How to Install a Safety Railing

Ron visited this 1939 Tudor home in St. Paul, Minnesota, to help with a safety project. The railing around the second story stairwell had wide spaces between the balusters, which created a safety hazard, especially for small children. Ron came to help add a little beauty and safety, both at the same time.

Click Here For a list of what you will need in order to complete this project.

View the complete project video

1. Remove old railing
Remove the lag screws that attach the old railing to the wall and floor with a wrench. Carefully remove the old railing and carry it out.

2. Lay out railing system
Familiarize yourself with each part of the system and how the pieces work together to create the railing.

There are three elements to this system by American Legacy. These include a newel post, a series of balusters in between the newel posts, and a railing that connects the system together.

The newel post and the railing are oak, but the balusters are made of poplar, and are designed to be painted.

3. Prepare railing pieces
Clean the dust off each baluster with a tack cloth and then temporarily nail the balusters to a strip of lumber to make painting easier.

Stain and finish the oak railings and newel posts.

4. Newel post installation
To secure the newel post to the floor, you will need to attach a metal mounting plate to the bottom of the post.

Clamp the post firmly to the workbench. Plastic food storage bags can be used to prevent damage to the finish on the newel post.

The mounting plate is slightly larger than the base of the post and has screw holes in the overhanging areas, which is how the post is secured to the floor.

To attach the plate, drill a pilot hole in the bottom center of the newel post. A special center-finder attachment for a combination square makes locating the center as simple as drawing two diagonal lines.

Drill a pilot hole in the center of the post and then attach the plate with screws, beginning with the center. When the plate is perfectly square with the post, the diagonal lines will be visible through the screw holes in the mounting plate.

To make sure that the newel posts are square with the edge of the stairwell, use a carpenter's square to align one edge of the square with the edge of the stairwell and then adjust the post.

A drill outfitted with a flexible shaft will make it easier to get close to the post to bore pilot holes into the floor. Drive in a couple of screws to temporarily hold the post in place. Later, you will need to remove the newel post and then reinstall it with the railings attached.

Install the second newel post in the same manner.

5. Rosette installation
A decorative rosette is used to mount the railing to the wall. To determine the location of the rosette, use a level to transfer the rectangular shape of the newel post over to the wall. Locate the center of the rectangle and then use the center of that to draw a circle.

The rosette will be attached to the wall with a toggle bolt mounted about an inch above center. First drill a pilot hole in the center of the rosette. This is where the hanger bolt will be attached later. Next, drill a hole about an inch above the center hole. Remove the toggle from the bolt, pass it through the the rosette, line the rosette up with the circle on the wall and give the bolt a tap with the hammer. This will provide a reference mark for the hole you will drill in the wall. Bore a hole that is large enough so that the toggle can slip through.

Next, screw the toggle back onto the bolt, pinch it closed and push it through the hole. The toggle will flip open inside the wall.

Pull the rosette away from the wall while the bolt is tightened so the toggle will come into contact with the backside of the wall, which will prevent it from spinning.

6. Railings
The railings need to be cut to length. Begin by taking measurements. Measure from the first post to the corner post and from the corner post to the rosette. Record the measurements and cut the railings with a miter saw.

When working with a finished floor, sometimes the balusters are attached directly to the floor, but when there is not a finished floor surface, the balusters need to sit on a toe rail, a piece of stained and finished oak, which is attached to the floor with finish nails.

7. Baluster positioning
The baluster spacing is very important. The widest point can be no more than four inches, which is the maximum width to meet child safety requirements.

It can be difficult to see pencil marks on dark wood. A strip of masking tape on top of the toe rail will make the marks much more visible. Once the spacing is determined, create a block to use as a marking gauge. This will enable you to mark the location of each baluster without measuring over and over again.

The balusters are installed with a pin connection located at the bottom of each baluster.

Use a 1" hole bit to drill a hole in each position where a baluster will be installed, then remove the masking tape.

Draw a line on the drill bit indicating how deep to drill the holes. After drilling but before setting the balusters in place, you need to first attach the handrails.

8. Prepare posts
Apply masking tape to the end of each railing and the top of the newel posts. Draw a centerline on each piece and then align the two.

Use a few balusters to temporarily support the handrail, and then trace the shape onto the newel post.

The corner newel post will connect to two railings. Repeat this process for each side that attaches to a railing.

It is important to drill a very accurate hole into the side of the newel post. To do this, remove the post by backing out the screws that were used to temporarily attach it to the floor.

Clamp the post to the workbench and use a portable drill press accessory to ensure that the hole you bore is perfectly straight.

Rotate the corner post and drill the second hole.

9. Hanger bolts
The handrails are attached to the newel posts with hanger bolts, which have a different thread on each end. On one end is a coarse thread and the other is a machine thread.

Get a good grip in the center of the bolt with vise grips. Insert the coarse end of the hanger bolt into the newel post and then use the vise grips to carefully screw the bolt into the hole. Be careful not to scrape the finish with the vise grips.

Install two hanger bolts in the corner post.

Install a hanger bolt into the center hole that was drilled earlier in the rosette.