Hi everyone,
Been gone for several months…it’s good to be back. I have a handrail to do and am not sure what code is for this application. (No code book)
The normal landing area is actually two winder treads. Do I need continous handrail, or can I just return as normal 6″ beyond the top and bottom risers? I’m supposed to do this tomorrow!
Thanks,
Dez
Replies
Any more you need a handrail lawyer, especially for commercial jobs.
I'm not sure how they would apply the codes locally, but because I seem to be dealing with thesse around old people more and more, I would run it continuopus. I think you might make a lirteral interpret of code to do without it on that long outside run over the landing, but it is still part of the stairs.
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Dez your rail should be continous but as for telling you exactly what to do I would still just a little biit more information.
What is the offset between the two stairs? Is the space inbetween a wall, a parapet, or open?
"I'm supposed to do this tomorrow!" What are you going to do buy the parts you need tonight at some 24hr Home Depot?
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Ya know it occured to me as I was eating dinner that this railing your putting in I sure hope you're just helping out a friend or relative and doing it for free becuase if you're a professional and your getting paid for this you could be more hack and bush league doing a job you really hve no idea of how to do and not researching it at all. That's the kind of hack contracting that gives the rest of us a bad name.
Well the lectures over. Short of doing a classy elegant turn which you don't have the time for the quickest solution for you is:
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It's kind like what you see in this photo only instead of the big sweeping upswing rail on the last climb you be up easing to a straigth rail section again.
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Interesting rail Jerrald. If you don't mind some questions? Are you making your own easings? How do you get enough support without the use of newel posts?Thank you,
Bear
Wow,
You have a real tangent rail on your hands. They are usually custom parts and the turn can be completed in 2 pieces. If the landing is long then 3.
You should have had them carved a week ago, and yes you can get premium pay.
-zen
Bear - "Interesting rail Jerrald. If you don't mind some questions? Are you making your own easings?"
Yes and no. In the case of both of those particular railing yes we made all the parts to the rails. But if we're tight on capacity we'll outsource general railing parts and then stick to building the specialized serpentine or helically curved parts and the installation.
"How do you get enough support without the use of newel posts?"
Well it depends on the stair. Curved rails are inherently stiff so they generally aren't to much of a problem. In the case of the mahogany rail on the white wood balusters you saw above the corner posts are under a lot of tension pulling the rail down to the landing platform. If I recall correctly we did it with hanger bolts going up into the rail and down into the landing on that job. You then every three feet or so you really go nuts anchoring the baluster rather than just nailing them into the plough and floor and that adds strength and tension to the balustrade. Also what you don't see in that photo is the balcony rail just as you get out of the picture curves in a big level curve back to the wall so it gains strength and stiffness there too.
And,... if that wasn't enough, that the railing installed as it was designed and specified (by others) and the client didn't like the herky jerky goosenecking around the landing so we changed it to something more graceful and elegant. That's a template for the new pattern you see leaning against the back wall. I only posted that to help illustrate to Dez what he probably should do.
We ended up changing all that clutter to this:
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And you notice the sweep of the railing now lines up with the sweep on the wainscoting on the wall.
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Jerrald: Excellent displays of true craftsmanship..especially like that link to the rail over the curved winders.
Stan
Excellent work and thank you for answering my questions. I realize sometimes we don't like to give up all the trade secrets, but I really appreciate you help.Thanks again,
Bear
Anytime, there are certainly no secrets here. If I've got the time I'm always happy to share what we've learned.
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I sort of took the inside turn as a given and thought he was asking about the outside, along the wall, where theere is a bout six feet of flat along the landing, on the wall side.Have anythoughts there whether it should continue or terminate at each end?
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Hmmnn? Inside of the turn or outside of the turn. I wonder what the code says.
So the railing needs to run around the inside not the outside wall (The continuous handrail
required by Section R315.1 shall be located on the side
where the tread is narrower.)
And those triangular shaped treads that end in points are illegal too (...the minimum width of any tread is
not less than 6 inches ) so there's another problem with this job.
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And ...
Full length and flight being the key words in that section so the railing can 't terminate on the wall of that so called landing which isn't really a landing at all but a large large tread.
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I was just asked to do a rail on a staircase exactly like your "classy elegant turn". I was thinking of hand carving the turn in a 6210 profile. Are you using the Sheer router for that kind of work? Any tips on the curved capping would also be appreciated.Thanks,Bear
That one (classy elegant turn) I did before I ever heard of the Scheer Handrail Router but to shape that turn and others we've built jigs for a big Bosch and a big DeWalt that we have to guide them. It's not as elegant a solution as the Scheer but gets the job done. I keep saying I'm gonna spring for that Scheer but just haven't gotten around to it yet. We (or I should say I) also carve them entirely by hand. The top part of this one couldn't possibly be done with a router. It's way too tight and you have to distort the profile somewhat to make that short and step a turn right where it joins the newel.
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Jerrald,
Thanks for the code info...very helpful. My book is out of date. Because the treads come to a point at the inside of the turn, (and are not code complient) they would have been very awkward with the handrail on the inside IMO. So I guess I'm s.o.l. as I went on the outside wall for that reason.
Dez