New Tools & Railing Supplies

Extracurricular family activities (basketball playoffs and wedding preparation) have grounded me the last two weekends from heading up to the cabin (along with some frigid, snowy weather last weekend), but I've continued to be pretty active acquiring some needed tools and supplies.

New Tools

I bought both tools below from Lowes (free shipping!) after looking at all the prices on-line, Lowes was competitive with other onlines sites, AND if I have any troubles they'll be easy to return to a local store.

Bought a new impact driver. Soooo much easier to use when driving screws -- for plumbing straps, some additional framing. And I'm going to need to use it on the railing, siding, ceiling planks, wall board, etc. 

As I documented previously, I somehow broke the fence on my miter/chop saw. And since it's an off brand, I cannot find a replacement fence. So I bought a new compound miter saw -- for cutting plumbing pipe and ceiling planks. 

Railing

I've been working evenings trying to figure out my design and strategy for railings on the front porch and back deck, and for the internal stairs and upper landing. Took me a long time to winnow down the choices to something I'm satisified with. 

I went with Schedule 40 black anodized aluminum pipe for all the railings, inside and outside. 

At first I thought I was going to have to settle for raw aluminum or galvanized steel, but I really wanted BLACK pipe with silver fittings (for that "industrial" look). The thought of having to buy pipe then take it somewhere to get it powder coated or anodized was not very appearling. I found the pipe at an industrial lighting (stagelightingstore.com) already anodized in black. They cut the 20ft pieces in 1/2 for me at no charge making them cheaper to ship. I bought enough for all the interior and exterior railing. 

Railing Fittings

I've ordered only the fittings for the porch and deck so far. But waiting to order the fittings for inside until the staircases are fully installed and the floors are in. Ordered everything from globalindustrial.com -- they offer fittings that look exactly like the posh/popular Keep Klamp fittings, but at a better price.

Fitting on the front porch from the post to the rail nearest the stairs.

T-fitting for the rail and post in the middle of the back deck.

Elbow fitting for outside corners on the porch and the back deck.

I'll use this fitting to mount the posts to the outside of the porch and deck.

These fittings will be used to mount the rail on the porch to the beam, and on the back deck to the side of the cabin.

Stainless Cable & Fittings

I've also ordered the cable and fittings that will be used to go horizontally every 4 inches in between the posts. After a fair amount of price research, I ended up getting the various pieces from several different sellers on ebay.

3/16" 1x19 Stainless Steel Cable Railing Wire Rope Grade 316 (500 feet). Plenty to do the exterior, but probably a bit short to complete everything inside.  The next size up was 1000 feet -- way too much. I'll purchase the rest after I know a more exact amount for the interior.

These secure the cables to the big angled wood beam on the front porch and to the sides of the house on the back deck.

These will secure the cables in the end post on the front deck.

These will will protect the holes in the corner where the cable routes through.

I originally wanted to do the swageless fittings for all the cable because they seem so convenient and look so nice. BUT they're A LOT MORE expensive. So I've settled for swaging the cable into the fittings on each end.

Cost so far for the railing materials:

• $1344 ($1080 + $264 shipping) for the Schedule 40 1-1/2" black anodized aluminum pipe.
• $410 for the pipe fittings.
• $410 for the 3/16" cable and fittings.

I'll have additional costs when I order the pipe fittings and cable fittings for the interior, but at least I've got the pipe and most of the cable to complete everything.

Stay tuned next for...

...the return to the miserable torture of rough plumbing the drains.