Hi
I need to fit new spindles on a staircase that was panelled. I've got the original handrail in place but I now need to fit the spindles. Rather than fit a base rail I was simply going to nail and glue the spindles in place (as they are going to be painted). Does this sound like a reasonable idea or will this not be strong enough? Any ideas? Also if anybody has any idea on what is a "normal" space in between each spindle I'd appreciate it.
All replies appreciated!
Pop
pop snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk wrote in news:1167401441.616055.7430 @s34g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
The required space between spindles is: "large enough for a child's head to pass through and narrow enough for it to be very difficult to withdraw said child's head"
Seriously, if there are children about, it would pay to consider the above. Also it should be remembered that disable and elderly people often use the spindles to "haul" themselves up. They also put a lot more strain on the top rail than fit young people who simply use the rail for guidance and safety.
Terry W
sound
ideas?
Ours (1905 Edwardian) are nailed in this way and mounted on 4" vertical centres (ie not 4" along the base board). I believe regs say a 4" ball must not be able to pass through them (simulating a childs head)
AWEM
pop snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk brought next idea :
I would suggest it is not strong enough. Ours were done this way (not by me) and the result is not very satisfactory. I would drill a full depth socket in the handrail, a shallow one for the bottom end and arrange to push the spindle up then drop back down into the lower socket - glueing plus nailing both ends.
There is a regulation for spindle spacing, something about a child not being able to insert its head between them and get it stuck - or so wide apart that one could not get it stuck anyway.
:-)
Or keep in a supply of grease.
Do they?
I've never seen that, I use the rails.
And sliding down.
Mary
Nearly - but it's more about not having the kid fall through the gaps rather than getting stuck!
See page 9 of the relevant building regs approved document:
David
Done like this at the base, it should be fine - although it is a slower process than using a rebated base rail and inset spacers[1].
For the top rail you need the rebated rail and spacers since there is far more chance they will have lots of latteral force applied to them.
Such that you can't pass a 100mm sphear through them...
[1] Fitting with spacers is very quick since you can cut most of them first, then use them to position each spindle.
Wot John said and go to
Wow. Thanks all for the quick replies!
I'm going to go with pinning and glueing at the base and inserting spacers at the top and see how I get on.
Thanks again.
I am considering using a biscuit joiner to cut slots so the balusters can be glued in. Unless of course anyone has valid objections.
Yup, the biscuit slot will be wider than the spindle base - so the cut (and the biscuit edge) will be visible.
I have heard 4 inches too but they are literally spindly at that distance. Anything less than 2 1/2" OTOH, can be very difficult to paint.
You put a baton of the required space in the rail at the bottom and once the first upright has gone in plumb, another in the top. After that they will all be the same length.
A (very little) PVA tab on the edges as you go will be enough to keep them all in place. Put all the last uprights in before spacing them or you won't fit the last two or three.
Any slack must be take up with packers or maybe that foam glue and a lot of care as cleaning that damned stuff up is a real pain. A nail gun is worth hiring I assure you.
Provided you are neat enough not to make any mistakes.
You will never get them out if you do make a mistake.
But the stairs are on a slope of about 38 degrees, so the biscuit and slot is completely contained inside a 50mm spindle.
If you do the biscuit aligned up/down rather than side to side then yes... although you really want the extra strength that you would get from having the bisucuit running the other way.
(a "normal" spindle is 34mm as well - but you can get heavier 2" ones)
Sorry I'm a bit late on this topic, I did a very similar job about 5 years ago and its still going strong.
The method I used was to fit two parallel 12mm x 12mm beadings underneath the handrail and along the stair string (open side of course, but it would work on each tread as well depending on the stairs construction). The gap between the beadings was the width of the balusters.
I then got a length of 12mm thick timber (same width as the balusters) and used this to infill between each baluster (basically constructing a
12mm deep tenon that the baluster could be slotted into). It has the obvious added benefit of removing any concern about setting up the gaps as each infill piece does this job for you.In terms of the gaps between I made the infill pieces 90mm on the horizontal run and about 120mm on the angled runs (with each end cut at the appropriate angle, of course). I got two small children and although I get a wide variety of toys raining down on me at times, no children to date.
Cheers
Richard
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