1. Home
  2. UK Do-It-Yourself Forum
  3. bent handrail

bent handrail

Just had a look at the Richard Burbidge 3600mm handrail from tradestairs.com. An obvious bend upwards about 2/3 of the way along (i.e. a dip in the rail), max bend end to end up to 20mm. Obviously crap, although I suppose better than a bend downwards (a hump), which would have to be pulled down by the spindles rather than pushed up. Note: purchased with trade terms and conditions.

I have emailed the supplier, since I would have thought 5mm acceptable, but not

20mm. Is is reasonable to expect this replaced ?

Obviously you cannot check everything on delivery, but I wish I'd checked the handrails, since they are most likely to have problems.

And how do you refuse to sign for only part of an order anyway ? If you refuse to sign, is the courier obliged to return the items ?

And what if they claim you have stored them incorrectly (it's only been 4 days since delivery anyway) ?

Anyone got the voice of experience to add to all this ?

Thanks, Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson
Loading thread data ...

Perhaps I am missing something, but 20mm sounds pretty insignificant... assuming we are talking about a timber machined profile handrail, it could vary that much just with humidity changes. Once fixed in place it should be fine.

Reply to
John Rumm

Yes machined timber. It actually takes quite a lot of force to bend it. The bend is not gradual, but suddenly veers off near one end in a way that wou ld be hard to correct. Probably closer to 30mm end to end since I only had it down on the kitchen table. At least it is not twisted though. A replacem ent could be worse. The 2400mm one is a straight as a die. But perhaps I have unrealistic expectations. At least the bend is of the direction where pushing it out with the spindle s would force the base rail downwards. The opposite bend (which I might end up with if I replaced it) would lift the base rail upwards if I had it min imally fixed in order to make the section removable, as discussed previousl y.

I suppose I would try to correct the bend by weighting it down. Its primed, so applying moisture may not help.

Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

he bend is not gradual, but suddenly veers off near one end in a way that w ould be hard to correct. Probably closer to 30mm end to end since I only ha d it down on the kitchen table. At least it is not twisted though. A replac ement could be worse.

les would force the base rail downwards. The opposite bend (which I might e nd up with if I replaced it) would lift the base rail upwards if I had it m inimally fixed in order to make the section removable, as discussed previou sly.

d, so applying moisture may not help.

Strangely the timber of the primed rails is not mentioned, but info on othe r sites that sell what must be the same product mentions birch. I would hav e thought they would use pine which must be cheaper than birch.

Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

The bend is not gradual, but suddenly veers off near one end in a way that would be hard to correct. Probably closer to 30mm end to end since I only had it down on the kitchen table. At least it is not twisted though. A repl acement could be worse.

ndles would force the base rail downwards. The opposite bend (which I might end up with if I replaced it) would lift the base rail upwards if I had it minimally fixed in order to make the section removable, as discussed previ ously.

med, so applying moisture may not help.

her sites that sell what must be the same product mentions birch. I would h ave thought they would use pine which must be cheaper than birch.

Well all the primed range of parts that I have got except the newels are on Homebase (higher prices of course) and they are all birch.

With the base rail and hand rail the grooves for the spindles leaves little timber at the edge and birch could offer extra strength compared to pine. Ideally my custom base rail with a groove under to take the stringer would also be in birch or something stronger than cheap pine, but not sure where I would get birch from ...

Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

In them old days they would fasten them to something like a piece of wood to stop them getting damaged.

Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

he bend is not gradual, but suddenly veers off near one end in a way that w ould be hard to correct. Probably closer to 30mm end to end since I only ha d it down on the kitchen table. At least it is not twisted though. A replac ement could be worse.

les would force the base rail downwards. The opposite bend (which I might e nd up with if I replaced it) would lift the base rail upwards if I had it m inimally fixed in order to make the section removable, as discussed previou sly.

d, so applying moisture may not help.

You will not be able to correct this bend, too much force required. If you can live with it, the only "fix" is to cut the spindles to appropiate lengths.

