Do you have young kids? Especially rambunctious boys? If so, I'd think twice because of them being a climbing hazard.

If you like it and it’s practical, go with it! In my house it would immediately alert the mom in me to a safety hazard. My current toddler and soon to be born twins would be scaling it as soon as their chubby little feet could reach that high!!

side note: The 12 year old and his buddies would be climbing it in an attempt at YouTube fame regardless of design (vertical or horizontal).

CP, You beat me to submit!

The first picture says "commercial, not residential" to me.

So, safety was my first concern with the horizontal railing. I have a very cautious five-year-old, so that helps, but even she sometimes does risky things simply because she doesn’t understand that they *are* risky. And I worry about her more fearless friends, as well as my two-year-old nephew. That’s why we vetoed a horizontal deck rail outright, but the designer argued it was less of a risk for the stairs (v. the 20’ drop to concrete from the deck) and her clients use them all the time with no problems, so we agreed it could work. It sounds like I wasn’t crazy in my safety concerns.

What do others think about the second and third options? Or others we should consider?

I favor Traditional style, so the 3rd one gets my vote, both for looks and the narrow openings are too small to get a head stuck, or to push toys through to see them drop below.

The vertical balusters will be far less expensive.

I like modern / low / horizontal lines, so I like the first one - but I also don't have kids... or kid visitors...

I’m waiting on quotes, but that was my thought too, janni. Though the horizontal ones come in pre-fab sections now, which certainly helps with cost.

Thanks, Virgil, for the insight. Can you help me see the difference between your penultimate image and the last image I posted? Both look like simple balusters with no newel posts to my untrained eye.

as for the others - forget kids, *I* would probably fall with no rail at all. And for entirely illogical reasons I’m uncomfortable with open staircases - I always feel like I’ll trip myself going up.

We are building a more-modern house, and will have horizontal railings. We know the safety risks, but for the foreseeable future, there will be no little ones in our lives. If there were, I would be concerned.

An architect friend put them in his modern house, and he has kids. He said within one week, he had installed plexiglass panels over the horizontal railings.

We used to have a condo that had railings vertical that were too far apart for my comfort, because a toddler's head could easily fit through; we had netting on the railings for years. Not beautiful, but I could sleep at night.

Kristin, IMO, your last image illustrates an almost traditional stair railing, in what is obviously a Modern setting. To me it looks completely out of place and lost.

Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Besides a house in a Modern architecture style, so much depends on the actual stair design, and how visible (or not) it is. In other words, is the stair a visible design feature, or is it a concealed-from-view means to move from one level to another?

Putting metal railings aside, here's another design approach compatible with Modern architecture, which is both child-safe and Modern:

Good luck on your project.

Kristen- Your example has more height. 7 horizontals with a square handrail. Virgil's has 4 horizontals with a rounded edge handrail and a split stanchion design. So there can be more than one horizontal example to fit with the rest of your interior.

Maybe you could mix it up.

I realized I should also add - while the exterior of the house is more modern, the interior is more of a blend of traditional and modern. If that affects the choice...

Thank you, Dan! That’s helpful.

Kristin, given the nature of your interiors, I'm not sure you may be able to crowd-source railing designs.

True, Virgil. This has nonetheless been quite helpful, in at least getting a smattering of other opinions.

I love the look of the horizontal railing the best out of the 3 pics that you posted. I wouldn't mind the third one as it is fairly simple and I think it could work in a transitional house. In our previous subdivision neighborhood, the builder installed horizontal railing in every house. I lived there for only 2.5 years with two young children and plenty of child visitors but never had the problem of anyone trying to climb the railing. I met plenty of the neighbors with kids and no one complained about the railing. That's not to say that the rails are not a safety concern but it never occurred to me that it was an issue until I read your post.

Now that I know about the safety concerns, I still wouldn't hesitate to install horizontal railings again if I ever build a "modernish" house.

Virgil, the first of your pics with NO handrails would be a total NO for me. Too many knee surgeries and ankle breakages to want to pretend to live like that! I like your third pic, though.

Thanks, all. My husband and I chatted last night and as long as its not cost prohibitive, we're going to stick with the horizontal railing. Our daughter is super cautious and a risk taker, and with how the railing is laid out, most visitors won't be able to get to it to climb, at least anywhere where a fall would be a problem. Our fallback, if cost necessitates, will be a simple vertical rail.

artemis-ma, I agree. In many jurisdictions the first photo, without a handrail, would probably not meet the applicable building code. But it looks dramatic doesn't it?

How can a prefabricated rail know the pitch of the stairs?

I too have an irrational fear of open backed stairs - so the ones that just stick out of the wall with no railing - no, just no. (and I love how people show these when they would NEVER NEVER NEVER pass code / inspection / get a CO. And it's always the architect's house....

