robynadair
New Member
We own an Art Deco home built in 1935. On the 2nd floor there is a walkway/deck about 4 feet wide x 20 feet long, looking down into a patio. Running the length are two parallel horizontal pipes - a ship's rail. The pipes are 2" in diameter and disappear in the stucco on the left and right. At the center, there is one vertical support where a 4-way slip joint (up and down) with threads was used for the first L-R rails exiting (in two pieces, L and R) ....then continues up a bit and the top connector is a smooth-topped T, with the LR threaded rails exiting. It is set in the deck with a floor flange. The railing set-up cannot be removed because it attaches into the stucco on either side and we're not chipping that out. The design has a nice, smooth rail look (painted black) and not a rough plumbing look.
What we want to do is attach three 2" (or possibly stepping down the size) verticals to the top horizontal rail, go up 4', run another horizontal L and R, bringing it back to house in 3 places. We want to be able to cover this with removable (seasonal) outdoor fabric to provide shade...nothing heavy. We just want the ship's railing style to match and use no welding. All of the connections, once we go vertical can be threaded....but how can we attach the bottom of the 3 verticals to this 2 inch pipe, without using one of those ugly plumbing attachments (McDonald? or something) Do they make a 2-piece, retro-fit clamp style T which would not look out of character with a railing rather than functioning plumbing? The walkway runs along a large, 8 ft bedroom window which gets way too much sun. The house has no eaves - it's flush, white stucco. We basically want to shade the walkway, keeping the architectural integrity of Art Deco. We have ruled out the commercial shade outfits like SunSetter - not period correct.
What we want to do is attach three 2" (or possibly stepping down the size) verticals to the top horizontal rail, go up 4', run another horizontal L and R, bringing it back to house in 3 places. We want to be able to cover this with removable (seasonal) outdoor fabric to provide shade...nothing heavy. We just want the ship's railing style to match and use no welding. All of the connections, once we go vertical can be threaded....but how can we attach the bottom of the 3 verticals to this 2 inch pipe, without using one of those ugly plumbing attachments (McDonald? or something) Do they make a 2-piece, retro-fit clamp style T which would not look out of character with a railing rather than functioning plumbing? The walkway runs along a large, 8 ft bedroom window which gets way too much sun. The house has no eaves - it's flush, white stucco. We basically want to shade the walkway, keeping the architectural integrity of Art Deco. We have ruled out the commercial shade outfits like SunSetter - not period correct.
