Wooden railing serves as a protective structure on the stairs. With their help, the safety of movement along it in any direction is ensured. Some people create them only for this purpose, so they are quite simple in appearance. Other stairs become a designer decoration, because they have an aesthetic design. They are usually placed indoors.
Design requirements
Do-it-yourself wooden railing so that they provide ease of movement. To do this, they must meet the following requirements:
- be located at a height of at least 90 cm;
- in the case of installation together with them, balusters are made in such a way that the child could not climb between the crossbars, that is, the width of the opening is provided at a level of 15-20 cm;
- handrails should not be wide and smooth;
- the railing can be installed on one or two sides, depending on the width of the stairs - this must be taken into account when selecting the material;
- if they are designed for safety during a steep climb, and there are children in the house, then additional wooden railings should be provided for them below.
Items
Any railing, including wooden, includes the following components:
- Handrails. They represent the upper bar. They are designed to hold on to when climbing or descending stairs. Wooden handrails for the railing should be monolithic and smooth, comfortable for grasping and moving your hand as you move up or down.
- Balusters. Represent the racks attached to steps or a bowstring. They are located at a certain distance. Also act as decorations.
- Curbstone. The most powerful rack located at the end of the stairs to which the handrails are attached.
Photos of wooden railings are available in the article.
Material selection
Handrails made of wood are made of appropriate wood. It can act:
- pine is the most affordable material, but it is characterized by a heterogeneous structure, so that the paint is absorbed with different intensities; changes in temperature and humidity can withstand well;
- birch is a dense material, practically without knots, but prone to decay and cracking when humidity and temperature conditions change;
- oak is a durable and durable material, but expensive; elements created from it are not susceptible to cracking, deformation, rotting, are highly resistant to parasites;
- beech - in physical characteristics it is similar to the previous material, but at low humidity the layer of the tree breaks into fibers, which can render the created elements unusable.
The specifics of wood fencing
The elements can be given a different shape, unequal parts can be combined. Support elements, if desired, alternate in geometric shapes. It is possible to use their installation crosswise - the barrier is filled with thin bars located in different directions. Different steps can be used between the supports, however this should not violate the solidity of the structure.
Such railings fit into wooden houses very organically.
Tools and materials necessary for work
If the length of the stairs does not exceed 1.5 m, then the railing can be made from one board. With a greater length of flights of stairs, it is better to use combined parts.
For work you will need the following power tool:
- end saw;
- jigsaw;
- screwdriver;
- Bulgarian;
- a milling machine with a nozzle that allows cutting the surface in a semicircle;
- flat base grinding machine.
Other equipment and devices are also being prepared:
- pencil;
- a ruler;
- construction knife;
- calipers;
- clamps;
- narrow brush.
For manufacturing you will need:
- solid wood boards with a thickness of 2.5-4 mm;
- wooden bars (cross section 20x20 mm);
- self-tapping screws;
- fine sandpaper;
- construction masking tape;
- paper;
- PVA glue.
Installation of pedestals
They begin to install the railing with the installation of these elements. They are placed at the beginning and end of the stairs, as well as at each turn.
A lace is fixed on one of the pedestals, after which it is pulled between all of these elements. This will allow to determine the location of the handrail, which in the future will provide an opportunity to securely and correctly fix it.
Making balusters
They are made of glued beams in the form of columns having various shapes. Wooden railings and balusters complement each other. The latter are necessary for construction to give stability as well as an aesthetic appearance. Without balusters, balusters are not needed.
The board should be sawn during the preparatory work in accordance with the size of the harvested posts.
In their manufacture can be applied milling, which is used to cut screw patterns on their surface.
Their undercut on lathes allows you to place several geometric shapes on them.
In addition, they can be cut manually, but this is not available to everyone. For such a job, it’s best to hire a professional.
The easiest way to decorate wooden railings and stairs in general are flat balusters, in which circles or other patterns are cut.
Baluster assembly
The distance between the balusters and the steps should be about 10 cm, the width of the handrail - about 5 cm. Thus, the height of the balusters should be about 80 cm.
For the manufacture of balusters, planks of wood are required, 30–35 mm thick and 10–15 cm wide.
To create a beautiful carved fence using a lathe, or a jigsaw, as well as other similar power tools.
A template with real dimensions is created on cardboard or paper. Using a pencil, it is applied to each plank, after which sawing takes place. After obtaining the necessary shape, the ends are cleaned with fine-grained sandpaper and polished to a shine.
Installation of balusters
Installation of wooden railings involves the implementation of this action. Unlike curly columns, flat balusters are not attached to the steps due to the fact that a wobbly and unreliable fence. In this case, they are installed on a transverse beam, located 10 cm above the bowstring. Thus, the handrail, two pedestals and the lower beam form a frame into which the flat balusters are inserted.
Two types of connection are used:
- on metal studs;
- into the grooves.
When using the second on the upper end of the transverse beam and the lower part of the handrail, grooves of 2 cm in depth are grinded. The lower ends of the balusters are made even, and the upper ones must be cut in accordance with the inclination of the stairs. In the future, a handrail will be attached to them.
If it is not possible to mount on the transverse beam, the considered element of wooden railings is mounted on metal studs. In this case, there is no gap between the beam and the steps, and the height of the balusters is 90 cm. It is attached to the step with one hairpin. It is important to maintain the verticality of the installation, for which they use the angle.
After fixing all the protective elements, they begin to install wooden railings, namely the handrail. For its manufacture, a timber is taken, rounded on three sides and carefully sanded.
At the last stage, the wooden railing is covered with varnish, stain or acrylic paints.
Handrail Production
For cutting tubercles, a grinder with a grinding nozzle is used.
They begin to create a railing from a sheet of plywood 6 mm thick, which serves as a basis. It is attached to the handrail along the entire profile of the stairs using self-tapping screws. The width of the plywood sheet should be equal to the width of the railing. It is necessary that the base repeats all the bumps and turns of the stairs. On top of the plywood sheet is attached newsprint using masking tape.
Create the first finishing layer, which is laid on plywood and fixed with clamps. This procedure is repeated throughout the circuit. From the end of the board are interconnected, for which they are cut with an end saw.
A second layer is created. Boards are cut with which the lower-lying joints will overlap by at least 5 cm.
Then proceed to sticking.
PVA is applied with a brush to the top of the board in a small layer so that it is not visible when viewing the railing from the side. The lower part is tightly connected to the upper with clamps or wooden blocks twisted together by self-tapping screws. The work is carried out sequentially in different areas. Each layer dries out for at least 12 hours.
Subsequent layers are bonded in a similar manner. The thickness of the railing is checked with a caliper. In the presence of differences, the hillocks are polished.
At the end, a handrail on two sides is processed with a milling machine with a special nozzle to give roundness to a square section.
After that, the original plywood base is removed. For this, the railing is lifted and the plywood is unscrewed. The milled handrail is screwed at the fastening points with screws.
At the end, the wooden handrail for the railing is puttyed to eliminate the defects that were created during manufacture, sanded and coated with appropriate varnish and paint.
Finally
Wooden railings are one of the varieties of this family of enclosing staircases. They are quite capable of making independently. It is advisable to have milling and turning machines to give them an aesthetic appearance, but you can get by with an improvised tool. Even a novice can install wooden railings if they have the necessary tools and skills.