I was wondering if anyone out there knows of a manufacturer that sells exterior wood newel posts that are designed to be affixed to concrete. I have called numerous rail providers and they all sell only iron rails.My lumber suplier sugested using a 4×4 and a vinyl sleve but I don’t like the look of the vinyl rails. I am looking for a wood or wood look rail material. If anyone has any sugestions on how to affix a wood newel post to concrete I would apreciate it as well. Thanks, John
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As far as fastening goes.. Drill a hole in the concrete to accomadate a length of rebar about 14 or so inches long. Drill your wood post to except most of the rebar (leave the rebar protruding the depth of your concrete. Then expoxy the rebar into the post and fill the hole in the concrete to except the rest of the protruding rebar. I would keep the post off the concrete a tiny bit and use a small trim to hide the gap. Then just set it and forget it...should last a long time.
What worries me about your solution is that there is endless opportunity for the post to wobble. It may be preferable to have 2 or even 3 pieces of rebar - and have the post contact the concrete. No mention made by poster as to lumber, but in contact with concrete it should be pressure treated, or cedar or redwood (with treatment of the endgrain), and perhaps sill gasket.All the best...
To those who know - this may be obvious. To those who don't - I hope I've helped.
See my other post too...
However, you haven't mentioned if the concrete is placed as yet, of to deal with extg stuff. If new work I'd suggest letting some 3" plastic tube or pipe into the conc about 6", then having the base of your post turned to slip into the cavity. If old work I'd drill for anchor bolts that could tap into the conc, and have enough length for the post to be drilled to accept this, then setting the nut as per std interior stair newels -thru a hole in the side.
All the best...
To those who know - this may be obvious. To those who don't - I hope I've helped.
The others are steering you well. I like to use 4 lengths of 1/2" stainless all-thread in 4 holes drilled near the corners of the post end, and angled toward the center. This keeps the wood from splitting out when a sideways load is applied to your newel. Let the epoxy cure in the post, then gently bend the protruding rod ends so they are exiting parallel to the long axis of the post. At the time you are gluing the rods into the post, also use the epoxy to seal the end grain so water cannot wick up into the wood.
It is also a good idea to have the post elevated enough so that surface water runs off below the level of the wood. This attachment method is very stiff and strong. The holes in the wood need to be at least 8" deep for maximum strength. Less depth is required in good concrete to match the wood's strength.
Both WEST System and Simpson epoxy work well with this method. Simpson works at lower temps; read the label.
Bill
The best solution invariably involves the most work. For affixing timberframe posts to concrete, we have custom knife plates welded (not too expensive) and then bolt/epoxy them to the concrete. Then, you slot the bottom of the post and after it is all assembled, plumb, and square, you drill through the knife plate in the slot and pin it. It's a lot of work, but absolutely bomber.
This always gives me rock-solid results and would also make for easy replacement of the newel should it become damaged.
Bottom of post usually ends up around 5/16" - 3/8" off the concrete. Bolt heads hide even better with addition of a skirt around the bottom.