Most homeowners come at railing code from one of two sides. Either a contractor told them they need a 36-inch rail and they want to know if that's right. Or they're staring at an old porch rail that fails the… Continue reading
If you've ever stood at the bottom of your stairs trying to describe a problem to a contractor, you've probably said something like "the part where my hand goes" or "that wood thing on the side." You're not wrong, but… Continue reading
Chicago is a hard city on metal. Between Lake Michigan humidity, hundreds of thousands of tons of road salt, and a winter that swings between 60°F and −10°F in a single week, an outdoor railing has to survive what corrosion… Continue reading
A stair railing is one of the smallest assemblies in a house and one of the most consequential. It carries real load, it answers to a specific paragraph of municipal code, it survives or fails in Chicago's freeze-thaw winters, and… Continue reading
Outdoor metal stairs look simple from the outside — a few stringers, treads, a landing or two, a railing. The reality is that they sit at the intersection of building code, structural engineering, corrosion science, and life safety law. Get… Continue reading