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Home Repair Flooring

Help! How to fix stair banister / floor

2 years ago

Recently purchased house, re-did floors and painted. Stair banister (pictured) at top of stairs is loose. Shakes in place. No obvious screws or ways of tightening / securing it. Have a toddler who is just starting to walk and really worried about safety of this. Hesitant to mount a baby gate to something that is itself unstable.

How do I fix something like this? First-time home owner and no idea where to begin.

In addition, the floor ledge just before the first step seems slightly loose. Similar questions of how to fix it ?

Thank you all in advance!

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Comments (8)

kculbers
2 years ago
Find a reputable licensed carpenter, preferably one that does staircases and bannisters; read his reviews, and interview him. Dont “wing it” yourself, especially due to your safety issue.
PRO
G & S Floor Service
2 years ago
If, the nosing is loose, add face-nails and fill the nail holes afterwards. For your loose post, you will need to add a couple of 4" screws through the base. You can drill pocket holes and plug it.
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There is only one way to fix this and that is to fully carpet the upper stairs keeping to the left where my arrow is to show where you step juts out as well as to the right where again my arrow is where again your stair juts to the right. Follow these lines to the bottom which is centered between your posts. If the carpet store was out to measure this and do the layout they would have noticed this HOPEFULLY. If you did the measuring and ordering then you are stuck with a partial redo as this is the proper way to carpet these stairs. My image is crude but you get the idea.
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ksc36
2 years ago
Here's a quick diy newel anchor for your post. If the nosing is loose, pry it up as much as possible and get some adhesive under it such as Liquid Nails.
cat_ky
2 years ago
If that were my house, I would hire someone to come in and remove that railing completely and have a half wall put in there (higher than that railing, so kids couldnt get on top of it, or fall over that ledge). Those things would drive me nuts with little kids around, or anyone, who could fall and get against it, or lean against it and fall over the edge.
E B
Original Author
2 years ago
Thanks, everyone. These are helpful. I don't think our DIY skills are up for a project like this where structural safety is involved. So two follow up questions: -

1. Would you recommend a general contractor or a carpenter if we want to repair / re-do the bannister?

2. Any ideas what price / range to expect for something like this?

Thanks again!
millworkman
2 years ago
Good Interior Carpenter / Experienced Handyman "should" be ale to handle that with no issues.
E B
Original Author
2 years ago
Can anyone give me a sense of what a carpenter should charge for fixing this? With and without replacing the pieces? I got a quote and cannot tell if it's way off the mark or not. Thank you!
millworkman
2 years ago
Probably 2 guys for a day, cost of living area dependent probably $1250-1500 ballpark.

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