I have always fancied myself a bit of a handyman. It’s always been my philosophy to do it myself before calling in the experts. Sure, I’ve gotten myself into a few pickles, like ending up with broken light fixtures and the occasional mini flood from DIY plumbing. But overall, I think handling as much of the work around your home as you can on your own isn’t just more economical, but it’s also good quality control if you do it right. The same goes for outside projects. In fact, maybe even more so, since they mostly don’t directly affect the day-to-day functions of the household.

But even with outside projects, it helps to have easy-to-assemble pieces and good instructions. This is especially important for a job like installing a deck railing. If you’ve got poor quality materials to work with and spotty instructions, putting together a deck railing can go from fun outdoor project to a backyard safety nightmare. That’s why when I decided to redo our back deck I chose a high-quality railing system that is durable, attractive, and well-designed, so it was easy to install. Take it from me--when you are looking to replace or install a new deck railing, you want to look for a manufacturer with easy-to-install railing components, as well as thorough and clear instructions and customer support.

Easy-to-Install Railing Components

My kids love playing with Legos. But I imagine if all those Legos had uneven edges, they would have a much harder time building with them. But Legos are perfectly designed and shaped by the manufacturer so that they snap together easily. I’d argue that it should be just as easy with deck railings. Pieces should fit together easily, and installation should be intuitive. When you’re looking to buy a deck railing that’s easy to install, look for some of these features:

• Pre-drilled posts: Posts should have pre-drilled holes at the base so that you can easily fasten them to your deck and run wiring for lighting. Posts are the main support for your railing, so having sturdy, simple to install ones is important.
• Pre-welded railing panels: One of the easiest types of railing systems to install will have pre-welded metal panels in which the railing balusters are pre-attached to the rails. This means you don’t have to do any measuring or install each baluster yourself. The majority of the work is just screwing brackets to the posts, into which you can then slide the railing panel.
• Pre-assembled cable panels: Similar to pre-welded metal railing panels are pre-assembled cable railing panels. For years cable railings were complicated to install and could only be put together by professionals, but some systems are now available that only require you to attach the panels to the posts and then tension the cables. If you hate having to pay someone to do something for you and you want a cable railing, this is the way to go.
• Slide-in glass panels or balusters: Glass railing is elegant and uncluttered looking, but many manufacturers require you to carefully measure the length along your deck, and then cut the glass to your specifications. To me, this sounds complicated and stressful--it’s easy to screw up. Drop-in glass railing systems are harder to find, but they’re worth it. They’ll have special top and bottom rails that glass panels or balusters can slide into, making them incredibly easy to install.
• Innovative fasteners: Screws and brackets should be included with your railing system and designed to fit your specific railing system. Look for systems that have clever features like brackets that can be screwed to posts and allow you to easily slide rails into them without any additional fastening. Another good DIY feature to look for is a disappearing mount for installing balusters. These are like pegs which fasten to the top and bottom rail of the railing (or to the deck’s surface), and allow you to slide the baluster over the mount to hide the fastener while holding the baluster secure. It really doesn’t get much easier than that.

Quality Manufacturer Instructions and Customer Support

They say that if you want to be successful in life, you need to be an expert at something. While I fancy myself to be pretty good with my hands, I am not an expert at installing deck railings. So when I ran into issues installing mine, it was a relief to be able to go to the experts for help. This is where you can find yourself in trouble if you buy from a supplier that doesn’t specialize in railings. That’s why I always look for the following qualities in a railing manufacturer:

• Clear instructions: If you’ve ever put a piece of furniture together, you need how very important clear, straightforward instructions are. While I expect railing materials to come in easy-to-assemble pieces, I still need instructions for how they should go together. And if these instructions are too confusing, you could end up with a real mess on your deck.
• Online resources: The internet has an infinite number of resources, but none is more valuable than the manufacturer’s website when it comes to installing a deck railing. Not only should you be able to find all the information you need on the product you purchased, but also the instruction manual, drawings of the railing with dimensions, and blogs and articles about particular products.
• Customer service: Possibly the single most important quality in a company is good customer service. If you can’t get someone on the phone or online, you can expect to have difficulty with their product. Railing manufacturers who care about the installer and end user will have a contact number that will put you in touch with real people who can help with your problem.

Outdoor DIY projects are some of my favorites because I love being able to get outside to enjoy the outdoors with my family, especially during the summer months. It’s also great when I can get my kids involved and teach them the value of a little hard work. Often our projects just require a bit of sweat equity to get results, like when we put down sod or planted a new flower bed. But when I prepared to install deck railings, I knew that I would need to pay particular attention to detail and follow the instructions carefully if I wanted to do it safely and correctly.

I chose a railing manufacturer known for developing and producing products that provide clever solutions to tricky installations. For example, Fortress Building Products has a stair railing with an internal pin hinge system that lets the whole railing change angles while keeping all the balusters vertical and perfectly spaced, and the railings parallel with each other--it cuts out all the work of measuring to make sure angles and distances are correct, something even experienced contractors have trouble with sometimes.

They also have lots of product information, such as drawings with actual dimensions and a contact page in case you need a little extra help. They really made the whole installation process easy and enjoyable, which is why I intend to redo my backyard fence with fencing from Fortress Products. Because when you’re doing DIY improvements on your home, you want to know that you’ve got the best the industry has to offer.