Newel Post

[Al Hart]

The previous owner of our house thought it would be a good idea to remove the handrail and cut down the newel post at the bottom the stairs. How do I replace the newel post? If I remove whats left of the old post (lump hammer at the ready!!) will the stairs fall down before I get the new one in?

[stuart noble]

Quite possibly. Your best bet is to fit a new one on to the old, using a 1" dowel about 6" long. Cut the square section (or whatever looks right) off the new one, drill 2 oversize holes in the stumps so that the cut surfaces fit together snugly (if sloppily) with the dowel inserted. Then fill both holes and cover the faces with car body filler, position the newel, and leave for 5 minutes. Aesthetically the join really needs to be where a turned bit meets a square section. I'm sure it's possible to drill precisely square, dead centre, and not need the filler. Let's just say I've never managed it. A router plunges accurately but depends on both cut faces being perfectly square, and the existing stump rarely is. Those 60s types didn't worry about such things when they were whitewashing everything. I blame Lennon and that Japanese bird.

[Toby]

If you take a look at

gives a handy outline. This is the range in all the major stores. They do a newel post and base in two parts. You can get the main post and fit it to an existing base following the instructions. There is a clever tapered dowel that expands the spigot of the newel in the base to create a tight fit in a

50mm hole. As long as there is sufficient stump left this should work.

The alternate, as stocked by Wickes, is a one piece newel post; this may involve more surgery such as removing the lowest riser and a piece of floorboard to be able to remove, replace, and fix securely. Your stairs won't fall down, removing the stub of the old newel is likely to require one hell of an effort (Think hammer, think bigger hammer, think chisel, split the wood, drill out the wood, think biggest hammer available) BTDT been there done that... but never again.

[Set Square]

It's best not to remove the remaining part - it is probably concreted into the floor with parts of the staircase mortised into it. Have a look at the Richard Burbidge ranges of stair fittings at your local shed or BM. These include turned newel posts with a spigot to fit into a hole bored in the top of the old sawn-off newel. If you want something a bit more avant garde, have a look at their Fusion range. This has metal sockets, (almost) circular section newel posts and handrails. You can also get a Burbidge video for about £5 which shows how to fit their kit - although I don't think it covers the Fusion range.

I've replaced my newels, baserail, handrail and spindles with the gold-effect verion of Fusion. I'v posted a couple of before and after pictures (not high quality photos I'm afraid) which may give some idea what it looks like.

[Michael McNeil]

The OP aught to send a sketch in -or a good photo so we can have a laugh at his expense. And incidentally provide more germaine advice if needed.

By the way I doubt that stairs are set into concrete. They may be screeded around if they were put in before the floor as is most likely but as far as I know it is not necessary to cement them in situ.

[Set Square]

Agreed. But the screed and joints to the staircase all help to keep it firm. If you remove a built-in newel and replace it with a new one, it seems to me that there is a risk that it will be a lot less firm.