New Porch Rail
Originally uploaded by rowdyman.

Here's the latest of the 'home improvements' - actually installed in November. We discovered that all of our neighbours had installed porch rails, usually temporary ones, because their insurers insisted upon it. Ours never has and probably never will, but after two different people took a slide off the steps last winter (I believe alcohol may have been involved - I can't say for certain), I thought it would be prudent to install a railing. I figured that a lot of these temporary things become more permanent the longer they are left, so I wanted something nicer than 2x4's but I also wanted to avoid going into the ground becuase a vertical post between the porch steps would be impossible to clear of leaves or snow. The solution, which isn't perfect, was to use these stainless steel connectors from a marine supplier. I also got the aluminum tube to go with it (which doubled the cost) but I didn't really like how it looked so I simply swapped out the aluminum for 1" dowel (oak is my guess, not sure really). I added some stain and voilà - instant porch rail. It only took about 10 minutes to install and probably less to remove. So at last we have the required railing and I'll assume our liability lessened.