Jonathan's Fence

 

This was an upgrading of an 80-y/o deck at my son's previous house. Much of the framing underneath this was kept, but the upper portions which had long been exposed to weather and people were 100% replaced, as you see. It was built on New England soil, so frost heaves destabilised it over the years. I had previously built a porch that included many of the features of this deck.  However, the construction was a bit different, and my son was doing the adaptation - I was mostly there just to be a worker bee. This railing you are looking at was the result of compromise upon compromise. Nothing was square, and attempts to correct that only seemed to make things worse.

The proper choice, in some sense, would have involved lots of digging, leveling, and replacing it all. But it was a deck on an old house.  The next owner, in fact, made some modifications to it that were changes, not merely corrections of what we had made. Putting twice as much effort into would have been inefficient, in retrospect. Even though a close look would reveal some adaptations that weren't quite perfect, it might fairly be said that this was the best choice. 

We don't uproot or tear down Chesterton's Fence until we know why it was put up.  Then, as you will. In this case, it was put up because it was necessary and was good enough. My son had to learn along the way what compromises would be necessary to be "good enough," and make choices. The next owner can do as she will. But she would be wise to know why the compromises were made, because they might be "good enough" for her also, and even the owner after that. 

There is a New England saying that is likely used in other places.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.