York decks meet every kind of edge: a shallow step behind a terrace, a fall to a lower lawn, a platform off a door that is already up a flight. Our team fits the guard the drop requires. We do not invent a height the guidance does not ask us to quote from memory, and we do not leave a real drop open because a rail would spoil a view.
When a drop needs a guard
The usual Building Regulations idea is straightforward. If someone could fall more than about 600 mm from the edge they are walking on, that edge needs guarding. The measurement is the difference in level, not the thickness of the board and not the height of a fence you happen to like. A deck that sits almost on a flat lawn, with one low step, is under that idea at the step. A deck that leaves the house at door level and meets a garden a metre below is not.
We measure on site, at the worst point. Ground falls away. A deck can be 20 cm up at the door and well over 600 mm at the outer corner. The corner is the one that counts. Steps are part of the same question. A short flight down to the lawn may need a hand you can hold even when the landing itself is modest. We will say which edges need a rail and which would only clutter the garden.
A guard does not cancel the planning question. The Portal's usual starting point for a house is about 30 cm above the existing ground. Low decks behind terraces explain that. This page is about the fall.
Where the rail starts and stops
A rail should begin where the drop begins and stop where the drop stops. Running it round a whole deck that is only high on one side makes the garden feel caged and gives you timber to paint for no reason. On a terrace yard the high side is often the step at the door, and the sides are already walls. We guard the open edge and we do not duplicate the brick.
Posts go at the ends, at any change of direction, and close enough that the rail does not sag when someone leans. The top of the rail is there to be held. It should be continuous along the edge that needs it, without a surprise gap at a corner. Where a gate is needed for bins, the gate has to guard the same drop when it is shut. A hook and a piece of string is not a gate.
Openings need to be close enough that a small child cannot slip through or climb the rail as a ladder. Vertical spindles are calmer than horizontal bars. We follow the current guidance on the gap, rather than a millimetre remembered from an old note.
Timber, metal and the house
A painted timber rail sits quietly with an older brick terrace. Metal can suit a plainer house. Glass is a different balustrade and not the default here. Whatever the material, posts have to be fixed into a frame that can take a person leaning, not screwed only to the fascia.
We do not bolt a rail into old brick to save a post. The deck's own frame is the structure, and the rail keeps the gap at the wall so the brick can breathe. Paint or oil follows the weather on that side of the house. If the house is listed, or in a conservation area, the look of the rail is part of the council conversation. Planning Data shows the area. The rail is not the first permission question, and it is still designed to sit with the house.
Steps, hands and the edge you forget
People miss their footing on steps more often than on a straight edge. A flight from a terrace door wants a hand you can take before the first drop. Rises should be even. We set the flight out as a whole, then decide the rail.
The rail should not stop in mid-air or stick into the only path for a bike. On a route through the house the hall is already handled with care. The yard rail gets the same: no sharp ends, no wobble. Step lighting can sit with the balustrades and lighting work. Describe the drop in ordinary words when you ask for a quote. We measure. Over about 600 mm, we guard it. Under that, we say so.
Common questions about balustrade heights
When is a rail actually needed?
When a person could fall more than about 600 mm. That is the usual Building Regulations idea. We measure the real drop at the worst point, including a lawn that falls away from the house.
Does every deck need a rail all the way round?
No. Guard the edge that has the drop. A deck that is low on three sides does not need a cage. A gate, if you need one for bins, has to close the same drop.
How small should the openings be?
Small enough that a child cannot slip through or climb the rail like a ladder. Vertical spindles are the usual answer on a family deck. We follow the current guidance rather than a remembered figure.
Is the rail the same question as planning permission?
No. Planning looks at the deck's height and position, often from the Portal's 30 cm starting point for a house. The guard is about the fall. A low deck can need a rail, and a tall one needs both questions answered.
