started to notice a number of rope railings in different places, both on Aspö and at the dock in Stavsnäs:

I like the idea of using a pole-and-rope railing. It would be easy for me to do, and would fit in with the vernacular on the island. Ideally, I'd like to be able to remove the railing easily. We could put it up for drunken parties, and take it away in the winter!

A bit of googling took me to a great website that sells all sorts of Kee Klamps, which are specialists in pipe railings.

I don't want a full railing, of course, but a half-dozen of these pipe holders mounted on the outside of the deck would do the trick. I could pick up a length of pipe at Bauhaus, choose a coil of interesting rope, and—presto! An attractive, functional, and removable railing.

Using my childishly poor photoshop skills, I made a drawing of what such a railing might look like:

My plan for our trip in the spring is to buy the fittings and put them in my suitcase. We'll stop at Bauhaus for some pipe and rope to haul on the bus out to Stavsnäs. I plan to install the deck lights as well. I'll try to line the lights up with the poles and have a nice geometric installation!