Personally, I think those horizontal stair railings are overdone if you're doing contemporary or modern. It seems like everyone and his mother now has those stairs in more contemporary homes. Isn't the whole idea of modern to do something unique?

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That’s what I asked, Joseph! Waiting to see what they say when they get back to me.

Our second choice would be something like your first picture (but without the open stairs), cpartist. Actually, it’s my first choice because of the reasons you list, but my husband is really sold on the horizontal, so if we can make that work we will.

The glass panels are also really common around here, but to me they just looked ok like a cleaning nightmare with a child who will undoubtedly leave finger (and face) prints all over them. They’re also very, very expensive, or so the stair guy (who just did one) said.

If you decide to use glass, I vote for the frosted panels in CP's 2nd photo.

Otherwise, the fingerprints, toeprints, cheekprints (I have mostly boys who love body humor), noseprints (dogs), etc., on clear glass would drive me to drink until I couldn't even remember that I had stairs. Or a house.

Edited to add: Never mind, I'm totally slow lately in posting!!! Dang.

To add my useless two pennies, I honestly think that as long as you match the stairs in modern-intensity with your exterior, you really can't go wrong. "Timeless," of which my current understanding came from many threads here, is basically attained by being stylistically faithful to the architecture of the home. You really can't go wrong with several options here, I think. :-)

I like your first photo Kristin. The horizontal could be a problem if you have climbers or sliders, but kids will find a way no matter what you have. The glass and the open stairs would be my nightmare. Here is another thought. Definitely not timeless but still beautiful.

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Cleaning glass - horrible. Dogs, kids whatever.

Horizontal won't pass code in my neck of the woods - to my understanding.

You limit a future buyer pool with horizontal railings. These are not things the average home buyer is going to want to change out. Are they common in your area?

You have a 5 yo. Playdates? Presumably your house has location and features that someone with young kids would want - again resale?

I'e had steel cable railings in my current house for 20+ years. Wood handrail and posts. Everyone comments that they love it. All the hw is hidden.

I did them myself with a sailboat rigging shop cutting them and swaging threaded ends on - to custom lengths.

Still look fresh - mostly because they are completely custom and not look like a kit.

Horizontal railings fit with the long / low aesthetic of much modern. Several of the ones cp posted are contemporary, but not modern.

I don't think the horizontal railings will look trendy in a modern house, but you said it was a mix of modern and traditional so I would select something like your 3rd picture. My biggest concern with the horizontal would be that it gathers dust. The second photo is more of a statement to me personally and would get old/dated faster.

just_janni - Do you have a pic you could post?

Horizontal ("ladder effect") guards were forbidden in the 2000 IRC but the provision was removed in the 2001 amendment. Some states or municipalities have reinstated it by amendment so ask the local building inspector.

These IRC guard rules still apply at a stair regardless of the configuration of the elements:

I would not do glass. Is not a "natural" choice if you know what I mean.

On a side note, this is very similar to what may boss (a good architect) has in his home (he designed it), and every year near Christmas employee's party at his home, we talk about code and stairs :)

The stair leads to the home's private areas.

Naf, I love that staircase in the second picture. I would never actually do it, too many kids, but I do love the way it looks!

Trendy. I love that first photo!

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Thanks, janni.

I got quotes back today - horizontal railing is not quite but almost double the simple vertical railng. So my husband is thinking simple vertical looks pretty good after all :-).

So my husband is thinking simple vertical looks pretty good after all :-).

I'm laughing because I had ordered custom shades from a company that custom colors their own patterns in whatever color you want. I had approved a swatch but when the shades came in, the color was definitely a more blue/green shade than what I had approved.

Apparently they decided to match the original fan deck swatch of theirs and not the color I actually approved. I was all set for them to replace it since the color was off. However the store then offered to take off the tax on my whole order (to the tune of almost $600). Between that and the new rug that picked up the same green color, I suddenly loved the new color shades. Funny about that!

And I'm the only one who would ever notice the difference.

just_janni: This is way off topic (I can’t help noticing what I notice!) but, how old are your smoke detectors? I ask because they look like they might be more than 10 years old, thus necessitating replacement.

Great job with the railing, btw!

Sammy - good catch - they are original - and should be replaced. I will order today. THANK YOU - that was kind.

Did you price the first photo that you posted? It's gorgeous.

When it comes to the design and construction of a custom home, there are some features which simply have to be included. If they are costly, then look for savings elsewhere.

In other words, there are simply some visible design features which cannot be sacrificed, without sacrificing the design quality and the resale value.

Only you know if the stair railings are one of these sorts of features...

My pleasure, janni. Mine were - I hate to say - over 20 years old when they were replaced a few years ago (and only then because they, along with carbon monoxide detectors, came as part of a security system we had installed!)

Kristin S what did your final staircase look like? I loved the design of your third option and plan to replicate it in my staircase remodel