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Attaching Railing Posts to Rim Joist

by Stephen
(Wilkes Barre)

I have a very well built 16x14 deck, or deck surface that is, and I am looking through my options for attaching my railing posts to the rim joist which is a double 2x10 (4x10).

I would like to attach 4x4 posts to the outside of the deck by notching out 1 inch, and fitting it to the rim joist. I would use 2 lag screws and possibly a piece of metal strapping at the top, used as a sleeve to fit the notched bit of post into.

My reasoning in is I have 50 feet of railing to install. With this method I use just 1 sq foot of decking space. The other option is attaching the posts to the inside of the rim joist, which i am told is stronger. But uses between the 3 inches of space for the rim joist and the 3.5 in. For the 4x4 I am using 25 sq feet, or roughly 10% of my deck space!

Building code aside because I have already cleared both with my code compliance office... which would be recommended? The average height off the ground is 5 feet but, it does go as high as 11' feet in one corner.

Any advice to make the outside post option stronger or a better option would be helpful.

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