The Bridge Railing

We have an open space over the garage; we call it “The Bridge” because of the expansive view...like the viewing screen on the Enterprise. 

The view, at least some of it

From up there you can look out over the garden, greenhouse, and chicken coop/pasture. There are woods beyond and the sun sets in that direction.

For many years we’ve been planning to put up a permanent railing. The temporary one got us our CO but was ugly. Quick, but ugly. Since the railing has been down we’ve not let anyone out there. Which is no fun as we finished the space last year and it’s awesome for entertaining. Or would be if we didn’t have to worry about people falling to their deaths.

Not kid friendly 

We spent a few days finalizing design plans then Chris got to work cutting and shaping supports. I painted the goat panels (leaning against the wall behind Chris) black then stained all the wood to match.

A lot of framing

On the bridge he attached the side supports to the house with impressively long bolts. Then he interconnected everything, sandwiching the goat panel between the 6x6s with lots of framing, and tying it into the floor.

One panel done

We had to use come-alongs to help keep the posts straight. They wanted to lean out.

Improvisation at its best

There were three sections to complete and they all came together beautifully. Now he’s working on the cap. It’s live edge ash From the property. We used this same wood to make our dining room table and it’s 2 inches thick. Super strong and hard.

Nearly done

Once the cap is in place I’ll start adding screening to make this space bug and critter free. Just in time for black fly season too!

The chicken’s view