This is my son’s home from upstairs. Here are the problems:
– Short discontinuous handrail
– Top bannister’s are poorly attached and wobbly
– Wobbly newel post
Caveats:
– I have doubts we can easily remove ceiling below for access to add blocking
– The spindles are loose and thin but they match the lower bannister
– His first home and he’s got many items competing for a limited budget
The simplest solution I could think of is remove the upper bannisters and put in half-walls but some think it will ruin the looks.
Replies
You will need to mount any half wall securely to the floor which means opening it up anyway. So open it up and fix the banisters right. Then run a continuous handrail from top stair nosing (even farther is better) to bottom newel post. Yes, it 'conflicts' with the looks of the banisters but is better than the cast on your leg after you have fallen down these stairs.
You might find you have joists under those newel posts. If so you might get away with drilling 7/8"x 10" long holes through the floor and newel posts and epoxy 3/4" threaded rod at both ends. Alternatively you can drill the holes 1/16" skinnier than the threaded rod and screw them in to the posts with vise grips and then the posts to the floor. Also a good strong handrail attached to 2 points along the lower wall will stiffen the ballaster once attached significantly.