Wooden railings serve 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 for this purpose only, so they are quite simple in appearance. Other stairs become a designer decoration, because they have an aesthetic design. They are usually located indoors.
Design requirements
Do-it-yourself wooden railings are made 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 mounting balusters with them, they are made in such a way that the child cannot climb between the rungs, that is, the width of the opening is provided at the level of 15-20 cm;
- handrails should not be wide and smooth;
- railing can be installed on one or both sides, depending on the width of the stairs - this must be taken into account when selecting material;
- if they are for safetywhen making a steep climb, and there are children in the house, then additional wooden railings below should be provided for them.
Elements
Any railing, including wood, includes the following components:
- Handrails. They represent the top bar. They are designed to be held while climbing or descending stairs. Wooden handrails for handrails should be solid and smooth, easy to wrap around the hand and move it as it moves up or down.
- Balusters. They are racks attached to steps or a bowstring. They are located at a certain distance. Also act as decoration.
- Table. The most powerful rack, located at the end of the stairs, to which the handrails are attached.
Photos of wooden railings are posted in the article.
Material selection
Wood railings are made from appropriate wood. It can be:
- pine is the most affordable material, but it is characterized by a heterogeneous structure, due to which the paint is absorbed with different intensities; withstands temperature and humidity changes well;
- birch is a dense material, practically without knots, however, subject to decay and cracking when changing humidity and temperature conditions;
- oak - durable and strong material, but expensive; elements created from it are not subject to cracking, deformation, rotting, and are highly resistant to parasites;
- beech - bythe physical characteristics are similar to the previous material, but at low humidity, the layer of wood is torn along the fibers, which can render the created elements unusable.
Specific wood fence
Elements can be given different shapes, different parts can be combined. The supporting elements, if desired, alternate in geometric shapes. It is possible to use their mounting crosswise - the barrier is filled with thin bars located in different directions. A different pitch can be used between the supports, however, this should not violate the solidity of the structure.
Such railings fit into wooden houses very organically.
Tool and materials needed for work
If the length of the stairs does not exceed 1.5 m, then the railing can be made from one board. With longer flights of stairs, it is better to use combined parts.
To work, you will need the following power tool:
- miter saw;
- jigsaw;
- screwdriver;
- Bulgarian;
- milling machine with a nozzle that allows cutting the surface in a semicircle;
- flat base grinder.
Also preparing other equipment and fixtures:
- pencil;
- ruler;
- construction knife;
- caliper;
- clamps;
- narrow tassel.
To make you will need:
- hardwood boards with a thickness of 2.5-4mm;
- wooden bars (section 20x20 mm);
- self-tapping screws;
- fine sandpaper;
- masking tape construction;
- paper;
- PVA glue.
Installation of cabinets
Begin to carry out the installation of railings with the installation of these elements. They are placed at the beginning and end of the stairs, as well as at each turn.
A string is fixed on one of the pedestals, after which it is pulled between all these elements. This will allow you to determine the location of the handrail, which in the future will make it possible to securely and correctly fix it.
Making balusters
They are made of glued laminated timber in the form of columns with different shapes. Wooden railings and balusters complement each other. The latter are necessary structures to give stability, as well as an aesthetic appearance. Without railings, balusters are not needed.
The board must be sawn during preparatory work in accordance with the dimensions of the harvested posts.
They can be made using milling, which is used to cut helical patterns on their surface.
Their recess on lathes allows you to place several geometric shapes on them.
In addition, they can be cut by hand, but this is not available to everyone. It is better to hire a professional for this kind of work.
The easiest way to decorate wooden railings and stairs in general are flat balusters, in which circles or otherpatterns.
Assembly of balusters
The distance between the balusters and steps should be about 10 cm, the width of the handrail should be about 5 cm. So the height of the balusters should be about 80 cm.
For the manufacture of balusters, planks of wood 30–35 mm thick and 10–15 cm wide are needed.
To create a beautiful carved fence, use a lathe, or a jigsaw, as well as other similar power tools.
A template with actual dimensions is created on cardboard or paper. Using a pencil, it is applied to each plank, after which sawing occurs. After obtaining the required shape, the ends are cleaned with fine-grained sandpaper and polished to a shine.
Installing balusters
Installation of wooden railings involves the implementation of this action. Unlike figured columns, flat balusters are not attached to the steps due to the fact that a shaky and unreliable fence will turn out. 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 flat balusters are inserted.
Two types of connection are used:
- on metal studs;
- in grooves.
When using the second on the upper end of the transverse beam and the lower part of the handrail, grooves are machined 2 cm deep. The lower ends of the balusters are made even, and the upper ones must be cut in accordance with the slope of the stairs. On them in the future and willhandrail attached.
If it is not possible to mount on a transverse beam, the wooden railing element in question is installed on metal studs. In this case, the gap between the beam and the steps is not made, and the height of the balusters is 90 cm. It is attached to the step with one pin. It is important to keep the installation vertical, for which an angle is used.
After fixing all the protective elements, they begin to install wooden railings, namely the handrail. For its manufacture, a bar is taken, rounded on three sides and carefully polished.
At the last stage, wooden railings are varnished, stained or acrylic paints.
Production of handrails
To cut the bumps, a grinder with a grinding nozzle is used.
Begin to create a railing with a sheet of plywood 6 mm thick, which serves as the 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 irregularities and turns of the stairs. Attach newsprint to the top of the plywood sheet using masking tape.
Create the first finishing layer, which is laid on plywood and secured with clamps. This procedure is repeated throughout the circuit. From the end, the boards are interconnected, for which they are cut with a miter saw.
The second layer is being created. Cut boards that will overlap the underlying connections by at least 5 cm.
Thenstart gluing.
PVA is applied with a brush on 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 one with the help of clamps or wooden bars twisted together with self-tapping screws. The work is carried out sequentially in different areas. Each layer dries for at least 12 hours.
Subsequent layers are glued together in the same way. The thickness of the railing is checked with a caliper. If there are differences, the bumps are polished.
At the end, with a milling machine with a special nozzle, the railing is processed on both sides to give roundness to the square section.
After that, the original plywood base is removed. To do this, the railing is raised and the plywood is unscrewed. The milled handrail is screwed at the attachment points with self-tapping screws.
After completion, the wooden railing handrail is puttied to eliminate the defects that were created during manufacture, sanded and coated with the appropriate varnish and paint.
In closing
Wooden railings are one of the varieties of this family of stair railings. They are quite capable of making their own. It is desirable to have milling and turning machines to give them an aesthetic appearance, but you can get by with an improvised tool. Even a beginner can install wooden railings with the necessary tools and skills.
