Episode 12 - Deck posts are too short

Trex railing on my deck stairs turned complicated. My posts were not long enough!! Ughh. Rather than removing the deck boards, undoing all the blocking, making the level/plum again, I found a way to securely extend my deck posts.

[@frankkennedy5361]

Good recovery. In big box stores most sleeves are 39 or 40 inches tall. Without your extension how high is the post above the step boards?

[@paulshepherd9528]

I'm not 'there', so I can't say for sure, but generally speaking I keep my posts in the same relative position to the riser all the way through the stair set. As I say, I can't swear this would have changed things for you enough, and I have not used pre-made jackets like these myself, but moving the post to the nose position like the top one would have given you some more length by letting the rail slope come to it... not sure I'm making it clear enough, but length is relative to the slope, so it's kind of important to remain consistent in your placement from start to finish. So, if you took your 'short' post and moved it forward, or moved it up to the next step and forward, it is longer relative to the rail slope. Pre-made stuff is tricky, I think. Have to 'play' a bit before you get excited with the fasteners. :)
When I'm in doubt, which is a lot since the details are often varied, I leave the post long until I've figured it out.

[@Jemocan]

Thanks for advice. What you said makes sense about moving the post forward on the step. I watched a video that indicated that too. I was going to do that but when I added the post sleeve and the skirt molding at the bottom, it would have hung over the step, so I decided to pull it back further. Perhaps too far. I guess I didn't realize this was a game of inches. Next time (if I ever try this again), I think I'll take your advice and just leave the posts as long as I can until 'after' I connect the railing!

[@eddalton3392]

buy 8 foot post sleeves and cut in half for stairs

[@eddalton3392]

see, you can grow the posts