I was refering to side mounted rails that are used by Kraftmaid which are side mounted expoxy coated rails with plastic wheels that slide down the tracks which are 3/4 extension. I am not that stupid to presume to know what the side mounted rails are like that are in your supposed custom kitchen. This thread is a good example of the blind leading the blind on here more often then not. For the info of anyone who wants to learn something and not continue to spread miss information soft close has an engineering purpose. The cabinet companies do not put them on cabinets to make you think they look cool. When you build a cabinet drawer to be rated for 100 lbs or more in weight the cabinet maker adds soft close mechanism so it is not possible to slam the drawer shut and crack the face frame of the cabinet. A side mounted full extension slide in an of itself is not superior an undermount full extension glide. I have several cabinet companies I sell that use them. They are not easy to slam shut they way they are made. They also have rubber bumper at the end of the track in the back of the cabinet which holds the drawer shut when you close it. Every cabinet I sell with side mounted full extension glides are the same as those on Husky, Kobalt, and craftsman mechanics tool boxes I keep my tools in. If you made cabinets that you are going to provide a warranty for, and you make the drawers to be rated for 100 plus pounds, would you want to warranty the cabinet frame would not fall apart in a home with domestic violence? The drawers would be slaming shut everytime someone is mad at another person and lets out their frustration on the drawers and doors. Their is a reason people make things the way they do. Just as I stated in the first post their is a reason the guy wants to use the side mounted that the person with the original post did not understand to restate.

MY MIL had a staircase like that, and as Kennebunker said, she used a rope hand rail. Is that your only access to the second floor? My MIL's staircase (it was the only one)nearly was the cause of her needing to go live in a nursing home as she became unable to negotiate it when rehabbing a hip replacement. You mentioned g'babies, so it's maybe something you might want to think about before it's an issue. Kid proofing is with gates. I think you could also have fun creating a curved, laminated handrail yourself, once you get some of the other issues sorted out. BTW, I think you water heater is great, just think of all the "free heat" it will throw off! As you get into old houses you might find it very comfortable to pull up a chair and warm your tootsies on the water heater. Do you have a chimney in the attic above that fp? Is there a void where masonry could still be? It wasn't uncommon for fake mantles and hearths to exist when houses were heated with stoves alone. (And you have a stove hole above it.) Molly~

I'm thinking that since it is so small maybe $150 or under for materials would be a good place to start. It only has to be on one side of the stoop as well.

"Looks like carpenter rates for the zip code can run between 20-25 bucks an hour as a base pay hourly. Let's say hundred hours labor since we don't know what materials we are working with so it might take longer than expected or than one person on the crew. Plus maybe another 500-1000 for handling others materials fee. So maybe around the ballpark of 2500-3500 base for labor?" You are breathtakingly mistaken. Sure, that's what a rough framer may get paid; a handrailer is getting just under boat builder pay. What about the worker's compensation, and the employer side of the tax burden? This can be 33% or more. What, his truck to get to the job runs on air? The insurance on my trucks are $14.00 a day for each. People have no idea how expensive running a business is. The guy who rebuilt the stair at $5,800.00 is going broke. He may limp along, but he's certainly never going to be able to retire.