Dad suggested we fill in the existing steps to the pool to give us more patio space. (We'll build new steps to the pool at the end of the patio when we replace the pool deck.) Here's the form being created...
And the poured concrete...
We like the look of the cable rail systems - wood posts and stainless rails seem a good match for our transitional home. After researching online I settled on the Feeney brand and emailed a picture of my plans (below) and the existing patio to a helpful representative to verify my order.
We ordered 10 strands of 1/8" stainless steel in 55' lengths. The wood choice is cedar to match the ceilings and because redwood was 4x the price.
We spent a lot of time researching how to attach the posts to the concrete and decided that expoxy and threaded bolts were the best solution. Using a 9/16" rotary hammer drill we put two 4 1/2" holes into the concrete for each post. We used a grinder to cut bolts from 10' lengths of 1/2" all thread pipe. Here they are attached with two part concrete epoxy from our local Fastenal store.
Note also that the posts are in the above picture and the bottoms are stained with Duckback transparent stain and sealer in canyon brown to protect the cedar.
Attaching the posts to the wall was easy after *precisely* measuring each bolt location on each post. Remarkably they all aligned nicely. We used a string and level throughout as any deviance from level, straight lines would be visible in the finished product.
To attach the 2"x4" braces between posts we used a Kreg system and stainless screws my Dad bought for the task. This is the same system used by cabinet makers and worked great. It allows you to drill an angled pilot hole for each screw, which provides a strong and hidden bond between perpendicularly joined wood.
We put on two coats of Duckback stain everywhere and attached 5/4" x 6" decking as the top of the railing. We used PL400 adhesive and wood screws (screwed from underneath so as not to be visible) to attach the railing. The Feeney system used 316 stainless throughout and came with protectors so the cable would not bite into the wood at the angle from the steps. Drilling 10 holes in every post and cross brace for the wire to pass through took some time as we did it manually (no drill press). We measured every hole carefully on both sides of each post and drilled from each side to ensure a straight line.
Installing the 10 strands of cable took less than an hour - that was the easiest part of the project. Here are a couple of pics of the completed fence.
Now we have to decide how to cover our patio - flagstone, travertine, concrete resurfacing????
