DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

Baluster spacing question...

9K views 27 replies 7 participants last post by  Ler0y Jenkins 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

I've started replacing the old, worn out railing in my house with a new one. I've decided to go with red oak and wrought iron balusters. I've never done this before, and figuring out the spacing on the balusters was a much harder undertaking than I expected.

In the end, I decided on 4.25" on center for the middle balusters, with the end balusters being 4" in from the post (on one side) and the wall (on the other side). My goal was to have less than 4" in between the balusters, which I accomplished, but the problem is becuase the end post goes in in the middle, the distance between the end baluster and the narrowest part of the newl post is greater than 4". Not by much, but maybe a half an inch. The balusters I'm using are 1/2" thick, by the way.

My question is, will this be a problem and, if so, how do I correct it now. I'm worried that if we ever sell the house, I will fail the inspection for the Certificate of Occupancy. Would I be able to temporarily attach something to the post to make it pass? I was thinking about sandwiching the post between two boards that are slightly wider than the post, and through bolting the boards. Would that pass?

Here's some pictures:
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#2 ·
The odds of that rail failing a CO are slim to none IMO.
That gos for the home inspector too that any potential buyer might bring in.
Side note; for aesthetics I think I would have tried to hide the screws under the rail sleeves on the plate.
Just my opinion.
Btw, Nice job!
 
#5 ·
One more thought for the hand rail on the wall.

View attachment 48509
Oh, thanks... I should have stated that the railing on the wall is the original railing that I will be replacing with a red oak railing, which will be "returned" as you have shown. It's funny how close the colors are of the old railing and the new railing without any stain. I plan on going with a very dark red mahogony stain. Thanks again,

Kevin
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the response... Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Thanks for the compliment. I'm not sure what you mean by hiding the screws under the rail sleeves on the plate though. The screw holes will be covered by red oak wooden cross-grain plugs (the flush kind, not the button kind) once I get the one's I ordered last week.

Kevin

Here's a few more pictures...
 

Attachments

#6 ·
Ler0y Jenkins said:
Thanks for the response... Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Thanks for the compliment. I'm not sure what you mean by hiding the screws under the rail sleeves on the plate though. The screw holes will be covered by red oak wooden cross-grain plugs (the flush kind, not the button kind) once I get the one's I ordered last week.

Kevin

Here's a few more pictures...
Makes total sense now! Lol
Looking at pics on the phone is my problem.
 
#10 ·
Maybe this is a local thing by why would you need a CO on existing construction? I have the same issue on a railing I just put in. But the only person who could possibly catch it in my neck of the woods would be a home inspector. And that's not typically something they are looking for unless it's really obvious.
 
#11 ·
Yes, it's a local thing... In New Jersey (home of high taxes and unnecessary regulations), some municipalities require a certificate of occupancy prior to closing. Most only require a certification that the smoke detectors are installed and are operational, but some also require a C.O. I know my municipality requires a C.O. because we just bought this house in September and I remember the sellers having to have a code official walk through the house for the C.O.
 
#13 ·
Ler0y Jenkins said:
Yes, it's a local thing... In New Jersey (home of high taxes and unnecessary regulations), some municipalities require a certificate of occupancy prior to closing. Most only require a certification that the smoke detectors are installed and are operational, but some also require a C.O. I know my municipality requires a C.O. because we just bought this house in September and I remember the sellers having to have a code official walk through the house for the C.O.
Southern Jersey here,went through same thing but mine was more concerned with smoke detectors than any thing else.just another way to get some hard earned money from a home owner.
 
#18 ·
Update:

I got the bottom section of railing done this passed weekend. It was more complicated than the top section due to the angles, but ended up being easier than I thought it would be... here are some pictures:
 

Attachments

#20 · (Edited)
By the way, I think I've solved a problem that I encountered doing the top section... the bottom of the balusters are square, which makes them difficult to attach. I was hoping I could cut a small enough hole that would accept the square end of the baluster, but be tight enough to keep the baluster from moving around. When I tried that, the hole was just the right size, but not tight enough to keep the baluster from moving around slightly. Since I couldn't cut a square hole, I decided to insert a dowel rod into the end of the baluster and leave about 1/2" sticking out the bottom, that I could insert into a corresponding hole on the base plate. That worked well, but the problem was there was nothing to keep the balusters from spinning around, which doesn't look so good since they are square and need to remain all lined-up.

The solution I came up with was to insert a 1/4" threaded coupler into the end of the baluster. The coupler is just a little too big to fit, so I use a hammer to force it in the end of the baluster until the ends are flush. I will then countersink a 1/4" bolt up from the bottom of the base plate and screw the balsuter on to the bolt. After that, I'll attach the base plate to the floor and finish everything up. Here are some pictures:
 

Attachments

#21 ·
My newest problem has to do with the angle of my stairs and the hardware I bought for the wrought iron balusters. As you can see from the picture below, I bought some finishing caps go on each end of balusters. The problem is they appear to be cut at a 45 degree angle, and my stairs are 42.5 degrees. Thus, they don't line up. It's not all that noticable, but I think if I don't figure out some way to fix the issue, it will end up driving me crazy. Thus, I'd like to get this problem addressed before I button everything up and begin staining.

Any suggestions?
 

Attachments

#23 ·
Mark,

That's a good idea, although I don't think there's enough space on the sides... the decorative cap is about the same thickness as the bottom of the railing. I was thinking about trying to hit the cap with my table-top beltsander at the right angle, but I'm not sure how effective the beltsander will be.

Kevin
 
#26 ·
I had the exact same scenario as you have on the angle. When I put mine together, I figured the angle I needed and drew it on every end cap. Then I secured a belt sander with a bench vice and just sanded it down to my line and it worked perfectly. Just be careful grabbing them when you are done b/c the edges can get pretty sharp. I found out the hard way.
 
#27 ·
Yankee,

I did the same thing except I used my tabletop beltsander. It worked well, but they heated up quickly on the sander. The angle is now correct, but they still don't line up perfectly because when the set screw is tighened, it causes the cap to become misaligned. I was thinking about trying to drill a pilot hole for the set screw, but I may just leave them as they are. The gap is only about 1/16th of an inch on higher side.

Kevin
 
#28 ·
Update:

I was searching for another thread and came upon this one... I figured I'd upload some pictures of the finished product. As you can see, I'm also adding a chair rail and shadow boxing that is still in progress. I'm also replacing the crappy 1 1/4" baseboard molding with 2 1/2" molding and new quarter-round. For some reason, the prior owner used brown quarter-round instead of white. It also the fiberboard kind that wasn't holding up well. Looks so much better in white, IMO.

Kevin
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top