How to Install a Newel Post Without Wobble

hi I'm Matt Jackson and this is next-level carpentry viewers of this channel have seen some of the steps used in making these custom box new oppos parts but the most outstanding new post in the world is kind of useless if the post wobbles so I decided to do an installation sequence to show viewers how our project like this comes together you'll see how post design a couple of wooden blocks and a piece of ready rod can be used to get a rock rigid remodel railing so if you're curious stick with me to see how it's done [Music] a rock Richard remodeled really using ready rod can you spell that without any arse of course th 80 new newel posts are often installed by extending part of the post down into floor framing or a bottom step and screwing it or bolting it into place from underneath there really upgrade for a remodel project can be a real challenge when there's no room for an extended post and no access even if there is and I'll mention here that this process works so well that I use it in new construction where access and anchoring aren't a problem so posts don't need to be installed before sheetrock various newel post anchor kits are available but they're generally pretty hinky if you ask me the engineering degree I entered at MIT is enough to tell me that the leverage from a 36 inch to 42 inch tall newel post that's four inches or so square at the bottom is much too great for little angle brackets and screws to provide enough strength to work with that kind of leverage this method Trump's fastening a threaded metal plate to the floor with screws to accept the threaded rod too in my humble opinion when it came time to design and plan this new glass railing system I knew I'd need to pull a rabbit out of my hat to get acceptable results my hat was empty but Jared ahlstrom an excellent carpenter and good friend let me want to his by telling me about this ready rod method I was already planning on using hollow box Newell's so only a little adjustment to provide the shoulder to support a large nut and washer was necessary the key to making this whole process work is having six to eight inches of solid wood directly under the center of the post to drive the 5/8 inch threaded rod into the beauty of the method is that no access from below is required although it can be used if available I had three Newell stanker and the first one turned out to be the most straightforward I laid out the newel post and marked its exact center after determining I was above a double two by ten floor joist below and wouldn't compromise its structural integrity I made a drilling guide block for a half-inch bit from a scrap of 4x4 and drilled an eighth inch deep hole into the joist another beautiful thing about all this is that the pilot hole should be close to plumb but it doesn't have to be drill press perfect after drilling clean all the chips out of the pilot hole so they don't clog up in the bottom because they're already installed the railing just assemble it for this video I didn't get any tips when I drilled that half inch hole and it went pretty fast using the pilot hole depth plus height from the subfloor to the shoulder in the post I cut a piece of 5/8 inch national coarse thread ready rod calanque using this remarkable Milwaukee dry cut saw since the tip of the rod needs to cut its own threads in the pilot hole here's a tip to give it a special tip first they grind a slight blunt paper point on it so it fits into the pilot hole that baby's getting warm make sure to grind the taper up aways so that's actually removing the first few threads next I switched to an eighth inch cutting wheel using the eighth inch cut off wheel in the angle grinder I make a few slots into this tapered point to help cut the threads as the rods driven into the wood and now the point on the ready rod matches the tip on this self-tapping machine screw and find the equip touch on a wire wheel over the ground edges on this point make a little smoother for better thread cutting and now while the tip is still warm from the grinding in the wire brush I'll give it a coat of this snap stick snap and zipper Lube can make driving it into the wood easier still a pair of Jam nuts on the top end of the rod act as a bullhead and easily handle the torque necessary to drive at home with the rod prep and the hole drilled everything else in place I used the double jamb nut on top of the rod for my socket and get to work driving the ready rod down into the pilot hole because I already installed this railing and I'm just running this rod back down through the hole it spins a lot easier this time put on the initial go-around I used a hefty cheater bar on the ratchet to make the chasis easy a piece of masking tape on the ready rod is my gauge for how deep to screw the rod into the floor once the ready rod is screwed to its proper depth I removed the jam nuts so that the centering block and the squash block can be slipped down over the rod and yes I screwed up the video sequence I should have shown the part where I located attached the centering block on the subfloor before screwing this bottom nut onto the threaded rod with that sequence the block is already in place and the rod has threaded down through the hole with this jamb nut at the bottom the way I did it I get to take this nut honourary off the rod just to place the centering block and I chose to do that instead of unscrewing the all-thread from that hole again so I'll ask for a carpenter's Mulligan as I go through these extra steps to do it right the second time I made a centering block from double-up 3/4 inch plywood that fits snugly into