DIY : Install Handrails on Your Home Staircase
I got interested in handrails after falling down the narrow steps of our home when I was pregnant. As I lay at the bottom of our steps, I silently cursed the people that lived her before us for not installing this important safety feature. A few days later, a friend arrived unexpectedly on my doorstep with materials in hand. I watched as he installed our new stair rails and I was amazed how something so important was so simple to install.
Measure Your Stairs ~
Stand on the top step with your arms slightly bent at the elbow in a comfortable position as if you were holding an imaginary handrail. Make a mark on the wall where your hand falls to give you an idea of the height you are going to put your handrail at. Go to the bottom of the staircase and to the same thing, so that you have two marks. Using a chalk string or other straight edge, draw a line on your wall, from one mark to the other, and then extend the mark 6 or 8 inches beyond the both the top and the bottom step. (Do it in pencil and you will be able to get it off the wall easily later.)
Estimate Brackets ~
Measure the length of the line on your wall to get an idea of how many brackets you’ll need. If you know how far apart the wall studs are in your home, you can use that to help you with the math. (Generally wall studs are around 18 inches on center so unless you know for a fact that your wall studs are different than 18 inches, plan on installing a bracket about every 18 inches.) Add one extra to the top, one extra for the bottom, and one extra if your pencil line is more than 8 feet long. (If your pencil line on the wall is more than 16 feet, then add an additional one. And so on for every additional 8 feet if your staircase is very, very long.)
Go Shopping ~
It’s time to head off to your local home improvement or hardware store. You will need two things, brackets and ‘hand rail stock’. Hand rail stock is exactly what it sounds like, it’s a stock piece of wood that is made especially for handrails. It looks roughly like a 2 by 2 piece of lumber that’s been rounded and sanded all the way around. One side has been slightly flattened so that it rests easily against the bracket.
Hand rail stock comes in 8 foot sections. Let the person filling your order know how long your staircase is. If it doesn’t come out in exactly 8 foot increments they will often cut it for you in the store, so that you go home with the right pieces already cut and measured. While you are there, get your brackets, (however many you counted off). Make sure that your brackets come with screws!
Sometimes the screws are in a package with the individual brackets, but sometimes they are in a container right next to the brackets, usually on the same shelf. Make sure that you have enough screws to fill all the holes in your brackets. You’ll usually have three holes going through to the wall, and two holes going up into the handrail. So you will need at least 5 per bracket and depending on the style of bracket you choose, you might need more.
The First Two Brackets ~
The first two brackets you need to install are going to go on the wall at the very top and the very bottom of your staircase. Move them about two to three inches in from the end of the pencil line you made on the wall, screw them into the wall and then lay your hand rail stock so that it touches both brackets. This will cause it to line up evenly. Screw those brackets into the handrail to keep it stable. If you know where your studs are or you have the ability to find them (with a stud finder or by tapping on the wall until you find them), try to put those first two brackets directly on a wall stud. If it takes you 4 or 5 inches instead of 2 or 3 in from the end to find a stud, it is better to hit the stud even though you have had to go a little further in.
Install the Remaining Brackets ~
Once you have your two end pieces anchored in place you will install the rest of the brackets, filling in everywhere that you have a stud so that you have something strong to brace your stairwell against. It’s very important that you install them right over the wall studs. If you install them directly on to your wallboard, it won’t be strong enough to support a person who grabs the handrail as they are falling. It can tear out of the wall as they grab it and put weight on it.
If you have used more than one section of handrail stock, make sure that one of your brackets goes directly under the place where the two pieces come together as well as putting one bracket at the stud closest to either side of where the two pieces go together.
Once you have all your brackets screwed into place your handrail is finished. If you choose, you can paint or varnish over it for decorative effect but it is not necessary for it to function. Consider putting handrails on both sides of your staircase. You never know which way people will fall and someday one of your family members may depend on the stairwell that you put up.
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