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+--- Thread: partial deconstruction of railing - an annoying task or stupid? (/showthread.php?tid=236885)
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partial deconstruction of railing - an annoying task or stupid? - mattkime - 02-01-2020
Our upstairs stairway railing is very annoying - its as though the builders contemplated making a railing or a death trap and decided "why not both"? Its very solid but the standards are roughly 2x current code spacing. Its more than enough room for my youngest child to fall through. This means being on high alert whenever we're upstairs without doors closed.
I'm trying to figure out whether it can be rebuilt without a full teardown in a manner that we'd be satisfied with. At first this seems like a straight forward question but there are a couple of layers of wood where the standards meet the floor and railing that complicate the matter. If we can pull out the existing standards and install all new ones my wife will be happy and never request a full rebuild. We could alternate metal and wood and this would work (and be relatively easy) but its not aesthetically pleasing.
Its occurred to me that I could try removing one standard and just see how it goes. Obviously thats a destructive step that might not have a happy outcome.
Any advice on tackling this problem?
Re: partial deconstruction of railing - an annoying task or stupid? - Carm - 02-01-2020
You have to understand how it’s built to be able to take apart and repair(add to) or replace.
Find a YouTube video. It’s simple enough if you have the tools and some skill. Plus you will need to stain the new additions to match or just replace all of them.
Simple Build on This Old House, outdoor, but similar. Yours more than likely have a hole for the dowel . https://youtu.be/q41UfUof21Q
Re: partial deconstruction of railing - an annoying task or stupid? - btfc - 02-01-2020
From the pictures, it looks like full teardown is the way to go.
Re: partial deconstruction of railing - an annoying task or stupid? - Rick-o - 02-01-2020
I like the current look. That said, how about a temporary solution until the little ones are big enough not to go through? I'm thinking about some type of barrier or net that can be easily installed and removed when it's no longer needed.
Re: partial deconstruction of railing - an annoying task or stupid? - Carm - 02-01-2020
If you do a tear down, leave the vertical post and connect your new railing to that.
Edit: Rick-o I thought of that too, but he would most likely have to get it done if he ever wanted to sell.
Unless the buyer takes it as is.
Re: partial deconstruction of railing - an annoying task or stupid? - Michael - 02-01-2020
Following what Carm said, I've seen that type of balusters installed in 2 ways. First, the baluster is put in place in a groove in the bottom/top rails then a small piece of filler wood is installed on either side to fill that groove and holds the baluster in place (along with finish nails at an angle through the baluster). If that's the case with your railing it should be pretty obvious since there should be finish nails that have been filled on the wood on either side of the balusters. If you have that, it should be easy enough to pull out the pieces of wood and then install additional balusters between the current ones, replacing the filler wood with smaller pieces. I suppose you could also simply toe-nail additional balusters between the current ones but that will certainly not be nearly as secure as using the wood fillers to hold them in place, along with toe-nailing.
The other way I've seen it was a builder who drilled dowel holes in the bottoms/tops of the square balusters and then matching holes in the bottom/top rails and put them together. He told me he didn't like cutting those small pieces of wood. Seemed like a lot more work for a less-secure railing to me, but what do I know...
Re: partial deconstruction of railing - an annoying task or stupid? - bazookaman - 02-01-2020
Ask Tommy.
Re: partial deconstruction of railing - an annoying task or stupid? - Speedy - 02-01-2020
Rick-o wrote:
I like the current look. That said, how about a temporary solution until the little ones are big enough not to go through? I'm thinking about some type of barrier or net that can be easily installed and removed when it's no longer needed.
This. It’s what I did. I used gates designed to prevent kids from falling down stairways. My railing was shorter but gates are cheap. I used nylon ties to hold the contraption in place. I lived with the ugly for two or three years. Now we have bookcases lined up against the same railing that accomplish the same, now unneeded, thing since our youngest is 27, go figure.
Re: partial deconstruction of railing - an annoying task or stupid? - cbelt3 - 02-01-2020
Netting over it is a nice temporary solution.
Re: partial deconstruction of railing - an annoying task or stupid? - modelamac - 02-01-2020
mattkime wrote:
Our upstairs stairway railing is very annoying - its as though the builders contemplated making a railing or a death trap and decided "why not both"? Its very solid but the standards are roughly 2x current code spacing. Its more than enough room for my youngest child to fall through. This means being on high alert whenever we're upstairs without doors closed.
I'm trying to figure out whether it can be rebuilt without a full teardown in a manner that we'd be satisfied with. At first this seems like a straight forward question but there are a couple of layers of wood where the standards meet the floor and railing that complicate the matter. If we can pull out the existing standards and install all new ones my wife will be happy and never request a full rebuild. We could alternate metal and wood and this would work (and be relatively easy) but its not aesthetically pleasing.
Its occurred to me that I could try removing one standard and just see how it goes. Obviously thats a destructive step that might not have a happy outcome.
Any advice on tackling this problem?
Matt.
I would just build a supplemental railing beside it. Make it look good, not quite as tall (hand rail for youngsters) and double density newells or staggered to fill in the gaps. Make to removable. You would not have to match anything but the stain, but it would be nice if you can get it to complement to original railing. When you remove it after the child is old enough, all you need to do is fill in the screw holes with the appropriate material.