Did an inspection this morning where the back deck has one horizontal railing in the middle of the open space between the flooring of the deck and the top rail. This of course has an open space of more than 4",but does the 4" rule only apply to vertical balusters? The homeowner was present at the inspection and of course he swore that the railings were"up to code", haha. It looks to me like a small child wouldn’t get their head stuck, but could crawl right under the rail and take a tumble off the deck. I have this written up as a defect but want to make sure I’m correct in doing so, as the info on horizontal balusters is very limited. Thanks for your help!
This may help, but check your local jurisdiction.
http://www.feeneyinc.com/site/resources_dealers/binder_docs/Intl_Building_Codes.pdf
How is the gap a different size based on the which way the spindles go?
But, how high off the ground was the deck?
I didn’t measure the height of the deck because it is easily over the 30" mark
That’s what I’m asking.I don’t think their is a difference, but with the primary reasoning for the 4 inch gap being so a child wont get their head caught it is kind of confusing. These gaps are so wide that no one could get their head caught. A small child could easily crawl under the baluster though so i am going to write it as a defect.
I agree so do it!