Timber Deck Stairs & Cable Balustrade

The brief for this Avoca Beach deck was simple to describe and tricky to execute: connect an elevated deck to the lawn below without losing the outlook. A standard vertical baluster handrail would have thrown a striped shadow across the best view in the house.

We built a set of solid timber stairs with generous treads, then fitted a horizontal stainless steel cable balustrade. The cables are tensioned into hardwood posts, which keeps the whole assembly compliant with balustrade height and gap requirements while being almost invisible from inside. Every stair stringer was cut on site to suit the fall of the ground rather than forced to a standard rise, so the steps feel natural underfoot.

Being a beachside job, all fixings and cable hardware are marine-grade stainless. In Avoca Beach, ordinary galvanised hardware will weep rust stains down a new deck within a season. The finished stairs give the owners safe, comfortable access to the garden and a balustrade that disappears the moment you sit down.