We have a broken banister spindle (see pics). What's the best way to fix this? Do I have to take it apart? Or is there a trick to this that I'm not aware of?
Replace Banister Rod
railingstairs
Related Solutions
The height is generally from the front of the tread straight up to the top of the handrail.
To get the brackets at the right height, you'll need to do some measuring and marking.
Measure the bracket top to bottom (if its height isn't already stated in the literature). You can allow for the thickness of the handrail by resting it on the stairs and measuring how high its top is above the front of the tread. Subtract those two numbers from the height you want the railing to be at to get the height for the bottom of the bracket if it were installed directly above the front of the tread.
Mark that height at the top and bottom steps and draw a line through them (if you can get a helper or two, you should have a nice straight piece of wood of just about the right length to hand; otherwise a straight-edge, the longer the better so that the line is in as few segments as possible). Your stair may not be perfectly even and regular, so you may want to measure the height above each tread and adjust the line accordingly if some of the measurements are out of the allowed range.
Finally, take your stud finder, locate the studs and install as many brackets as you need. The bottom of the bracket should be touching the line you've just drawn.
You'll have to cut the carpet to attach the railing properly. Go grab the latest newstand issue of Fine Homebuilding. They have a full article on it:
(Not affiliated with the magazine in any-way other than I am a fan and find it to be the best construction magazine out there)
Also, heads up that this will likely be caught on an inspection and/or appraisal. The current homeowners may be required to do this to even get a mortgage approved.
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Best Answer
The simplest way to insert the new spindle is to make sure the hole in the bottom of the handrail is deep enough that the new spindle can be inserted higher than its final position, high enough to allow the bottom stub of the spindle to clear the hole in the step and then be lowered into the hole.
Once you have sized the spindle and tested it for fit, remove it, place some glue in the upper and lower holes, and reinsert the spindle, You should then pin it to the stairs with a finish nail in a 45 degree angle, then fill the nail hole with wood filler or caulk.