Kicker Wall Question

[kmart30]

I have a parapet wall at the roof level of a home that also has roof top access to be used as a deck. The client doesn't want to balloon frame the second floor to eliminate the need for kickers and he has a few good reasons for this. The parapet wall will vary from 3' to 4' in height due to the sloping roof and the client wants to have the kicker wall as low as possible. I have the kickers (2x4) at about mid height of the wall coming down at a 45 to a sill plate attached to the deck/trusses and the kicker wall will be sheathed. Everything is checking out well but I was thinking that a 45 kicker might not be steep enough to prevent a safety hazard for people on a deck. I know there are codes for railing heights,guards, ect. and the height of our wall covers this but I was just wondering if this might be an issue or not? Any recommendations/feedback would be much appreciated.

 

[DETstru]

Are these intermittent kickers or are you talking about a 45° sloped edge of the roof with 18" to 24" of parapet above that?

 

[MotorCity]

Just my opinion, but I would not consider the kicker as any sort of fall prevention mechanism or deterrent. To me, it seems like the parapet needs to extend 3' or 4' above the top of the kicker to act as a sort of guardrail. Otherwise, you could have some drunk knucklehead try to climb the 45 degree kicker and trip over the small remaining parapet. Not to say they could not also climb over any sort of guardrail or parapet, I'd just rest easier. How about if you extended members above the roof that are scabbed on to the wall below every 4' or 5' to act as "guardrail posts", then frame the parapet between those?

 

[kmart30]

Here is a simple sketch.

 

[DETstru]

I don't know what the max slope is where you would need to extend the parapet the full height.
Intuitively, 45° doesn't seem like enough but I'm no architect. I'd say steepen it to the point just before your parapet/truss doesn't calc out.

 

[JAE]

You could add a second, interior guard rail wall located at the base of the 45 degree cant.

Besides drunks, I could see small children climbing up that thing and falling over the 2 ft. (or less) remaining wall.

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