i have a job coming up that needs several newel post to be installed for a long railing around a stairwell, there is a hardwood floor in place. what is the most secure method the fasten the posts? Predrill ,screw , plug, & hope to hit solid framing?
any trick would help!
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Around the opening of the stairwell is generally a piece of structural lumber that frames the opening. If your newel post is cut to side screw into that framing it will be secure.
I have such an opening that was fitted with and original fir handrail 30 " tall when I got the house. I ripped out the old posts & garbage between and replaced it with 7" turned oak laminated posts (4). I cut down to over lap the interior of the opening and then drilled 1/2 inch pockets in the face. Then 1/4 inch pilot holds thru the newel post to the structural lumber. Finally I got 4-6 inch x 1/4 inch hex head lag screws and drove it home with a nut driver installed on my drill. Put a bed down of Liquid nails (PL200) and put at least two lag screws per post. When fit with the handrail and bottom spindle trim the posts really firm up. I could rappel down mine. To finish it off, drive into the hex head clearance hole, a turned oak (in my case) dowel coated with tightbond. Saw it relatively flush, sand it so it blends in, finish as the rest of the post.
Lots of shoddy stuff passes for acceptable in the railing area. Take the time to strip the old trim and see what is beneath. If it is drywalled then drive a couple of nails to see what is under the drywall. If you have a 2x12 in the opening you are home free. If it is an I joist then you need to apply an OSB or plywood filler glued and nailed to the interior of the web so you have a real secure target for your lag screw.
Does this answer your need?
Edited 3/4/2003 11:28:08 PM ET by Booch
thanks for the ideas but they all have to land on the deck, I'll look into the LJ Smith hardware.
The first thing I do going up or down any stairs, is jiggle the posts. Wobbly newels say bad carpentry.
Try L.J.Smith Co.. They have several systems that work great for all the connections. The 38" lag bolt with 3/8" x 16 threads on the outher end works good. A 1" hole with a wood plug is needed to tighten the nut.
Sounds like the perfect solution, thanks!
Opening up to expose side of the stringer, landing, etc., can be covered with new skirt. Gottago.
another option is 3 or 4 hardwood dowels in to flooring and the bottom of the post, lots of glue and a good tight fit, ive had to that and it works well
It's a major peeve of mine when someone doesn't plan ahead with a system this important. The builder should have had you involved way befor the floor and sheetrock ceilings were all finished. I would tend towards openning up the ceiling below to mount the newels to the side of the framing securely within the floorspace.
There, now that my little rant is over - The Smith system is easiest. I have also done the dowels with epoxy set. Here's another - if this are all corner newels where one rail proceeding from it is always at right angles to another - which is what it sounds like you might have. I drill a center hole for a double ended lag in the post and the floor. Then I make sure the post will stand plumb and use a scrap of tape to mark which side goes where. Then I use a grinder to hollow out the center of the post by about a sixteenth so the outer edges will seat tight to the floor. Then I mix some epoxy to set it in and screw the post down onto the lag. It becomes one with the floor
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I'm with Piffin on that. A shakey handrail is enough to get me to call an entire structure as bad. That is an important device. I have a buddy with a tract home he had built and I can't believe the handrails are that bad. I just get suspicious. Open up some drywall and find out what you can screw to. Drywall is easy to fix, a lot easier than a ten year old falling from a bad handrail.Jack of all trades and master of none - you got a problem with that?
Another way to look at it is that it will take about ten hours to patch and paint the drywall for a few holes.
Guess how much time you can spend filling out insurance claim forms or defending yourself from a lawsuit.
The general contractor should be responsible for the drywall patching anyhow if he didn't plan and got the cart in front of the horse. Too many generals know nothing about building a house. They just assume that it is easy and pitch right in to "making the big money" Witness how often this forum sees a thread started by someone with that frame of mind.
Still the dowels or the Smith system hardware should take care of things.
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