The returns are for support. Five minutes after I hang it my kids will be doing chin ups and pretending to be fireman and what not. Had not thought about using the piece of wood as a support. I am going to have wrought iron rail installed on the other side as well. It will come up the stairs and around wrap around the corner and continue to the top of the stairs. Or I will steam some oak and make the rail bend.
Installing handrail with returns
I want to install a wooden handrail on one side of a flight of stairs. The problem that I am having is on the top of the stairs I want to put a return, fastened to a stud. There is one stud directly above the top stair, and another stud 16 inches past the top of the stairs. So I either have to terminate the end of the return even with the top of the stair, or go past. What is the code for 4 steps? How far past the stair can a handrail go? Returns are a must on this handrail. I am only doing one handrail because I will have a wrought iron railing installed. I would never call a handrail temporary, but it will only be installed until a pro can do the whole job.
