Staircase railing

KeithWP

Folks;

I have a staircase that goes from the bottom floor of my home to the 2nd floor. It is a 16' run and the stair rail seems to have a lot of lateral movement (about 1.5 inches each way). What is the best way to stablize the bottom post (as I believe this is the issue)?

Thanks.

mikey48

Large angle bracket.

troubleseeker

If the bottom newell is notched against the riser, the best thing is to drill a couple of holes hole with a plug counterbore, screw it with screws long enough to go through the finished riser and into the rough framing, and install plugs or buttons, depending on the finish. While the bottom newell may very well be loose , don't expect miracles here.That long a rail should have had an intermediate newell or the ballusters should have been installed with threaded baluster dowels instead of the typical crap drilled hole in the tread with the little factory turned dowel shot with a trim nail. If the newell sits completely on top of the tread, I'd use a combination of a L bracket made for newell fastening and some long screws into the tread. Install a piece of trim moulding to hide them.

KeithWP

This is a picture of the staircase. Do I drill from the front of the newell into the staircase or from the left of the newell? (or both)?

AtlanticWBConst.

Hi Keith,

You should drill and lag from the front of the newell post. Stagger the two slightly (offset).

Use a butterfly bit to start the hole. It will create a recess to hide the head of the lag. That will enable you to plug the hole, with same type wood plug. Make sure to align the grain of the plug to the grain of the newell post.

Good Luck!

__________________
- Build Well -

troubleseeker

Just a thought. After seeing that it is a stained newell, I think I would use buttons instead of trying to cut or sand plugs flush , and then blend the stain.A little mismatch on the color of the button would be a lot less obvious than a splotch in the stain on the face of the newell IMO.

buletbob

Can you get under the stairs? if so glue a 2x6 block behind the riser and drill two 1/4" pilot holes into the block through the riser and into the post, then drive two 3/8" x 4" lag screws with washer into the newel post. it could be that the landing tread does not have adequate support for the post just relying on the 3/4 riser. BOB

Jay123

This will be a little quicker to view your stairs.

J

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