Leave it for a while longer in the place it is to be installed & see what happens. (It may well get worse)

The reason it has happened is that it is shit timber and has not been dried out properly before machining,

Unsuitable for purpose. (As with much of the wood we get these days)

Reply to
harry

With all the hi tech drying methods available these days, there is no excuse for a handrail being pissed, especially from a specialist supplier like Burbage

Reply to
stuart noble

bend is not gradual, but suddenly veers off near one end in a way that would be hard to correct. Probably closer to 30mm end to end since I only had it down on the kitchen table. At least it is not twisted though. A replacement could be worse.

would force the base rail downwards. The opposite bend (which I might end up with if I replaced it) would lift the base rail upwards if I had it minimally fixed in order to make the section removable, as discussed previously.

applying moisture may not help.

Yup if its a definite bend in one place, then that's not so good. A curve over the full length would be less of an issue.

No harm in asking if they can swap it for a straight one... although you might end up playing that game for a bit!

Reply to
John Rumm

The bend is not gradual, but suddenly veers off near one end in a way that would be hard to correct. Probably closer to 30mm end to end since I only had it down on the kitchen table. At least it is not twisted though. A repl acement could be worse.

ndles would force the base rail downwards. The opposite bend (which I might end up with if I replaced it) would lift the base rail upwards if I had it minimally fixed in order to make the section removable, as discussed previ ously.

med, so applying moisture may not help.

I have emailed them, so we'll see what they say ...

Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

The bend is not gradual, but suddenly veers off near one end in a way that would be hard to correct. Probably closer to 30mm end to end since I only had it down on the kitchen table. At least it is not twisted though. A repl acement could be worse.

ndles would force the base rail downwards. The opposite bend (which I might end up with if I replaced it) would lift the base rail upwards if I had it minimally fixed in order to make the section removable, as discussed previ ously.

med, so applying moisture may not help.

I'm always unsure whether to season the timber where it is to be used, or k eep it in natural environment (i.e. the garage at the end of the garden (ne arly said "universe" then). Often after it is fixed that will stop if from bending. Otherwise, if it bends after a couple of weeks storage inside, you are a bi t stuck. The problem with DIY in spare time is often things have to be stored for a bit when its best to use them right away.

Anyway, I've moved the rest of the stuff into the garage. The 2400mm handra il seems dead straight so maybe I just got a bad'un.

Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

Always store it where it's going to be used. This sort of stuff is normally kiln dried to something under 10% moisture content before it's machined, so it should remain straight in the average centrally heated house. A pissed handrail is no use to anyone

Reply to
stuart noble

So really I should get the stuff back out of the garage and store it in the house ! Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

Yep

Reply to
stuart noble

Well I've had an email back from the supplier asking for some pictures of the rail so they can forward to Burbidge. Since its trade terms, it all goes back to the manufacturer as expected.

I'll stick a link to the photos on here as well (after 5pm).

Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

I'll do that tonight. If the rail has miraculously straightened after being in the garage for 2 days, that might be a problem since they want some photos !

Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

rail so they can forward to Burbidge. Since its trade terms, it all goes back to the manufacturer as expected.

Here is a link to the photos. Its not quite as bad as I thought, about 10mm end to end (see 5mm spacer pic).

formatting link

Does this still seem worse than you would expect ? It might be worse if I get another one that has a slight bend in the other direction (this way spindles would push the bend out). Trouble with t'internet - you can't eyeball and pick them out.

Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

It looks close enough that you can get it straight in fitting I would have thought.

You could also probably flip it over, support on both ends and add a weight tot he middle and leave for a bit to bend it straight.

Reply to
John Rumm

It's naff. Burbidge shouldn't allow it out of the factory. Four sided moulding machines exert tremendous pressure and can temporarily "straighten" a length of timber. However, it springs back as soon as it clears the cutters. Very bad practice

Reply to
stuart noble

As a matter of interest, what level of bend would you think acceptable in a rail of that length (3600mm) ?

I suppose there may even be a British Standard or an EU version for handrails.

Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.