Learn how to install an AWS Rope Railing system.
Chuck from Advanced Waterfall Systems walks through the full installation of the optional cedar post and rope railing system used on AWS waterfall steps and slides. Cedar posts (real cedar, 6 feet long, 4–6 inch diameter) are dug in a minimum of two feet using a post hole digger through the crushed-stone base beneath the steps, set roughly 3.5 feet above the step surface, and anchored with dry-mix concrete just like a fence post. Once posts are set, Eric demonstrates the plastic nautical-look rope technique: straightening the coil, marking two height positions on each post for dual rope rows, looping the rope with the upward run underneath and the horizontal run on top, and burning cut ends to prevent fraying.
What You'll Learn
- Cedar posts are real cedar, 6 feet long and 4–6 inches in diameter; a minimum of 2 feet must be buried in the ground, leaving roughly 3.5 feet of usable height above the step
- A post hole digger is used to penetrate the crushed-stone base beneath AWS steps; posts are spaced roughly 4–5 feet apart and positioned around rocks as site conditions require
- Posts are anchored using a dry-mix concrete bag set in the hole and wetted — the same technique as a standard fence post
- Cedar can be left natural (weathers to gray), stained, or sealed with a clear coat — finish choice is up to the installer or customer
- The rope is 1.5-inch diameter plastic nautical-style rope that does not fray; always burn cut ends with a flame immediately after cutting to seal them
- Two rows of rope run up the posts; the upward run of rope is looped underneath the horizontal run so the horizontal piece holds the upward piece in place — do not reverse this orientation
Frequently Asked Questions
How deep do AWS cedar railing posts need to be set in the ground?
A minimum of 2 feet of post must be buried in the ground — similar to a standard fence post. The crushed-stone base beneath AWS steps is penetrated with a post hole digger, and the post is anchored with a dry-mix concrete bag wetted in place.
What kind of rope does AWS use for rope railings and why?
AWS supplies a 1.5-inch diameter plastic rope that has a nautical fiber-rope appearance but does not fray or degrade over time the way natural fiber rope does. Cut ends must be burned with a flame to seal them and prevent any fraying.
How far apart should cedar railing posts be spaced on AWS waterfall steps?
Posts are spaced roughly 4–5 feet apart. Placement is flexible — posts must go around any rocks in the step surface, so exact spacing will vary by site.
How are cedar railing posts finished and what maintenance options exist?
Cedar can be left natural, which causes it to weather to gray over time. Alternatively, posts can be stained a color or treated with a clear sealer to preserve the natural cedar tone. If posts are cut to height, use a chainsaw and then sand the top smooth and knock down the edges.
How do you properly loop the rope on AWS cedar post railings?
Straighten the rope coil before starting. Mark two heights on each post for the dual rope rows. When looping at each post, the upward-running section of rope goes underneath and the horizontal section goes on top — this orientation causes the horizontal rope to hold the upward rope in place. At the final post, cut the rope, leave a short tail, tack it in, and burn the cut end to seal it.
Video transcript
Hello. This is Chuck from Advanced Waterfall Systems. And today, we're gonna show you guys a guideline on how to install our cedar post and rope railings. Okay? So as what as an option for our AWS systems, we have we have cedar post and rope railings.
Right? So what we do is we sell these. These are real cedar. Okay? And they're six foot long.
Okay. They're six foot long, and they're anywhere from, like, five, four to six inch diameter, cedar, and they come six foot. Right? So the idea is you wanna put a minimum of two feet in the ground. Not terribly different than a fence post.
Right? You dig a hole with a post hole digger. Now if you're doing it on one of these AWS systems, there's a crushed stone base underneath these steps. Right? So, generally, you'll see these going up the steps to a slide.
Some customers like the look. Some people want it for safety. Some people don't like it. Right? So it's an option.
Okay. So if you're installing this on a job, you're gonna have a crushed stone base coming out from underneath these steps. Right? Because these steps have a crushed stone base. So you just take a post hole digger.
Boom. Dig two feet down and set the, you know, the cedar post. Two feet down, six inch rise, and then you wanna keep a minimum of, like, roughly three and half feet. Right? Three and a half feet from the step to the top here.
Okay? And if it's higher, you'd always cut it off. You know? If you cut it sharp, you might wanna sand it down if you use a chainsaw, but, know, make it nice and smooth. You wanna knock the edges down.
Some people leave them natural. Now these are a little bit old, a little beat up. The nuns we send are newer. You can leave them natural, and everybody knows what happens to cedar. It turns gray.
Right? Or you can stain them or, like, a clear sealer or stain to keep the color. Some people stain them a color. Really completely up to you. Right?
Alright. So from an installation standpoint, that's what you do. You put them, like, four or five feet apart, roughly, you know, four to five feet apart. Okay. All the way up.
And where you can locate them. Obviously, you can't locate if there's a rock here, you can't locate them. You gotta put them around the rock, so it's a bit flexible. Okay. You dig all the holes.
You put them all in. Level it all up. And then you pour a bag of, you know, a dry mixed bag of concrete like you would a fence post. Put it in there. Boom.
Wet it. Right? Let it get hard hardened up, then it's in place. Okay? Once they're in place, then it's time to do the, the rope railing part of the project.
These are all set. So now the next step is Eric is gonna show you how we, we also, you know, as part of the railings is a is a is a rope. Alright. So this is the rope that we, that we include with the with the railings. It's inch and a half, and it's kinda like that old school nautical rope, but it's not.
It looks like that old school nautical rope, like fiber rope. That stuff wears over time, and, you know, if anybody's ever seen it, it gets on your hands and all that. This is actually a a plastic. Right? So this stuff doesn't it doesn't fray over time is the point.
It'll stay like this, last forever. Okay. This is the material we use. Right? So we'll give you so many feet with the kit, and now Eric is gonna show you how we kind of how we kind of stall.
We wrap it around and bring it up and and do all that. We nail it in. Right? So take over, Eric. So you can see Eric's burning the edge.
Like I said, that's plastic material. Okay? So he's burning it so it doesn't fray. Alright? Susie, we start out with that.
And whenever you cut an edge off the rope, you kinda burn it like that, and we can pull off the zip tie. So one of the first steps we do is this rope comes in a roll. You wanna untangle it and straighten it out so it's nice and straight, and then you kinda bring it up. You can see what Eric's doing. He's kinda bringing it up and down the steps, unraveling it all.
If you try to do this when it's all rolled up, it'll be harder to do and you know I mean? So this is why you wanna do that. So you see the first thing he does, brings it up and down. So that's what Eric's doing. Right?
What he's doing is he's marking two inches down off the top, and then he's marking 19 ounces down. He's making two marks. And what that's gonna end up being is this is gonna have two rows of rope going up. So he's got one mark here and one mark here. So have a rope going around the top and then coming down across here.
So it creates kind of a consistency when it's all done. It's kind of parallel, you know, going up, so it looks nice. That's the idea. He he kind of created a loop, and this is how you do it. You want the rope going up to be underneath.
You want the rope going up here to be on top. Okay. So that this part holds this up. Okay. You don't wanna do it the other way.
Don't You want this to be on top. You want it to be underneath. You'll see that's the way you did it. Full thing? Yep.
Yep. You don't rush. You might wanna sometimes you'll tap them in further and cover them a little bit, but you can see Eric got done. And now we're not gonna cut this because we're gonna take it apart. But if you were done if you were, doing this on a job, you would cut this.
You can maybe cut it right here, and then you would just kinda have it like a tail and then tack it in. So it looks like that. And then you would burn it the same way you burn this, and that's kinda how you install the, cedar post and rope railings.