Railing Advice

Combine the fact that my son is getting older with the loot he came away from Christmas with, and it all adds up to a lack of space in our house. We have a semi-finished basment that with a little bit of child-proofing and sprucing up will be a great play area. My problem is the stairs. Going down, the left side is bordered by a wall with handrail, but the right side is completely open. It’s one of those things on the honey-do list that I have been meaning to take care of, but now that we have a 16-month old, it needs to get done soon.

I’m perfectly capable and have the tools, I’ve just never done this, so rather than make my own mistakes, I thought I’d ask for any tips, tricks, advice, pitfalls, etc from some of you experienced builders. I don’t want to do anything fancy, just solid and safe.

Thanks!

build the wall, sheet rock it and THEN put it up. I hope this makes sense. this is how i did my basement steps.

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build the wall, sheet rock it and THEN put it up. I hope this makes sense. this is how i did my basement steps.

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I would prefer not to put up a wall in this location.

Wish I could help, but I’m all “farmer”. Some bailing wire and pliers I’ll fix for ya.

Are you looking for rail/baluster, cable, iron, …. I’m not trying to be a smart . If I knew what you wanted to end up with, I can walk you through building dam near anything. If its for little kids, I like a 1/2 wall with an another hand rail set at 24″ over the stair nosing.

My thought was wood baluster.

I would visit this site first. Coffman is probably the largest stair part (component) supplier in the midwest. They suply to everyone from retail stores, lumber yards, to custom woodworking shops. They have a decent website that enables you to view a lot of samples and variations. I’ve done everything from elevators to solid glass stair cases. Once you get a layout of exactly what you want, I can walk you through it.

Coffman Stair parts