deck railings coming apart -- quick fix needed

19mquinn79

unusual situation here: just bought a house, closing is in 2 weeks, and (long story) i am required to fix the deck railings, because of the appraisal, which are coming apart.

i will be demolishing this deck as soon as i buy this house. so i need just a quick fix that will pass the appraiser's reinspection.

this is not my deck, just a photo i found online, but to illustrate the problem, the corner at the top is coming apart -- you can see the nails in between the 2 corner pieces.



what would be the quickest, cheapest way to fix the problem? would simply nailing them back together work? screws? some other hardware?

VIPlumber

Screws, I would think, should be cheap and quick.

kwikfishron

Yep, beat it back together and run a few 3” deck screws into it.

That’s assuming the rail isn’t rotted out to the point a screw won’t hold.

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Ron6519

Use strapping along the outside and wrap it around the railingtops to tie them together. The strapping comes in varying lengths.
Ron

Thurman

Sounds like another case of pressure treated lumber drying out and shrinking, thus the pulling apart. Long screws would be my choice here to pull the boards back together. Can't help but wonder why, IF you are the buyer-then YOU have to repair the decking before closing. Then you state that you will remove this deck ASAP. Could this not be written into the contract to suit all parties involved?