stair handrails

[mic-d]

I recently had to replace some stair handrails at an old Queenslander and I thought If I did a bit of a pictorial of it someone might benefit from it.
The posts had rotted at the bottom and were very loose. This happened because they were sitting directly on pavers and the stringers were also housed into the posts so moisture could wick up from the bottom and also be trapped in the housing. The ends of the stringers had the startings of rot but were salvagable. Photo 1 shows another problem, the last time the handrails were replaced, the dowels were nailed to the top and bottom rail with electroplated nails - not even drilled into the top and bottom rail
Photo 3 shows two lengths of rhs, one plumb and one level so I can measure the rise and going of the stairs which with a bit of simple trig can calculate the angle the dowels should be drilled into the rails. I also get the angle with a plumb spirit level and set a sliding bevel off a rail. I use both methods because I'm paranoid and two different methods that give the same result inspire me with confidence
Photo 4 and 5 show the index jig I made for this job. two holes are drilled at the correct angle and spacing to give the correct spacing for the dowels (in this case 120 ctrs). Then a stub dowel is screwed into one hole and that's it. Drill the first hole in the rail an arbitary distance in from the end, drop the jig into the hole and drill the next hole - and so on for all rails. Of course a radial arm drill press helps. CONT

[mic-d]

Photo 1 , once the demolition is complete, gal stirrups are fitted to the base with a concrete anchor. I like this type of stirrup because you can make fine adjustments in the postion after the hole is drilled.
photo 2, the post is bolted in and screwed to the stringer with a decent 200mm gal coach screw - the post isn't going anywhere now, and it sits high and dry.
Photo 3, the rails go into position. The rail ends are cut at the correct angle and length so that the gap at the top and bottom of the stairs is the same. This also aligns the holes in the top and bottom rails. The top rail is fitted at minimum 895mm above the step nosing, in this case it ended up being 920mm. the top of the stringers, bottom of the bottom rails and all ends were painted with sealer. The top rails were nailed in place with 4 x75 x3.75 gal bullet head nails in each end. the bottom rail is nailed to the stringer.
Photo 4, The dowels go in - this is not magic - forgot to mention that you drill the top hole 20mm deep, the bottom 10mm deep, the dowel is cut to a length that allows you to push it right up into the top hole, just pop it into the bottom hole and then pull it down into the bottom hole. You could assemble the panel before installation, but getting all the dowels to line up with the holes is like herding cats!
Photo 5, job finished. I forgot to mention the post tops were cut to a 15º pyramid before installation. The top of all joints are sealed with polyurethane sealant (moisture can still dry out through the bottom). the bottom of each dowel is also sealed with polyurethane sealant and all the nail holes are puttied up. All ready for painting tomorrow.

Well I hope this helps someone!

Cheers
Michael

[Gumby]

Wow ! what a difference. That's excellent work, well done.