Installing handrails like these makes your stairway safer.
If you've got a house with a stairway, you can make it much safer if you install a handrail. Without one, just one awkward movement could send you and whatever you're carrying tumbling down the stairs, while potentially getting injured in the process. Putting up a handrail gives you a place to support yourself while going up and down the stairs. In some states, it's a requirement of the building code.
Instructions
Setting Up Your Equipment
1. Place the level on the bottom tread on the stairs, then sit it flush against the riser so that the level is oriented vertically against the wall. Mark the side of the level at the point where the tread intersects with the level using the permanent marker.
2. Place the level on your lap so you can see the permanent marker line on the level. Measure up from the line 32 inches - or the amount specified by your city's building code - using the tape measure and make a second line on the level with the permanent marker.
3. Measure from the top of the handrail to the bottom of the handrail with the tape measure. Take note of this number.
Establishing Mounting Points
4. Place one of the mounting brackets from the handrail kit in the center of a framing square, so that the mounting surface is against one side and the top anchor point for the handrail is on the other side. Look at the measurements on the framing square and find out how far down the lower mounting hole for the bracket sits. Take note of this number.
5. Add the number from section 1, step 3 to the number from section 2, step 1. Subtract this result from 32, then make a mark on the level at that point using the permanent marker. Example: The handrail measures 3 inches high, and the bracket is 3 inches high, so subtract 6 inches from the original mark at 32 inches on the level, making a new mark at 26 inches.
6. Hold the level flat against the wall, and the nose of the stair, and verify that the level is plumb. Make a mark on the wall corresponding to the number you found in the previous step using the pencil. Repeat this process, going up the stairs with your marks.
Mounting the Handrail
7. Position a friend at the bottom of the stairs with the chalk line, then run up the stairs with the other half. Hold it against the series of marks on the wall that you just made, then snap the chalk line to make one continuous mark up the stairs, indicating where the handrail mounts need to be.
8. Run a stud finder from the bottom of the stairs to the top, parallel to the chalk line. Mark a vertical line on the wall with the pencil every time the stud finder indicates there is a stud present, marking each end of the stud.
9. Drill pilot holes the same diameter as the wood screws included with the handrail kit using the drill and wood drill bits. Drill a pilot hole for each mounting bracket included in the kit for your handrail. Then install the mounting brackets onto the wall, making sure the tops are level, using the wood screws and the drill.
10. Hold the handrail up against the mounting brackets. Install the handrail to the mounting brackets using the drill and wood screws.
Tags: install, handrail, mounting brackets, permanent marker, chalk line, stairs with, wood screws, against wall, bottom stairs, building code
