That has had its day if you want long lasting look at metal railing with metal spindles

Looks like more than just one rail is flimsy now. Best to replace it.

Just looking at landscape I'd say my house is in a location not unlike yours and my powder-coated steel deck railings look pretty much like new after 20 years.

Abatron that stuff and it will outlast the rest of the house.

Replace and seal it with a water repellent product as you install so you get good coverage. I just spent a week sealing my installed decks that are 8 years old, and hoping I get another 8-10 out of them.

Joseph Corlett: Abatron seems like it could work, but expensive and maybe a temporary solution. Does it blend with the wood or look more like plastic?

Abatron is great...but I only use it on wood I'm going to re-paint. There's no way it's going to blend with wood in appearance or color.

he think the horizontal logs that have cracks and catch and hold water would need to be replaced. The vertical ones will last much longer. Seal with a oil based stain. Painting or water based stain will just get you into a vicious cycle of pealing and scraping and repainting. Opaque water based stain is just as bad as paint. Oil based with penetrate and preserve wood better.

That’s not made out of the one true cross. It needs to be trashed and replaced, not “restored”. Restoration is for the chestnut handrail in your house that your grandfather built. Not trash wood that probably wasn’t even pressure treated to begin with.

Can rotting wood be restored? Yes. Can that rotting wood be restored? No, not worth the time or the money for something that will not hold up for any length of time.

Joseph Corlett, LLC I'm glad you mentioned Abatron because I forgot I had repairs done to trim and shutters on my house when I had them painted. It does work well. The trim was done about 10 years ago and the shutters about two.

My back door threshold is showing signs of rot. and I was dreading finding a competent carpenter who will do the work plus the right material. I think I'll be much better off repairing with Abatron. Plus I have a friend who needs to repair window trim and I am going to suggest it to her.

The products are not cheap, that's true, and you have to learn how to use them. (Or hire someone who will do it properly.) The wood can be painted after repair.

But in this case, I would be concerned also with the wire. Is it rusting?

The railing has to meet the code requirement for resisting a certain horizontal force. Right now it probably doesn’t and repair would look better but not improve the strength. This is a safety issue so you need to replace it.

I am not a pro but I have heard of carpenter ants in rotting wood. That is something you definitely do not want.

That looks like long-term weather damage, not carpenter ants.

I was not saying it was carpenter ants but rather to be aware that carpenter ants are attracted to rotting wood. Sorry to not be clear.