I'm thinking about replacing my banister but I've been told it's a big job and not really worth the hassle.
I've had a look in B&Q and it's not gonna cost a great deal and doesn't look that difficult, anyone had any experience of replacing banisters, is it really that difficult?
I installed banisters (where there previously weren't any). It wasn't difficult. I didn't use kit parts except for the handrail and some balls for the newel post tops. The newel posts and spindles I cut from standard timber (wanted plain square ones, not the fancy ones in the sheds).
Some of the important points...
You need to find really solid anchors for the newel posts. I bolted them to the floor joists with, IIRC, M16 bolts. They have to withstand someone falling against them, and someone grabbing them whilst falling, and not budge at all.
I picked up the video and instructions for assembling one of the kits, and that had lots of useful tips and covers the legal requirements. I also looked at lots of banisters before I designed mine. Take note of how the sloping banister rail meets the newel post relative to the horizontal banister on the landing (there are several schemes for doing this). I constructed mine using mortice and tenon joins, which I last did some 30 years ago at school -- I did a practice run for the angled banister rail into newel post on scrap wood before doing the real thing. I think the kits have some type of bracket to avoid this complexity though.
Buy all the wood and leave it standing (unwrapped and well spaced) on the landing for at least a month before use (I think mine probably stood around for about 3 months). This enables you to make sure you aren't using bits which will immediately warp or split after fitting, and it means the wood will have finished shrinking before you cut your joints. I also wanted it not to shrink after I had bolted it to the floor joists, because retightening the bolts would require pulling up fitted carpets, etc. This strategy worked and the newel posts have remained rock solid. Likewise, if you are cutting mortice and tenon joints, you don't want those to become loose either.
Before I embarked on all this, I had several goes at getting carpenders to build them for me, never having done any serious woodwork. After about a year of trying, I realised that I was never going to find one who would -- I even had a few who came and measured up, but I never heard any more from them. At that point, I did it myself, and I am very pleased with the results -- came out much better than I expected.
My favourite job in second fixing. It isn't going to be a piece of cake though. If the top and bottom rails are morticed that may put you off. What is wrong with the one you have?
No... not yet.
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