Cocktail rail. Drink rail. Deckboard top rail. Whatever you call it, this look has exploded in popularity for both its aesthetic and its functionality. A deckboard top rail makes a deck even more welcoming as an entertaining space and allows the color of the decking to carry through to the railing for a seamless style.
But there are challenges when adding a deckboard to the top rail. Railing manufacturers usually supply an adapter, which is basically a special bracket that adapts a standard top rail to allow for a deckboard. The deckboard is fastened to the adapter, but it’s not held down uniformly across the top rail, which means that gaps can open up and light can be seen between the top rail and the deckboard.
For the engineers at Superior, brackets didn’t seem like an ideal way to make a drink rail system, and retrofitting an existing system wasn’t something they wanted to do. So instead they created the 400 Series, a new railing system that’s specially designed for a drink rail.
Superior fastened an aluminum receiver plate to a simple vinyl top rail. (They chose aluminum for this plate for long-term strength). The receiver plate is predrilled every 12 inches, so that the railing installer can simply lay a deckboard on top of it and then, using the fasteners supplied in the boxed section, attach the railing to the aluminum plate. Since the deckboard is fastened every 12 inches across the entire rail, there is no gapping and the deckboard is held flush to the top rail.
Everything the contractor needs between the posts comes in the 400 Series boxed section, including the top rail with the aluminum plate attached, bottom rail, balusters of choice, brackets to attach the rails to the posts, and fasteners for all of the brackets as well as the deckboard. The contractor simply supplies deckboard to match the decking.
In beta testing and since its official rollout, Superior has heard much positive feedback from contractors about the 400 Series. With this new system, Superior has developed an innovative railing system that makes installing a drink rail easier than ever. For more product details, check out the 400 series product spotlight video.
