Stairs and Railings

New rails, posts, balusters, treads, and risers. Drag the line on the before and after photos to compare.

Staircase remodel

I replaced the treads and risers, then installed a new newel post, handrail, and balusters.

After: Basement stairs after, with stained treads, white risers, a stained handrail, and black balusters

Before: Basement stairs before, with carpeted treads and white spindles

Rail system with a volute and gooseneck

A new rail system with a volute at the starter step, a continuous rail that wraps the end of a wall, and a gooseneck up to the newel post on the second floor. I also installed new landing treads and aprons, and iron balusters in an alternating pattern.

After: Upstairs landing after, with stained posts and rails and black iron balusters

Before: Upstairs landing before, with a short white spindle railing

About 260 new iron balusters

I installed new iron balusters throughout this house. There were about 260 of them.

Before: Second-floor overlook before the new balusters

After: Second-floor overlook after, with black iron balusters between white posts

New rails, posts, and a matching gate

I replaced the whole rail system and the newel posts. That meant new rails, balusters, landing treads and aprons, and a gate built to match.

New rails tied into original oak

The golden oak was original. I installed the new posts, rails, and balusters.

After: Upstairs hallway after, with new stained posts and rails and white balusters

Before: Upstairs hallway before, with golden oak rails and white spindles

Rails in a converted church

The treads and risers were already in. I installed the posts, rails, and balusters. One post needed an unusual cut, so I laid it out right on the stairs.

Before: Open stairs before, with no railing

After: The same stairs after, with stained rails and black iron balusters

Newel post and short rail

A newel post, a short handrail, and balusters for a couple of steps that had no railing at all.

Before: Two steps before, with no railing

After: The same steps after, with a newel post, handrail, and black balusters

A panel to close an inspector's gap

Another contractor installed these metal rails, and the inspector flagged the gap by the wall. I built a shaker-style panel to fill it, with mortise and tenon joints and the panel set in dadoes, and fastened it to the structure so it passes the 200-pound load rule.