Re: Fusion or Axxys stair parts

I replaced my ranch-style bannisters with Fusion kit over 5 years ago - see picture at

They're not *difficult* to fit provided you can measure accurately and cut the old newel posts off squarely. There are lots of screws to screw in to attach the balusers to the baserail and handrail - and these can be a bit fiddly, so allow plenty of time.

The sockets which fit on top of the cut-off posts are rock solid, but I did find that the new posts became a bit loose in the sockets after a while. I fixed this by taking them out, roughing the ends, and smearing some Gripfill on them before re-assembling. Now *they* are rock solid too.

The whole thing is fine for normal domestic use - but not as strong as the solid newels and bannisters which I had originally. This has not been a problem in over 5 years, but I guess that it would break if a heavy person fell against it.

much appreciated BigWallop, I actually wasn't even subscribed to the uk.d-i-y group !...I am now, thanks for that.

Thanks for the response Roger, much appreciated.

Can I ask what wood you used, was it pine ?

If you used pine, I was wondering if beech or oak would be better ? .....assuming the 'looseness' you mentioned was due to the wood compressing a little bit where it enters the socket.

Of course you may have used a harder wood yourself.

TIA

As I said in my previous post, I used beech. It may have shrunk a bit, but it wasn't that tight a fit to start with. As you are probably aware, the posts and rails are basically circular in cross-section, with a small flat on one side. The posts are held in the sockets by a couple of screws into the flat side and, unless the post is a tight fit in the socket, the screws have an almost impossible job - a small force on the top of the post results in a massive force at the screw position. Gripfill is your friend!

I think that the same would apply to *any* wood - be it pine, oak or beech. Pine would probably be easier to screw into. As I said before, getting the screws into the beech was a bit of a challenge. The wood is quite hard, so you need a pilot hole - but it's not that easy to get a drill in (or a screwdriver) because the balusters get in the way.

replying to BigWallop, Dawn Holmes wrote: How do you order this staircase kit in gold fittingstandard.

Wow - there's a blast from the past - can't be bothered to go to the stupid website to see what year it was though...