How to attach oak railing between two walls

jagermeister · 08-25-2009, 11:57 PM

I'm replacing my existing railings with oak and iron balusters. I have a balcony that looks down into the living room that is 9.5 feet between walls. So, I need to attach the oak railing to each wall. There are no newel posts.

At first I was going to use rail bolts. But the oak railing it cut to the exact length of 9.5 ft and there would be no way to get the railing onto the rail bolts that would be sticking out of each wall.

I was thinking about coming up from beneath the oak rail at a 45 degree angle with a lag bolt into each wall, however, the head of the bolt sticks out enough where I won't be able to get an oak plug on there to hide the hole (I've been practicing on scrap rail).

Does anyone have any recommendations of how to attach the railing between the two walls? I was hoping for a clean look into the wall without using a rosette or half newel.

Thanks.

RTRCon · 08-26-2009, 10:13 AM

You can use your railbolt on one end. For the other end instead of useing one lag at a 45 degree angle, drill and countersink for two 3" screws and some constuction adhesive should hold it. If you drill it right both screws should fit inside your 1" bore for the plug.

jagermeister · 08-26-2009, 10:31 AM

Thanks for the reply. I hadn't thought of using regular screws for one end.

Willie T · 08-26-2009, 12:18 PM

This is a simple, secure attachment. Do this at both walls.

Route (or chisel) a groove in the ends and the bottoms (at the ends) of the railing to fit a simple "L" bracket you can get at your hardware store.

Fasten the "L" brackets to the walls with good, long screws.

Set the railing down on top of the brackets, and screw up from the bottom.

Done.

If you want to hide the bottom of the angle, simply cut the bottom groove a little deeper, and after the bracket is screwed into the bottom of the railing, just glue on a thin rectangular inlay insert of oak and sand it smooth.

**Termite** · 08-26-2009, 02:12 PM

That right there is why it is nice to have pros on this board guys. So easy it seems silly! Good diagram and idea Willy T.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Willie T

This is a simple, secure attachment. Do this at both walls.

Route (or chisel) a groove in the ends and the bottoms (at the ends) or the railing to fit a simple "L" bracket you can get at your hardware store.

Fasten the "L" brackets to the walls with good, long screws.

Set the railing down on top of the brackets, and screw up from the bottom.

Done.

If you want to hide the bottom of the angle, simply cut the bottom groove a little deeper, and after the bracket is screwed into the bottom of the railing, just glue on a thin rectangular inlay insert of oak and sand it smooth.