Building a Railing from Pipe - difference in metal quality?

[Tidybuoy]

I'm building a railing around my upstairs patio. I want to do this out of pipe (either 1" or 1.25"). when I went to Home Depot, I was shocked to see that the base flange costs about $32 each. Yet when I looked on e-bay this morning, I see guys selling 10-20 packs for about $40. I'm wondering if there is a quality difference that would cause the huge discrepancy in cost.

I'm basically adding a 15" railing around the top of the existing wall. If anyone has any insight as to the differences between Home Depot & Other, I'd love to hear.

[70SATMan]

You mean regular cast base for threaded pipe or is it an actual railing system base?

Might not want to hear this but, pipe base onto the top of those railing ‘walls’ isn’t going to be very strong and will introduce cracking/water past the stucco and into the framing (IMO)

If I were considering it, I’d post up from the outside of the wall to the 15” above target..make sure I was into the stud framing. I made my own stainless cabling on my deck. Strong, light look. Many, many companies make railing posts for this type of system.

[Tidybuoy]

My plan is to use the cast bases approximately every 10' but also have them attached to the wall of the house (not just the base). The complete railing system will form a square (less the house side) and I'm hoping that that will provide rigidity. Under the stucco walls that the railing will sit on is wood covered with stucco and I'm pretty sure they used 2x6 as the whole house (95 yrs old) is 2x6 and 2x8 construction.

I'm in my planning phase now so any suggestions are appreciated.

[VINMAN]

Honestly you are way better off using a pre made railing system. Beyond a huge amount of options out there.

Regular black pipe and fitting are ridiculously expensive.

.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by VINMAN

Honestly you are way better off using a pre made railing system. Beyond a huge amount of options out there.

Regular black pipe and fitting are ridiculously expensive.

.

The good thing about a pre made system is it's safety compliant. So if a drunken person capsizes and goes over the edge it's not your fault.

[Pazuzu]

Pipe at Home Depot is meant to stand up to pressure, and constant water exposure. They make "fake" pipe which will not stand up to pressure, nor will it survive constant water exposure, but it WILL look like more expensive pipe.

You can also buy "PVC" tube and fittings that are meant for geometric structures like greenhouses, but are NOT meant for 60psi residential buried waterlines...

[A930Rocket]

Where is the house located and when was it built? IIRC code requires guard rails to be a minimum of 42” and that looks much lower in the picture.

If I’m not mistaken, PVC would deteriorate from UV light, overtime. Maybe there’s a UV rated PVC?

What about aluminum parts? Unless you’re near the coast, they should hold up well and have the same fittings as galvanized, pipe, etc..

Otherwise, you could go with galvanized pipe and screw the flanges on top of the wall every so many feet, at the corners and against the house. Use silicone sealant under under the flanges.

All you’re trying to do, is keep somebody from tripping and falling over the wall. Normally, you would have pickets no more than 4 inches apart, but in this case it’s keeping people from tripping over, not falling through.

My $.02

[maxnine11]

that's all I have.......

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

Where is the house located and when was it built? IIRC code requires guard rails to be a minimum of 42” and that looks much lower in the picture.

If I’m not mistaken, PVC would deteriorate from UV light, overtime. Maybe there’s a UV rated PVC?

What about aluminum parts? Unless you’re near the coast, they should hold up well and have the same fittings as galvanized, pipe, etc..

Otherwise, you could go with galvanized pipe and screw the flanges on top of the wall every so many feet, at the corners and against the house. Use silicone sealant under under the flanges.

All you’re trying to do, is keep somebody from tripping and falling over the wall. Normally, you would have pickets no more than 4 inches apart, but in this case it’s keeping people from tripping over, not falling through.

My $.02

Yeah all plastic degrades from sunlight. Just the nature of polymers.

I like the galvanized pipe rec. that’s what i would do.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by maxnine11

that's all I have.......

That’s as bad as casters on the front of a 911