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Deflection in Stair Railings

| Posted in General Discussion on June 5, 2001 01:41am

*
I am currently working on a stair rail system for a new house. The system is the curbstyle’ setup where a set of box stairs are used and a wall is run up 6″ above on one side. I have built and installed box newels and the job is nearly complete. The one question I have is that the customer did not want a newel box installed on the longest stair rake. This has made the length of rail longer than 12 feet. All of the other rails are 6 feet in length or less and are quite sturdy. I am not satisfied with the sstrength’f the long rail however. I feel there is too much side-to-side deflection at the center of the oak rail. I’ve seen post to post rails longer than this that seemed exceptionally strong with very little deflection. Could this be because the alalderails were made of Mahogany or Walnut? Or is there some old-time trick that was used to strengthen longer runs such as this?

I’ve enclosed a picture which may be of help.

Thanks in advance,
Michael Eckert

Reply

Replies

  1. Michael_Eckert | May 31, 2001 03:28am | #1

    *
    Sorry, picture wasn't included on opening post.

    1. Buck_Olmsted | Jun 01, 2001 11:39pm | #2

      *I just finished a similar railing only it was a little longer and at the top it turned 90 degrees and fastened to a wall two feet away. I drilled the tops and bottom of each ballaster and fit with a 5/8" oak dowel. The dowel extended into the ballaster about 2 1/2" top and bottom. The dowel went into the bottom plate about 3 1/2". I completely glued up the top of the railing before final assembly using Titebond Supreme. I glued everything else in one shot using hide glue because of the slow set-up time. I left it alone for about a week and it came out extremely solid. You can feel a little deflection in the middle but not enough to make you feel uncomfortable. I have given the railing a couple body checks to see if anything moved and absolutely nothing happened. I'd definitely use the same technique again.Good Luck.

      1. Michael_Eckert | Jun 02, 2001 01:58am | #3

        *Buck,Thanks for the reply! My partner already came up with a solution that works well. Because this is a plowed rail with square balusters top and bottom we used a router and ran a groove up the middle of the underside of the rail. We also made the plow deeper on one side and then fit an 1/8" of steel corner into the groove along the entire length of rail. Gorilla glue was used in the groove and screws were installed in the underside of the 'L' into the rail. When the fillets and the balusters were re-installed we kept the brads to the opposite side of the plow where there wasn't any steel. No more deflection and it took less than 40 minutes to manufacture.Michael Eckert

        1. Jeff_J._Buck | Jun 05, 2001 01:41am | #4

          *Thanks for posting the solution. Good thinkin'! At first read, I though you were gonna say a flat piece of steel......the "L" will add alot to the stiffness. Jeff

  2. Michael_Eckert | Jun 05, 2001 01:41am | #5

    *
    I am currently working on a stair rail system for a new house. The system is the curbstyle' setup where a set of box stairs are used and a wall is run up 6" above on one side. I have built and installed box newels and the job is nearly complete. The one question I have is that the customer did not want a newel box installed on the longest stair rake. This has made the length of rail longer than 12 feet. All of the other rails are 6 feet in length or less and are quite sturdy. I am not satisfied with the sstrength'f the long rail however. I feel there is too much side-to-side deflection at the center of the oak rail. I've seen post to post rails longer than this that seemed exceptionally strong with very little deflection. Could this be because the alalderails were made of Mahogany or Walnut? Or is there some old-time trick that was used to strengthen longer runs such as this?

    I've enclosed a picture which may be of help.

    Thanks in advance,
    Michael Eckert

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