Here are 5 free online baluster spacing calculator websites. A baluster (also known as spindle) is a decorative pillar that supports a rail or handrail of a staircase. These sites will help you check how many spindles or balusters are needed and what should be the gap between those balusters for a rail.
You can enter input details like baluster width, rail length, angle, etc., and then you will get the output. You can check number of balusters required, space between balusters with exact fraction, etc.
While the legal/common baluster spacing is 4 inches in many areas, you should follow the codes for local building for safety purposes.
Let’s check these online baluster spacing calculators one by one.
Spindle Spacing Calculator
Spindle Spacing Calculator (Homepage) is very simple but gives good results. You can enter:
- Rail length in feet and inches.
- Spindle width.
- Minimum spacing required in inches, and
- Denominator precision.
Once you enter these details, you can press Add button. This will provide you two results. The first result will show space between balusters in decimal format, space between balusters with exact fraction, space with usable fraction, and number of spindles/balusters. In the second result, you will get estimated rail length, calculated length of rail based on number of balusters, the amount with which you need to adjust the space, etc.
Blocklayer.com Baluster Calculator
Blocklayer.com brings different types of calculators like hip roof framing calculator, pulley RPM calculator, and more. Baluster calculator is one of them and you can access it using this link. It also generates output graph for balusters, center level, space level, etc., which is a very good feature. You can also change baluster length, scale, and angle using the available sliders, and it will update the graph immediately.
Once you’ve provided the input values like rail length, member width n height (both end members or one end member), baluster angle, maximum spaces or maximum centers, you can get the results. In the results, you can check number of balusters, end gaps, and gaps between balusters.
Decks.com
Decks.com also comes with a useful baluster spacing calculator feature for deck railing. Here is the link to that baluster spacing calculator. The unique feature is you can add multiple sections and staircase sections to get the result. The result will show output for all input sections separately. You will be able to check section width, center point, number of balusters needed, and outside space for balusters in deck railing.
Just add the input details like baluster width (in inches and fraction), space width, add sections if needed or fill details for preset section, and then you can generate the results.
It also provides sample image of deck railing along with balusters, section (baluster centered and space centered), center point, outside space, baluster width, etc. This helps you easily understand about balusters and deck railing and calculations based on the input details.
Inchcalculator.com
Inchcalculator.com comes with a simpler baluster calculator. You can access that page with this link. There are five input entries that you need to submit. These are:
- Railing length (in yd, ft, m, cm, etc.).
- Number of posts.
- Baluster width.
- Post width, and
- Maximum baluster spacing.
Provide the details and click on CALCULATE button. You will get the output about number of balusters needed. It also provides a direct link to the calculation that you can share with others.
Spindle Spacing Calculator By Jacksonwoodturners
Spindle Spacing Calculator (Homepage) is the last website on this list. It is also very simple to use. Just add total length of railing (including posts), total number of posts, size of posts, baluster style (3/4 Deckorators Classic aluminum baluster, 1 inch deckorators arc aluminum baluster, etc.), and then hit the CALCULATE button.
You will immediately get the result about number of balusters needed. That’s all this website does.
The Conclusion:
Here I wrap up this list which has very useful online baluster spacing calculator websites. All are very good as you can quickly find out number of balusters needed for rail and required space between balusters. Check all these sites and then use the one that is more helpful to you.
