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Stair Supplies

Wood Handrails

by Andrew Kozlov

When assembling a wooden hand rail with balusters, always take copious measurements. Remember that there are two main kinds of spindles used in staircases--hand sawed and turned. Turned spindles are beveled to give a round appearance, and sawed spindles offer a more squared up aesthetic. While it's traditional to bring saw cut spindles together at the base of your handrail, it may be easier for you to leave the spindles open.

Before inserting your balusters into your sub rail or hand rail, make sure to finish the cutting, staining, painting, and processing. You might also want to prepare one or two spare balusters in the event that you damage the spindles during construction. That way, you won't have to stop the day's work to build or cut a new spindle.

Assembling Wooden Handrails

Anchoring your spindles into your sub rail is a good way to avoid damaging the handrail. It also adds a certain degree of elegance to your staircase, in that it gives your hand rail slightly more height. The way to do this is to screw or nail the sub rail into the upper part of the spindles, and then to install the sub rail into the treads.

Finally, you connect the hand rail to the top of the combined baluster assembly. In terms of maintaining your wooden handrails, it helps to stain the wood prior to installation. If you're trying to maintain or repair a classic staircase, you may have to replace not just loose wooden balusters but also treads and risers that can no longer sustain weight.

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