Quick Tip

Handrails weather fast. It don’t take long before you can see cupping, splitting, splintering and raised knots. You may even find a few nails that have worked out. If this sounds like your deck, there may be an easy fix that you can probably do yourself and it don’t cost much.

This will only work where there are no special cuts such as 45 degree corners or bevels. With a nail puller carefully remove the nails. You can usually get the nails up without too much damage. After the nails have been removed, just flip the board over and re-nail it or use deck screws. Most of the time the underside is in excellent condition. Now it would be best to pressure clean the handrail, let it dry and apply a quailty sealer.

Remember to inspect the handrails first to determine if it is possible to flip them before going through the trouble and finding out that the cuts won’t allow it.

Thats it. This won’t work in all cases, but when it does, it is a quick fix, easy and the only cost is a few nails or better yet, deck screws.