Deck Railing in Bromley, KY

Bromley (ZIP 41016) has narrow, deep lots with the houses close together, so decks here tend to be long and slim. That shape does something to a railing that a square deck never does. The two long sides run parallel and close, and from anywhere on the deck you look at one of them through the other.

On a long, narrow deck, the railing is most of what you see. It runs down both sides and frames the whole space. Done well, it makes the deck feel longer and gives each side its own job: one to look out through, one to screen the neighbors.

Two matching rows of balusters twelve to fifteen feet apart look like one muddled railing. The near and far bars share a spacing but appear at different widths. They clash and make a shimmer that moves as you walk, like two chain-link fences seen one through the other. The deck then feels busier and narrower.

We avoid it by making the two sides different, which also costs less than dressing up both. An open railing faces the view, and a solid or close-boarded lower panel faces the neighbor. The eye then has one thing to read. Wider post spacing on the far side helps too, at no added cost. We draw both sides on one sheet, since they are only ever seen together.