Want a drink rail on your deck railing? Start here!
You can expand your usable living space without an expensive addition of square footage. How? By creatively using the space you’ve already got!
When it comes to decks, one of the best ways to do that is to add a drink rail deck railing - a flat, functional space on top of your deck railing to rest a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, a plate of food, or anything else you need to fully enjoy your outdoor living space.
Some deck railing systems allow you to use composite deck boards to create a beautiful drink rail that matches the color of your deck surface. Check out our favorite railing systems to create a drink rail setup all your own:
Table of Contents
- Why Plan A Drink Rail Deck Railing?
- Best Metal Railing With A Drink Rail
- Best Composite Railing With A Drink Rail
- Best Cable Railing With A Drink Rail
- Best Glass Railing With A Drink Rail
- Let DecksDirect Plan Your Perfect Deck Railing Setup
Why Plan A Drink Rail Deck Railing?
Drink rails, sometimes called cocktail rails, are an amazing addition to a deck space. Imagine watching the sunrise with a hot cup of coffee resting on your smooth, stable drink rail. Or watching the sunset with a relaxing glass of wine.
If you use your deck as a grill zone or an outdoor kitchen, a flat-top cocktail rail makes for a perfect place to set food, plates, or utensils as you prepare dinner. If you're looking to add style and ambiance to your deck, a deck board drink rail is an ideal spot for decorations like flowerpots or planters.
The added bonus of all of this? When you have extra space to place all of these accessories, your deck itself feels bigger and more open, allowing you to relax even more fully.
Now, let’s run through our favorite deck railing options to feature a drink rail:
Best Metal Railing With A Drink Rail
Fortress AL13 Home Railing
Highlights:
- Very DIY Friendly
- Sturdy aluminum build
The Fortress AL13 Home system is an outstanding metal deck railing, made from sturdy powder-coated aluminum. The system is one of our most DIY-friendly, shipping as a pre-welded panel that’s easy to install.
It also looks great with a composite deck board mounted on top as a drink rail. Here’s how to get the look:
How It Works
To get Fortress AL13 Home railing with a drink rail, get Fortress’s Drink Rail Clips (shown above), which fit around your top rail and attach to the deck board of your choice (as shown below).
Best Composite Railing With A Drink Rail
TimberTech Classic Composite Railing
Highlights:
- Extremely customizable
- Low-maintenance
The thing we love about the TimberTech Classic Composite Series Railing is how versatile the system is. With rails and posts made of composite material, it’s durable and low-maintenance, while delivering the classic look of a traditional wood railing.
With TimberTech’s system, you can customize the railing to fit your desired style. That includes four different top rail profiles, one of which is designed to mount a beautiful TimberTech deck board as a continuous drink rail.
_landscape.jpg "TimberTech Drink Rail Stair Section")
How It Works
To set up your TimberTech Classic Composite Series railing with a functional drink rail, just choose the Drink Rail Pack when you select your top rail profile.
_landscape.jpg "TimberTech Composite Drink Rail")
More TimberTech Classic Composite Options
The customization doesn’t stop there, either. TimberTech Classic Composite Railing also features a bunch of different options for infill, or the part between your posts and rails. The pictures above show sleek black aluminum balusters. But TimberTech Classic Composite can also come with black or white composite balusters, full glass panels, or modern Feeney cable runs as shown below:
_landscape.jpg "Cable drink rail by TimberTech")
Best Cable Railing With A Drink Rail
AFCO Flat Top Railing
Highlights:
- High-quality craftsmanship
- Sturdy aluminum rails & stainless steel cables
When it comes to cable railing, we absolutely love the look, feel, and performance of AFCO Pro. AFCO’s metal rails and posts are beautifully crafted from powder-coated aluminum to hold up great in any weather.
How It Works
The AFCO Cable system features two different top rail profiles: the traditional breadloaf-style and a flat top railing (pictured above). The flat top version (sometimes known as AFCO 275) is designed to mount the deck boards of your choice as a cocktail rail.
Shop AFCO Pro CableMore AFCO Cable Options
AFCO also offers some good opportunities to customize your railing setup. The metal rails are available in a sharp white or a sleek bronze option. The white is pictured below. You can also get AFCO deck railing in a metal baluster option or as a full glass panel deck railing.
Best Glass Railing With A Drink Rail
Trex Transcend Glass Panel Railing
Highlights:
- Tons of color options
- Low-maintenance composite material
If you’re looking to pair a cocktail rail with a bright, modern glass railing, Trex Transcend Glass Railing is perfect for you. Trex is one of the best-known brand names in the outdoor living industry, and their Transcend railing is a wildly popular choice for decks across the country.
Trex Transcend’s rails and posts are made from composite material like the TimberTech Classic Composite Series. That pairs a proven, traditional look with the incredibly low-maintenance appeal of composite railing. Trex Transcend also offers an amazing glass railing solution, fitting full glass panels between the composite rails and posts to open up your deck view to the max.
How It Works
Trex offers several different configurations of its Transcend railing, including an option with a continuous cocktail rail. You can see all of the options here, with a step-by-step guide to installing the cocktail rail setup.
One added bonus when you work with DecksDirect: we offer custom-cut glass panels, individually sized to fit your space. Sourcing glass panels is usually a major deterrent to deck owners who want to use a glass railing, but our custom glass program makes it easy to tailor your railing to your space.
Shop Trex TranscendMore Trex Transcend Options
If you love the look of the Trex Transcend system with a drink rail, check out some alternate options instead of glass: Trex Transcend can use round aluminum balusters, square composite balusters, or the distinctive hog wire fence look of Wild Hog panels, as shown below.
Call DecksDirect For Easy Drink Rail Project Planning
If you have a specific vision for your deck railing - or any questions you need to ask about your project - give us a call! We have a team of experienced deck project planners available by phone at 1-888-824-5316 to help plan your project.
