Will Titan support 8 foot posts?

by Josh
(Bel Air, MD, USA)

I currently have a Trex deck with surface mounted 4x4 posts. The surface mount was from Veranda which has a metal base with a rod extending up 36 inches with an adapter on top. You slip over this device the 4x4 plastic sleeve, all is good.

However, I now want to add some privacy lattice to the top of the railing. To do this I assume I'll need to replace the 4 ft. posts with 8 foot posts.

I'll add back the existing railing. Then add the lattice work between the posts using the top 4 feet. The question is, how can surface mount the 8 foot post?

I'd prefer to not have to dig under the deck to mount the post underground (the deck is only 2 feet above ground as it is so I'd have to rip apart everything to do that).

Will Titan post anchor support the 8 ft post? Since the load isn't much I was hoping this would structurally be ok. Thanks for any advice.

---

Editor's Comments:

The Titan post anchors are tested with wood 4x4 and 6x6 posts used as railing posts in a rail system and are AC273 compliant at 36" high with 6' post spacing for the 4x4 and 96" post spacing for the 6x6.

You are asking if the post anchor will perform well as an 8' post built into an railing where the panels/sections are like a railing on the bottom and a lattice privacy panel above it or something similar.

This is kind of a loaded question and so I will try to explain as clearly as possible. Your deck is only 24" and therefore under the IRC a guard rail is not required. This is actually a good thing because if it were then I cannot think of any simple method of installing a surface mounted 8' tall wood post that would resist the design load or safety factor.

An 8' post creates so much more leverage - if you are pushing it from the top of the post. But if you are pushing it at the 36" height then it would perform as a deck rail would.

So that is why your question is a bit complicated. We have established that in your case a guard rail is not required and therefore the load values for a guard rail do not apply.

Now the question is whether an 8' post with the 4x4 Titan would work well. That depends on how much stiffness and strength you are looking for.

I would not use if for an 8' post unless that run of railing was tied back and connected to the house in someway. You would need to do that to really make it stronger because the leverage is over 2.5x as much. Otherwise I think it would be to wobbly.

But if you are more interested in appearances and a weaker structure is not a problem then you may well be happy.

Eight foot railing posts are a lot to ask of any kind of surface mounted system. There are plenty of people who use the 6x6 post anchor for 6' fence posts on concrete walls or piers and at say 6' post spacing with great performance. But the 4x4 anchor is much smaller and 8' high posts are very tall.