railing repair

Well, removing the railing is probably not an option (or at least not replacing it) as it undoubtedly is there for a reason and wouldn't meet code w/o it. Hence, that would undoubtedly turn off any future buyer not to mention probably being unsafe for present.

Can't tell, is bottom rail actually broken or did it just pull off end of rail? If isn't broken, simply pull apart and adding some construction adhesive (w/ the end grain glue won't hold but the adhesive will some) and reclamp back in place. To prevent a recurrence, insert a support block under the bottom rail every couple of feet spacing evenly.

If it is actually broken, need more details to tell for sure how to take it down w/ least further damage to replace the lower rail, but that would be the right solution.

Alternatively, as noted above, you could replace the wooden railing w/ a metal one if simply want to go at the repair in a brute force manner.

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I would use white carpenters glue on everything in sight, hold/prop it together for 24 hours and then things should be ok. Wipe off any excess white glue within 10 minutes of first applying it so that you do not leave any residue on the surface, then after a few days, get a woodfill crayon at a hardware store in the color to match the wood and fill in any remaining cracks, voids, etc. These wood fill crayons come in many colors so it should not be too hard to match your color.

hr(bob) snipped-for-privacy@att.net wrote: ...

Normally that would be good except what he's needing to hold together is end grain and the wood glue (white/yellow/whatever) just won't do any good for any time at all.

_IF_ (the proverbial "big if" he could get underneath to add a screw in the end of each spindle, that would help a bunch but there's insufficient clearance to make that likely to be possible.

If the lower rail is actually broken (can't tell from the picture, that would be good place to use the glue if can get in place and get it clamped well.

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