Post Spacing and Cable Spacing for Cable Railing

cable railing kit

CABLE SPACE

In order to install the cable railing in the correct way, the posts need to be secured at the proper spacing by running the cable from the end post through the mid post to the end post.

Then, please tension the cable to minimize the deflection as much as possible. Repeat these steps for each stainless steel cable.

According to building and cable railing code standards, 4″ spheres aren’t allowed to pass between cables. Therefore, we recommend cable spacing of no more than 3 inches and no more than 3 1/8 inches maximum.

4 inch sphere rule
Sphere Rule

So how many cables should be installed on a railing?

For a specific project, you can calculate the number of cables using the following formula

Number of cables = Height of railing (in) / 3 (in) – 1

For example, if the height of the railing in the design is 36 inches, the number of cables needed is

Number of cables = 36(in) / 3(inch) – 1 = 11

As shown in the figure.

cable spacing for cable railing

Post spacing

According to the International Residential Code (IRC) cable spacing can not exceed 4 inches (4 feet sphere rule).

Considering that the cable will stretch deformation, we recommend that the cable spacing of 3 inches, the maximum can not exceed 3 1/8 inches.

But the cable stretch deformation in addition to the cable spacing, it also has a direct relationship with the post spacing.

A large number of experiments have shown that the spacing of the post more than 4 feet, the cable tension influence will make the spacing more than 4 inches.

So the maximum spacing of the post should not exceed 4 feet.

post spacing for cable railing

If you plan to use cable stabilizers, then the spacing of the posts should not be greater than 7 feet.

post spacing for cable railing with cable stabilizer

Fayevorite offers you high quality cable railing kits.

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