Re: HELP - Handrail for stairs

[Traves W. Coppock]

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 21:56:14 -0400, "Eric Calvin" Crawled out of the shop and said. . .:

Hope somebody here can help. I have made a few projects out of >wood, but still consider myself an amateur. I have a stairway in which the >railing sits on a 1 x 6 that runs parallel to the incline of the steps. >Currently the spindles and rail are made of metal and bolted to this 1 x 6. >I want to replace all of the spindles, handrail, and newel (sp?) posts with >oak. My question is how can I anchor the post at the bottom of the stairs >(newel, I think) so that it is strong? I have to miter the bottom of the >post to set on the 1 x 6 and I am unsure how to fasten it. Any help is >appreciated. > >Thanks, >Eric >

in most of the stairs i have installed, the newel post is anchored to the floor in a free standing handrail. other than doing a total clean install, try this you can use angle brackets to fasten it to the floor, then cover the brackets with a base molding. see this site for a drawering*G*

[Luigi Zanasi]

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 21:56:14 -0400, "Eric Calvin" scribbled

There are any number of ways. The most solid would be to make a square hole in the floor and lag bolt the newel post to a joist. This would only work if there is a conveniently located joist, and you can make a long enough newel post.

Steel mounting plates that screw into the floor and newel are also available (from your local borg or hardware store). I don't know if I would trust them too much, however.

's also another system on that web site that attaches to a joist. I am not sure how it works, but it appears to depend on there being a conveniently located joist. you can do what I did when I replaced the fugly metal railing in my house. I assume that the 1X6 does not go all the way to the floor, but just to the top of the last stair. Install your newel just beyond that, sitting on the floor rather than on the 1X6 and lag-bolt it to the end of the stair stringer. You could make 1" holes for the lags and plug them. It's been there for 12 years, so I guess it's solid enough.

Luigi Replace "no" with "yk" twice in reply address for real email address