I want to save money and put in the bannister myself. I have a wrought iron railing and want to replace it with a wooden one. I bought the spindles, post, and railing. Can anyone tell me how to put it up. Thanks.
2007-01-06 11:11:53 · 7 answers · asked by Izzy 5 in Home & Garden ➔ Do It Yourself (DIY)
I'm a design/builder of upper end houses- and I could tell you. But there's not enough room, and I assure you that you will need to revise your plan ( go back to the book) repeatedly as you do this. This is a job that many seasoned finish carpenters can't get right.
Go to the bookstore, or Amazon, and get a book on finish carpentry. Be sure it has good details for open stair railing.
An excellent book is "Modern Carpentry" by Willis H. Wagner, published by Goodheart-Wilcox. It's written is easy to understand terms, well illustrated and thorough. It will also be useful for any other remodel or building project you may choose to take on.
This will be the best spent money of your stair project.
2007-01-07 05:43:12 · answer #1 · answered by spiritgide41 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
To be legal and safe the banister spindles have to be a certain distance apart so kids can't get caught. If you don't have kids, you still want to sell the house and not have to rip out the banister.
The problem is that you want the spindles a specific even distance apart, yet you may have to deal with landings, curves and wider steps. If you are lucky, then you end up with 2 spindles on each step and have to cut only two lengths.
The key to installing the things is a product called a dowel screw which is like a lag screw pointed at both ends. It allows you to screw down the bottom without any fasteners showing. The other choice would be dowel pegs and glue and that is too permanent.
After figuring out the spacing and drilling pilot holes in the spindles and steps, you have to cut the spindles to length (wait - you just drilled them! Patience.) First you need to line up the decorative turnings etc. and trim the bottom so the decoration lines up nicely all the way up the stairs. Make sure you don't take off so much that the railing is too low. Use a chalk line or a long straight piece of wood or the rail to mark the spindles then use the distance from the mark to the decoration to determine how much to take off the bottom. Redrill the holes and mount the spindles again. This time make a line that matches the slope of the stairs to mark where each will be cut at an angle to match the bottom of the rail. Cut each spindle and put back, then put the rail in place and mark the bottom of it for drilling dowel holes. The dowels can go straight in the end of sloping cut spindles and in an angled hole in the rail, but it is much easier to drill perpendicular to the rail and to the sloping cut - just don't drill through the spindle. The dowels in the holes will angle to the ground so the rail will have to be worked over them a bit at a time.
Normally the posts are dowel screwed into the bottom of the rail and the base is screwed through from the bottom of the tread and then the screw holes are covered over with molding. If you are replacing metal which used flanges, you may not be able to get under the tread and will have to use "toe nailed"/angled screws in to the bottom from above and conceal the heads with molding.
Easy to mess up. Measure twice, cut once. Take breaks. Have help.
2007-01-06 12:42:26 · answer #2 · answered by Mike1942f 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
the easiest way, is to measure, measure then measure again, then assemble the railing on the flat. make sure that the spindles are no more than four inches apart. depending on what you are attaching it to will determine how you attach it. lots of screws and lag bolts, or concrete screws, what ever depending on your situation exactly. drill the wood first, justt the size of the shaft of the screw, you can drill a little way in to make a recess for the bolt or screw heads with a larger drill bit. fill it with wood putty and paint it to match the rest. or leave them visible, depending on the look you want. the railing is attached to the spindles on the top either by screws or nails driven in at an angle. drill for them first, a hole jus ever so much smaller than the nail or screw, in the spindle part, not the top rail. dab some glue on the top of the spindle too. maybe you got the kind that already has indentations drilled for the spindles, same way, but it makes it easier. the bottom board you attach with screws or nails through the bottom, into the spindle. drill first, as always, but this time just a bit, and you should recess the screw heads too. you can even paint the thing before you put it in place. by the way you can probably sell the iron railing if it is half way decent. If you need more instruction, email me at tootall1121@yahoo.com this is just an overview, not detailed instructions.
2007-01-06 12:31:42 · answer #3 · answered by tootall1121 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
First you need to measure the distance on center of the cast iron rail,if they are 16 on center then that's what you need to do on bottom and top rails,if no bottom rail measure were the old rails were line them up with top rail,go from there,one step at a time,
some rails have grooves in them the thick end is closer to the step, thinner part top, need finish nails 1"+1 1/2" inch and yellow wood glue, take your time,do better job,if you want to stain the railings do the staining before you put together,allot easy er,Unless you don't care revers do it after put together,either way is OK. Good luck
2007-01-13 04:05:38 · answer #4 · answered by beneryberlecco 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check out this sight. You can get all the info you need.
www.crownheritage.com/
2007-01-10 09:52:17 · answer #5 · answered by Nishi 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
listen to spiritgid very sound advice
2007-01-12 13:22:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
NOT RELLY I'M NOT INTO THAT KINDA BULFING STUFF TYPE OF THING
2007-01-13 11:33:54 · answer #7 · answered by Ashley p 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