Fixing the railings
Written by julio on September 17th, 2011When we moved into our house, the front railings looked this:
A little mildew, but not too bad...
After about one year, we found that they had rotted out. Like so many things done by our previous owner, I’m sure it was fixed up with a nice coat of paint just before we bought the house. For a long time we got by with one railing, but it’s long since given up its ghost as well. I was supposed to be replacing all of this last week when I was taking time off of work, but a certain other thing got in the way. The goal is still to get these in place and painted before the winter rains start.
One railing and pot removed, so the one remaining is the "good" one
There is seriously no wood left in that thing!!
21
AM
Maybe too late to consider, but have you guys ever thought about placing the railings as coming directly off of the newel posts instead of inside of them? To me, the railings make the stairs seem narrow…pinched. If you would widen the railings I think it would look more open and inviting. Of course, then, it would be nice to add cheek-walls, too!
21
AM
Good idea, but we don’t want to introduce a horizontal gap between the railings and the steps. You know…little feet.
21
PM
Yeah – unfortunately, the stairs actually are narrower than the opening. If the rails project down from the posts, they will not only run outside of the steps (creating the kid hazard Julio mentioned, but they will need to terminate at posts next to the steps, which will both look weird and block access to the roof deck.
5
AM
Yes you may want to hurry though. Winter seem to be upon us already…Good luck.