Stair railings ensure the safety of movement on stairs during ascent and descent. Railings and balusters complete the design of the march, emphasize the style. Railings and fences can be ordered ready-made or made independently.
Definition
Railings are vertical structures installed along the edge of a flight of stairs. They ensure the safety of people when climbing and descending. The railing consists of several elements:
- A handrail is the upper part on which a person’s hand rests when moving.
- Balusters - vertical posts that support the handrail. The last stand is a pedestal. Handrails in the lower and upper part of the march are attached to it.
- Horizontal slats (bowstring) - fences under the handrails - are located parallel to the movement of the march. Replace balusters.
- Fastener system - elements for fixing the fence.
The main functions of railings and balusters
Fences must be installed on staircases with a length of more than 4 steps. From the side of the wall, the railing on the stairs may be absent, from the free side must be. Elements are attached securely so that the structure can perform its main functions:
- Support. Stair climbs have different elevation angles. People with different physical backgrounds overcome these obstacles. Stair railing should help people of different ages, weights and physical abilities to distribute the load on their legs when lifting and lowering.
- Safety. Properly designed ladders provide not only stability to the lift, but also prevent a fall in case of loss of balance.
- Decor Stair railings adorn the march and emphasize style. It is important when choosing the design of wooden and metal handrails to combine them with the surrounding space.
Types of fences
The staircase railing can be made of different materials and have a different shape, therefore these structures are classified according to several characteristics.
Protections can be:
- metal;
- wooden;
- polymer;
- glass;
- concrete;
- combined.
Metal railings and racks are made of aluminum or forged steel. The former are characterized by impeccable brilliance and smoothness, the latter have decorative properties, since they are made according to individual sketches.
Wooden railings are most often found in private houses: they are warm to the touch, smooth, fit into any interior, affordable.
Polymer fences are made of hard plastics, which are installed on special fasteners. Compared to other materials, polymer is the cheapest.
Glass fences are installed in public buildings: in shopping and office centers. They are made of tempered glass.
Concrete fences are suitable for entrance buildings, on the main stairs. Elements are cast from concrete in the factory, sometimes right at the construction site.
Combined fences combine several materials. The most common option - forged or aluminum balusters mounted wooden railings.
Handrails differ in the installation method:
- A separate profile (tube, figured profile, rectangular) is a product that is attached to the fence design with special parts.
- Balusters and railings - a classic version of the arrangement of the stair railings. They are attached to each other and fixed on the flight of stairs.
- Modular units consist of ready-made blocks (baluster or railings + handrail + fasteners). They are collected in accordance with the plan of the march on the spot.
By location, metal, plastic and wooden railings can be:
- external, they equip on the street. The main requirement for materials for manufacturing is weather resistance;
- indoor fencing in the premises can be made of any materials.
Next, we will consider wooden handrails, methods for their manufacture at home and a simple installation option.
Calculation of fences
To make reliable railings, they must be correctly calculated
Height
The height of the wooden handrail is the main value that must be determined to ensure safety. According to regulatory building documents, the height of the railing should be:
- 0.9 meters for public buildings and residential buildings;
- in areas where it is possible to fall from a height of more than 5 meters, it is necessary to mount fences 110 cm high;
- stair railing in a house or building with special requirements can be located at a height of 0.7 meters;
- in child care facilities, handrails are installed at a height of 0.5 meters.
For institutions where there is a stream of children (schools, kindergartens), they usually install double fences of 0.9 and 0.5 meters parallel to each other at a distance of up to 10 cm. This provides comfortable movement for children and adults.
The height of the railing in a private house may not correspond to the norm; individual determination of this parameter is allowed. To calculate your ideal height, pull your hand forward when you descend the march. Then measure the distance from the palm to the step. This is the ideal height for you.
Width
The width of the railing should be such that the handrail can be grasped. According to the standard, they are produced with a width of 30 to 70 mm, and large sizes are also used for front stairs.
How to determine the width of the handrails that is convenient for you: if you fall over the railing, it should be convenient to grab without risk of injury.
Distances
Reliability and structural strength largely depend on the distance between balusters.
It is not recommended to place supports more than 0.5 meters, but their step is still determined by the artistic design of the stairs and the peculiarity of its design.
A few recommendations from designers:
- The number of balusters and their parameters are determined by the size and weight of the handrail. When using flexible or heavy railings, balusters should be installed on the stairs so that there is no sagging profile or excessive loading of the supports. If spans of more than 15 cm are formed, installation of a protective bowstring parallel to the railing is necessary.
