Slippery, At this point I see only adults using the deck. We also have a screened porch which will be the actual hang out place with seating and tables etc. The deck will be used for grilling and chilling by adults while grilling. Below the deck is gravel which extends about 5 feet beyond the deck. I like the idea of planters and benches at the edge but the deck is 30 ft. long. That many benches and planters could be expensive. Thanks for the advice... Art

Honestly, people were just hardier in days of yore. My very scary, steep, hardwood floor staircase in my 1913 bungalow had no signs of ever having a handrail. I installed one for ME, no kids involved. I had a handyman put up one that looked just like Marie's above. When I moved from that house, I took it off to get my furniture down. Pretty simple actually. To be honest I would not use a velvet or other rope. I need something to really grab onto if I slip on the hardwood floors; not something that could rip or pull away. Oh, I also found that investing in non-slip socks is a must!

The posts for best strength would be attached tot he framing system, not to the deck surface nor the "cement board". These can either be bolted inside or outside the outside rim boards. Post up pics for better or more advice.

IMHO, this does not look good at all. I would not except this solution. It looks like you just slapped up a piece of molding. It needs to be integrated more with the existing chair rail and base molding. If you move it over to start under the chair rail, it would be too close to the boxed out trim. If you want it to look like it is meant to be this way, he really needs to move the trim under the chair rail and shorten the width of the box so the spacing is the same as the distance between other boxes. Also, the trim piece should not stand proud of the base piece. You need someone that knows how to rework this to look professional.