I started pressure washing the deck and came to the quick conclusion I never, ever wanted to re-stain the railings around this deck. To make it worse The design of the deck is a festering water hole for hornets (of which my daughter has a vertiable phobia, and yes they scare me too) and the posts were only lagged instead carriage bolts. The structure/size is satisfactory and the deck boards have some life in them but I've made up my mind the railing has to go. I hate composite. Paying top dollar for low-grade swag and ground up plastic bottles is not going to happen. Maybe if I re-framed for 12" OC but I see too much of that stuff sag. I also don't trust if for a railing. I've got a big white vinyl house so a white vinyl railing would look OK.
Does anyone have any recommendations on a good vinyl railing product? Mortised vs brackets? There seem to be a lot of products. What is it like living with this type of product? I need a 20 year life span, I don't want to worry about a soccer ball bouncing off it after 5 years of moderate sun exposure, and although I'm a big fan of wood I don't have the time (or the money for a rot-free product) available. I've got other hunny-dew projects for the next 5 years.
Does anyone have any recommendations on a good vinyl railing product? Mortised vs brackets? There seem to be a lot of products. What is it like living with this type of product? I need a 20 year life span, I don't want to worry about a soccer ball bouncing off it after 5 years of moderate sun exposure, and although I'm a big fan of wood I don't have the time (or the money for a rot-free product) available. I've got other hunny-dew projects for the next 5 years.