Step Seven: With the roof complete and the decking trimmed to its final shape, the deck railing was begun. In order to provide some privacy when sunbathing, the railing was built like a fence. The pickets were cut to the same length, and nailed to the rim joist on the deck. As you can see, where the deck is curved, a piece of lumber was scribed to match the curve, cut and attached at the bottom edge the framing, and then the pickets could be nailed in two places on the deck. Later, the top is trimmed out with horizontal 1x4s and a flat 2x4 for the top rail.