Top of stairwell banister

5 years ago

Hey all.
Just bought a house and one of the biggest concerns we have at the moment is the banister at the top of the stairs is extremely short! I didn't get exact measurements but you can see in the pictures it's tiny. if I remember correctly it barely comes up to my knees.
We have four kids, two of which(ages 8 & 4) we feel might tumble over or climb on and fall.

Is there anything we might be able to do or add on to to add some height to it?
She was thinking of possibly adding and securing a kind of bookshelf/cubby hole unit to the top of it to make it taller which I don't think is a bad idea.
Butt does anyone have any other suggestions or ideas.
Definitely don't want to have to tear it down and build a new one. But if that's the only option then so be it.

Featured Answer

Marta

5 years ago

Gorgeous space! Maybe a crazy idea, but I would look into the possibility of carefully removing the existing wood railing, building up a solid half-wall out of drywall and placing the wood railing over the top, so that the ensemble had the correct height. That way you could preserve the woodwork while making the stairs safe.

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Comments (18)

armchairshopper
5 years ago
There is no good way to make that meet code. Reconstruction appears to be the most reasonable course of action.
Rachel G
5 years ago
In my opinion that is not worth the safety risk. I would remove it and put in something up to code.
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Alicia, $1000 to come and take a look is a ridiculous price... Around here a licensed engineer will come out and evaluate the situation for around $250 give or take and if you need something in writing it will be a few hundred more, especially for something like this. That said and as evaluation goes, most knowledgeable licensed contractors can tell you if this can be open or not with or without structural modification for the same amount or less. Call a few reputable remodeling companies or a local GC who does remodeling in the area and see what they have to say. Good luck
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stefaniebogles
5 years ago
Maybe have a carpenter take a look...perhaps remove the top rail, add longer spindles, and reattach top rail...Good luck!
tqtqtbw
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
How odd. I'd love to hear the story of why they built it that way. Is there anything else odd about the house?
Zach Proczak
Original Author
5 years ago
@tqtqtbw
there are a few oddities.
A cool one being that this house has a "lift/elevator" in it.
it's not very big... no wider than a mail slot.
but it goes from the first floor to the second floor with a small 1/4 hp motor in the attic where all the pulleys and belts are located.
It's definitely interesting.

picture was meant to be of the floor but you can see the "shaft" on the wall...
kudzu9
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Nicely done...and completely unsafe. The simplest thing to do is leave it in place and have a competent carpenter build an extension on top of it that matches what is there exactly. I'm guessing that a set of spindles and a cap that are a little shorter than the height you have now will get you up to the code requirement (which I believe is a minimum of 36"). If it's stained to match, it would fit in esthetically and not require as much work as tearing out what is there and starting from scratch.
User
5 years ago
Holy cow. I wouldn't let adults, much less children, enter this house until the stair rail was reworked, brought up to a safe height and conformed to code. Ditto the unprotected lift opening. Why in the world didn't you demand these issues be taken care of before you bought the house?
Zach Proczak
Original Author
5 years ago
the people before us had small children as well. we Just want to find some solution to heighten or add security to that rail.

as far as the lift thing goes... nobody, including our inspector, said anything about it. it's inoperable. if anything we're going to patch over whatever opening there might be or hide it.
but nobody is small enough to fit in it... my biggest concern would be toys being stuffed down it -.-
ci_lantro
5 years ago
I suspect the reason why the rail is so low is for the purpose of moving furniture into and out of those rooms close to the rail.

For that reason, I would design whatever replaces it to easy to unbolt & move out of the way.
PRO
HALLETT & Co.
5 years ago
Beautiful woodwork though...
Zach Proczak
Original Author
5 years ago
that's what we thought too. So low to help move furniture upstairs.

n Yes it is beautiful woodwork which is why we'd hate to tear it down
strategery
5 years ago
That's a terrible unsafe railing. Too short, and the flat top is both ungrab-able in emergency and too tempting to climb on. Inspector would fail it for sure. It should be completely redone.
Zach Proczak
Original Author
5 years ago
inspector didn't say a word about the railing.
He pointed out a few other little things around the house but no mention of the railing.
hemina
5 years ago
Have someone check out the dumbwaiter shaft for fire safety while you’re at it. You don’t want something to spread quickly up from the 1st floor.
strategery
5 years ago
OP - Not a home inspector, a proper building inspector for construction who is concerned with code and safety.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
5 years ago
Get a metal fabricator to fabricate and install a wrought iron extension that will bring the rail to 36". It will be more cost effective than wood replacement, incredibly strong, code compliant, match your original door hardware, and preserve the original building fabric.
keekee9
5 years ago
Wow, Cool house! Is this the room with the dumbwaiter/lift? By the looks of the wear on the floor, it sure looks like a lot of foot traffic in and out of there!
Reminds me of my best friend's old house in small town Ohio. I absolutely LOVED that house. There was a warmth to it. As soon as I closed the gate behind me & drove up to the house, it was like a wash of warmth & calm came over me.
The property was formally a dairy farm and the house built in 1896. Around 1900 the home was renovated, made bigger. It had a very quirky staircase. Different from yours but still quirky.

Top of stairwell banister

Marta

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