Newel post removal

[Cordless Crazy]

Anyone know the best way to remove and replace either the upstairs o

downstairs newel post without hacking and butchering the staircase which I want to retain

-- Cordless Crazy

[Set Square]

If at all possible, keep the bottom foot of so of the old newel post which is firmly attached to the staircase. Cut it off at the appropriate level, bevel the top, and fit a new upper section. You'll find lots of good information and "How to" guides on the Richard Burbidge site at

also do a video which most sheds sell for about a fiver which shows you how to renew newels and bannisters etc. Well worth the money - and refundable if you buy your kit from them.

[Chris Bacon]

Refundable? I'm not surprised! That's about the cost of a single spindle from them (they are, IMO, *very* expensive).

[Stuart Noble]

Not easy to get a square cut at this angle. It's worth clamping a section of 4 x 2 to the base as a saw guide.

[Set Square]

It's expensive if you buy from the sheds. I got all my stuff from a Builder's Merchant at nearly 40% below the retail price.

The video is worth a fiver - even if you don't get it refunded - or even if the do the job with non-Burbidge products. The principles are the same.

[Set Square]

I cut through 2 sides of mine with a circular saw, using a clamped-on piece of wood as a guide for each cut - and then finished off with a hand saw. This gave a nice square cut. Then I put a suitably sized polish tin against each vertical face and drew round it to get a nice rounded top shape - which I achieved with a hand plane. You can see the general effect in this rather grainy photo.

anyone is interested, I could take a close-up of the relevant bit of the newel post.

[Grumble]

Very flash, I haven't seen spindles like that before. Do they come pre-cut to size and you fit the handrail accordingly? I wouldn't like to have to cut each one. How about the spindles on the landing, would they be the same length as the stairs?

Grumble

[Set Square]

It's Burbidge's Fusion system, and comes in chrome or gold finish - with the wood in a choice of pine, beech or oak. You can get pine spindles, too - rather than metal if you prefer.

The spindles are supplied at a fixed length - with the end fixings attached. The landing spindles are longer, and their fixings are perpendicular - whereas the stair fixings are angled - and slightly flexible to accommodate a range of stair gradients.

To get the handrail at the right height for the spindles, you have to cut the old bottom newel off in the right place - although you could shorten the new top section of the bottom newel a bit if necessary. The bracket for the top end of the handrail fits round the top newel - so you slide it up and down to suit.

This is what it looks like from the top:

for good measure, this is what it used to look like:

[<me9]

with building regs.

I must get round to doing mine when I get a spare round tuit.

[Cordless Crazy]

My main concern would be structural strength of the newel post whe

connecting the new piece to it.

Surely a good ole swing or bash from the pesky kids will have it ben double and busted in no time?

What sort of fixing detail is there from old to new

-- Cordless Crazy

[Set Square]

It's how it was built in the 60's. It presumably complied with the regs at that time - before anyone started worrying about not having any gaps which a

100mm sphere could fall through.

[Stuart Noble]

[Set Square]

Thanks!

[Set Square]

Not quite sure what you're replying to, because you didn't quote any previous messages.

If you're referring to the Burbidge Fusion system in my photo, the socket bolts *very* firmly to the top of the sawn-off base. You have to drill into the side of the base, 2 or 3 inches from the top (there's a precise measurement, which I forget) and also drill down from the centre of the top. You then insert a barrel nut into the horizontal hole, and a length of 1/2" or so threaded bar goes down the vertical hole, and screws into the barrel nut. The base for the new upper section then goes onto this threaded bar and is held in place by a big nut. It ain't going to move! You can see the idea in Figure 5 of

wooden - almost circular - newel top is quite a tight fit in the socket, and is held in with a couple of screws. I see no reason why you couldn't put some gripfill in the socket for added security.

The alternative system - with a more conventional turned upper newel post - uses a substantial spigot on the bottom of the upper part which fits into a hole drilled down the centre of the base. The spigot has a hole in the middle, and two cuts which divide it into four quadrants. A tapered dowel tapped into the hole spreads these quadrants until the whole thing is a tight fit in the base. It is then all glued together.

Obviously, neither system is quite as robust as the original solid newel - but they ain't bad!

[Hamie]

[deleted]

Do you tap the dowel into the hole & then have to try & squeeze the newel post on? Or does the doweling move into the hole as you tap the newel post down onto the bottom newel?

[Set Square]

I've never fitted one of these - I used the Fusion system, which is different.

But the Burbidge instructions seem to indicate that you tap the dowel in

*before* fitting the spigot into the base - tapping it in bit by bit and repeatedly trying it for size - and cutting off the excess dowel once the spigot is the right size.

Although it doesn't tell you to do this, I suppose you could set a short length of dowel into the bottom centre of the hole - which would push the tapered dowel in a bit further as the spigot went in. Could be a bit hit or miss, though!