- Balusters in the classic version are installed on a wooden staircase at each step, sometimes several at once.
- For children's institutions, it is necessary to install supports on each step after 15-20 cm to prevent children from falling.
Production of wooden fences
For a summer house or a private house, you can design and make fences yourself. This will allow you to get an individual railing, consistent with the plan of the owner of the house. The cost of homemade products is much lower than that of a purchased product.
Do-it-yourself step-by-step plan for manufacturing a structure.
Step 1. Drawing up a plan-scheme
If the house already has a finished staircase without a fence, design should be done based on its plan. If construction is just beginning, and there is already an interesting idea for the railing, then the flight of stairs can be adjusted to these wishes..
A plan is created that takes into account:
- height of the staircase railing;
- type and step of balusters;
- railing width.
Step 2. Choose wood for the manufacture of constituent elements
For the production of balusters and the profile of the handrail, different species of trees are used:
- The strongest is beech, ash and oak wood. It has a pleasant structure, an expressive cut.
- Coniferous wood - spruce, pine, larch, is widespread and inexpensive.
It is undesirable to use soft hardwoods to create fencing - products give a lot of shrinkage and are deformed when dried, covered with cracks.
The normal moisture content of wood, which can be used to make railings and balusters, is 12–18%.
Step 3. How to make balusters
The method is determined by their shape.
They may be:
- flat;
- voluminous.
For the manufacture of flat balusters need processed boards. Hand saws and a tool for carving on them is a pattern. There are many examples, some ideas can be gleaned from the photographs presented.
To make a volume baluster, a lathe is required. On rotating equipment, various patterns and knives are used to cut the desired pattern. A milling machine will help to obtain a deeper asymmetric pattern, which cannot be done on a turning installation.
Step 4. Making handrails
To make a handrail, you need a rectangular or rounded blank of different lengths:
- corresponding to the span if its length is small.
- the span length can be divided into 2-3 parts for ease of manufacture and installation of fencing.
For a spiral staircase, the workpiece must be rounded by turning or break the length into many elements, so that later they can be glued together. Only the end of the handrail can be rounded.
Workpiece processing:
- We grind the square-section bar, round and smooth the corners. The width of the railing should be convenient for gripping with a brush, the average should be 6 cm. You can give a relief to a rectangular workpiece: grind grooves along the beam to facilitate gripping, decorate them with small details, but everything should be smooth, without sharp corners and burrs.
- To obtain a round handrail we grind a blank of square section with cut edges on a lathe. You can give a slight relief, but it should be smooth.
There is another method of manufacturing handrails - gluing boards, if there is no suitable material. To do this, take boards of the same length, glue them together and after the glue has completely dried, they process the resulting semi-finished product in the ways listed above.
Step 5. Fixing the balusters to the steps
Installation of balusters on a wooden staircase can be carried out in two ways:
- Self-tapping screws and bolts.
- Glue method.
We will not consider the second option due to its dubious effectiveness; masters use it in special cases. Glue will definitely be needed if the railing was made of individual fragments that need to be joined.
To attach the balusters to the handrails, you will need screws or self-tapping screws 80 mm long, 10 mm in diameter and washers.
For mounting you need:
- In the marking step, drill a hole for the screw.
- Prepare the same hole in the baluster.
- Put the washer on the screw and screw it from the bottom of the stage.
- Fit and lock the stand.
The upper and lower end racks are mounted in the same way on a screw, but welded to the embedded part on the landing.
When the installation of the balusters is completed, the guide is fastened to them with clamps at the level of the handrail. With a pencil on the columns, the corresponding marks are made, according to which the cut will be made.
In order not to damage the fixed wood, wooden linings should be installed under the clamps of the clamps.
Slices by marks can be done on the end saw, other tools will not give an even cut at the right angle.
After mounting the baluster, we prepare the handrail. Using the previously installed guide, measure the angle of the handrail to the extreme rack, cut it off on the finished product. Then we make a groove under the mounting plate. We take its width as the diameter of the ends of the balusters, and the height is 5–10 mm. We fasten the plank to the balusters fixed with clamps and a beam with self-tapping screws, recessing the cap in the plank material.
It remains to fix the handrail on the rail. To do this, we launch the fastening elements from the bottom of the rail, attracting the harvested product with little force. The stair rail is ready! We offer you to watch a short video summary.