With a two story set, we needed a railing.  This year I was done with cobbled together 2×4 railings like in the past. They ruin the illusion. I knew could do better.

For Arsenic & Old Lace the design called for a turn of the century Victorian home. A railing made of 2×4 baluasters definetly was not going to cut it. We went with store bought balusters. It was expensive but definitely worth it.

For High School Musical we needed something more industrial but not 2×4 industrial. Looking around school, I saw railings constructed of heavy duty pipe.

I briefly debated using PVC pipe but quickly decided against it as I need the railing to also be functional. After a little research, black iron pipe seemed like a good choice.

Five hundred dollars later after a Saturday afternoon Lowe’s run, we had the pipe.

Now it was time to put my erector set skills to work.

I rough fit several pieces at home to make sure what I was picturing in my head would work.

It didn’t long on Monday to put the main railing in place. We’ve held off installing the remaining pieces until the majority of set painting was completed. It’s easier and faster if they don’t have to cut around these additional pieces.

However, after a week with the main railing roughed in place I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. It just didn’t feel finished.

After talking with Patrick Nightingale, we decided to added an additional horizontal member at the mid-point. I decided to go with PVC for this addition to keep costs down.

With just over a week until opening night, the set is nearly completed. Although every time I cross an item off my punch list a new one gets added.