Aluminum Railing Fascia Mounts

Aluminum Railing Fascia Mount
Project: 2200 Westlake - Seattle, WA

Continuing with our aluminum railing mount theme for this blog entry series, let’s examine the fascia mount. For the purposes of aluminum railing, this type of mount is attached to the vertical face of a deck. The ideal aluminum railing fascia mount involves the use of a specially-designed bracket, which is mounted to a vertical surface, or fascia, of a wood or concrete balcony.

There are several benefits to this type of mount. Since the bracket captures part of the bottom portion of the post extrusion, this mounting method can be up to 40% stronger than a surface mounted post. Another benefit of this aluminum railing mount is that posts are on the outside of the deck walking surface, creating more useable area, which is highly desirable with small balcony spaces. By mounting to the perimeter vertical surface, this method also eliminates the need for penetrating waterproofing products on the top surface, and also eliminates the exposed base plates and associated hardware when installing aluminum railing.

Fascia mounts are more difficult to install than a surface mounted aluminum railing system. The installer must work either over the edge of the deck, or from the exterior of the building with a ladder or staging equipment. Mounting to a concrete slab edge in this way is challenging, often involving steel embeds placed prior to the concrete pour. An experienced aluminum railing manufacturer will be able to provide generic details that will help you to design your concrete fascia mount.

Aluminum Railing Fascia Mount
 Project: 2200 Westlake - Seattle, WA

For information regarding other mounting options, check out the rest of this blog series. There’s more to come, including articles on aluminum railing core and stanchion mounts.