I Wanted to Update My Banister,
[and Some of the Balusters Needed Replacing],
so We Decided to Go for Some Rod Iron.
First we Knocked out the Existing Balusters-
they came out relatively Easy.
We Kept the Knewl Posts
and Rails in Place.
Then I Lightly Sanded the Knewl Posts
and Rails
Using This:
and then Stained them
to Match My Floor,
using a Gel Stain
[Wah-La].
This Part Was Completely Easy.
Next Came the Balusters.
We Purchased them from a Local Business,
Determined the Length We Wanted,
and Husband when to Town
Sawing Those Babies
with a Metal Blade on His Miter Saw.
And He Drilled Holes Going Down
into the Foot Railing
and Going Up Into the Hand Railing,
in the Places where The Rods Needed to Go.
After that,
It Gets Kind of Tricky Trying to Explain
How we Used a Sledge Hammer to
Wham Those Suckers into the Railing,
and Angle them Into the Holes at the Bottom,
but That's How we Manged to do it.
We did Learn,
that Removing the Railing,
Does NOT Help,
and only Makes Things Worse.
But Once We Figured Out how to Get those Things In,
It was Pretty Easy.
[I'm Sorry I can't Give a More Understandable Explanation!]
6 comments:
Wow, I'm impressed...it will soon be time for you and R to come and get my railing in place.
I have been considering doing the same thing. Can you tell me the approximate cost of the balusters and perhaps refer me somewhere to get more step by step instructions on how to do this? It looks fabulous!
Hugglemama,
The Cost will depend on what You pick out for Your balusters, and your pattern. For instance, the plain rods were the cheapest, then the single "Knuckle" were next cheapest, then the double "Knuckles" were the most expensive. So we chose to do a pattern that used plain rods the most. I think at the the place we got them, they were about 3.40ea for the plain ones, then went up from there-the double knuckle ones were 5.90ea We only purchased as many as we needed of each kind (plain, or single or double Knuckle). I believe we bought about 56 rods, plus bottom Shoes that went into the floor (1.00ea), I belive we spent approx. 250-300$.
Here is a set of videos that we found helpful, but didn't do exactly like she did, nonetheless- very helpful for ideas!http://www.stairwarehouse.com/stair-video-tutorials.html
I've always wanted to attempt this. Your post gives me help we can do it ourselves. Thank you!
Warmly, Michelle
My upstairs railing is currently white and boy does it show all the dirty smudge marks from my boys! I need your opinion. I really like the black too. However, all of it is white. That includes the main corner supports. I would definitely like to paint the I between rods which are wood. My floor is a beautiful, refinished wood and the rest of my woodwork around is white. Would you recommend painting the black or will it look on with my woodwork? Should I keep the main supports white or paint them black too? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. If you have an email I could send you a picture if it would be easier than just imagining. Thank you!
@ArtMom22, You Stumped Me.
I have a friend who painted her banister and balusters Black, and now is working on making all her trim black, too. I thought the Banister looked pretty sharp, but redoing all your trim to match didn't look very fun!
I have another friend, who had all golden oak colored banister and balusters, she painted her balusters white, and left her handrails the golden oak color, but distressed it, and I thought that seemed easy and cute- but where yours is all white already, I'm not sure that's an option.
I don't know. I really like the look of white, but like you mentioned, its probably a pain to try to keep looking descent, except for touching it up now and then- which in the end, might be the easiest and the best looking option, in My Opinion.
Sorry, I am NO Help! But Thank You for asking, and Good Luck on finding a Solution that You are happy with!
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