Because the majority of primed balusters come from china and are often finger jointed material. Because they are only 1/2" you will need a few more for the balcony than you would with a tapered wooden baluster. The epoxy that they should be installed with is considerably more expensive than white or wood glue and there are also the caps that need to be purchased and installed unless they are morticed into the treads (sqr holes) which would cost considerably more. Ian

My suggestion would depend on how many you plan on cutting and if you plan on doing any future projects that would include metal cutting. The way I see it the cheaper options would include: 1. Metal cutting blade in jig saw. Would work for a few cuts, could be very cheap if you've already got a jig saw. 2. Same as #1, but with reciprocating saw. 3. Good old hacksaw. 4. A 4-1/2" angle grinder (DeWalt, Milwaukee, etc.) with a 1/16" thick cut off wheel. Can be difficult to control until you get used to it. Other more expensive, better options would be: 1. Any brand of 14" chop saw, similar to a miter saw for wood, but uses an abrasive blade. $120-$150. 2. Portable bandsaw, notably Milwaukee. Probably close to $300. 3. Small horizontal bandsaw for metal cutting (4"x6" capacity). All foreign made, all the same, choose your brand........probably right at $200. Cheapest available at Harbor Freight Tools. My personal reccomendation if you plan to cut a lot of metal. I have one and could not live without it. Hope that helps.....David

McClark, yes the carpet is a solid tan (light tan). I love an oriental runner with exposed treads, especially coming down to a hardwood floor. Wish I knew how to post a picture, I'm going to do a search how to. Anyway, as you intuited, the stairs are very linear. No curves. Only one side of the stairs have exposed treads/risers. Due to the design of the staircase the "back" side of the stairs goes to the wall and the builder did not put exposed treads on that side, the carpet goes to the wall. IE, only one side of the tread is exposed So I wonder how an oriental runner would look in an asymmetrical arrangement like that. I will try to post a photo. We used to have a big dog, a German Shepherd, what a darling. Of course he scratched up the oak floors in two houses but I'd have him back in a minute! No replacement yet but nonetheless I am still a big dog lover and always will be. Marti, those really are pretty staircases, especially the curved silver one. They are clean and light and fairly contemporary. Mine is dark and fairly traditional, the dark being my main objection. I really have to post a photo. I will go look how to do that now. Thank you for finding and posting the photos.

My guess is that the hollow ones would tend to be more decorative rather than being used for a functional railing. I have a decorative fence in my garden that has hollow balusters, but the wrought iron railing we used for our front fence came from a deck railing and it is solid iron If it were me, and I was using them for a staircase, I'd choose the solid for safety reasons.