Black alum balusters, good place to get them>>www.deckrailsolutions.comBoth ipe and tigerwood are good choices. John

Yes, I agree with the last 2 posts-JonMon and Mark. You WILL have to strip whatever is on your deck currently. My goal in life is to work with wood products that don't have to ever be stripped. We are still stripping the exterior of our clapboard house that has 130 years of peeling paint build up. That is how we came to learn about Allback Paint. Linseed paint has been used for hundreds of years. If you ever tour Mt Vernon, President George Washington used it. However, the new products are greatly improved by purification process. Linseed products protects and nourishes the wood and leaves it breathable so there is never trapped moisture and a plastic coat to peel. The draw back is the slower dry time. There are no chemical accelerators. This fact makes the product "GREEN" for the environment. Hot dry days are a perfect time for painting Boiled Linseed. To find out more about Purified Boiled Linseed try the link posted or call Soren or Collete at Viking Sales. They have been most helpful to me. Be sure to ask them if your climate will allow the Boiled Linseed products to cure properly. I live in the mid-central states. We had 30 days of 100 degree weather this year. I am still researching Floor Shield USA and Lifeline Endure at 1-800-548-3554. If I cannot find a longer lasting product that doesn't need stripping to re-coat than the AllBack products, I will definitely be using the Linseed Varnish mentioned in the link. Strip a deck once and you're desperate to never do it again. Here is a link that might be useful: Silent Paint Remover and Allback Paint

Cedar is a warm contrast to the cool gray. I like it! Our deck rails on the gray pool deck are black wrought iron.

That looks good and fits the house well. You'll want to have a landing at the bottom of steps so you don't end up stepping directly onto lawn or into a puddle ... probably 3'x6' minimum size. If you're going to connect a patio to the steps, it can be the landing. You'll probably want to set the landing at the same elevation as the present bottom tread as there is not enough vertical difference available for another step down. You'll likely remove the bottom tread when you create the landing or patio.