the bottom of the newel post and drilled a 3/4 inch hole through the exact center when I'm doing this in the right sequence I locate the block exactly square with the world and in the exact post location and screw it down before driving the threaded rod into the hole because it's a centering block just a couple screws are all it's required to keep this securely in place and because I'm doing this kind of bass ackwards I now place the washer and run the nut all the way back down and I'm not certain that this extra Jam nut is necessary at the bottom but as easy as it is to install it I thought what the heck it's not going to hurt it can only help on this particular newel post the subfloor is just slightly out of level so that when I torque the newel post down it's leaning a bit to one side to remedy that I'm using these two thin plastic shims and these plastic strips are strapping material from packaging on pallets I keep a selection of different thicknesses on hand for this sort of thing plastic is durable and very dense making for excellent shims so I've got a thin one and a thick one that I've taped together and I'm placing them under this side of the newel post and remember a little shim goes a long way with the geometry involved in the post space and height if you don't believe me just ask a professor know if I've done all my homework correctly the stars are lined up and I hold my mouth right I just slip the post down over the rod and block tap on a squash block which is a duplicate of the centering block in this post design and the washer and crank down on the nut yes once the bolts nut down oppose just fibrates from the tension in the rod that's pretty much flexing the post itself and not an anchor system and it's not getting looser with the movement and I think that qualifies for rock rigid on a freestanding post like this especially when compared to other post anchoring systems like small brackets or plates screwed to the floor another two posts in this installation have structural advantages that this post doesn't this post at the base of the stairs has a small knee wall to help give it sideways support and of course the posts at the top of the landing has railings coming in at angles so those features alone add extra strength so I felt that this freestanding post was a better demonstration of the strength that's gained by this ready rod anchor system if I push hard enough on this post it'll flex but there's no notable movement leaning on the pole in this direction and once the top handrail is installed the only force that will ever influence it is side to side and there's plenty of strength here for that then I just dropped the top section and don't cap on the post to complete the installation I just love it when a plan comes together and with post this rigid I'll sleep soundly not worrying about glass panels breaking from wobbly Newell's I'm doing a written article about the same installation method for pro remodeler magazine and in that magazine there'll be some description and extra information that describes how I set the other two newel posts the one at the bottom of the stairs and the one at the top of the stairs on the landing because those installations were a little less straightforward than the bottom one although the principle itself is the same and when that article gets published I'll include a link to it in the description below this video for anybody that's interested in alternate applications for this installation method so full disclosure here I want to say that I wrote the script for this installation before I shot the video of the process and in hindsight realized that I should have said really rigid instead of roc rigid because as you saw the post can't flex and they vibrate even if they don't wobble they are wooden newel posts after all and not steel pipes filled with concrete set and pavement for traffic bollards and those are rock rigid so using that term here is a bit misleading and I apologize I am convinced though that this is a solid of an installation as can be achieved for this post design and the installation conditions that I'm working with and that's pretty similar to other residential installations a post with a smaller footprint would mean more stress on the plywood and the wood underneath and would tend to flex more than these posts did a big chunky newel with an 8 or 10 inch base that would be a lot closer to rock rigid than the smaller footprint sized ones like this at the end of this video I'll include links to other videos showing how I made various pieces parts of these newel posts plus a couple of related videos that show how I made these demanding sanding blocks for making the double domed newel post caps as well as the mural adjustable corner clamps that I used for gluing up the waist section and the cove sections you follow the Pinterest link on the homepage of the next level carpentry channel you'll see other pictures of this whole custom railing process along with photos from other videos and next level carpentry projects that have been featured on this channel so with all that I hope that you can give this video a thumbs up and consider subscribing to next level carpentry if you haven't already and I always appreciate viewer comments following these videos where it's fun to just exchange work and life history with people from all over the world in some ways that's the heart of what this channel is all about well I guess that is tha T so as always thanks for watching [Music]

Channel: Next Level Carpentry

Views: 299,212

Rating: 4.9623661 out of 5

Keywords: newel, post, railing, baluster, balustrade, box newel, square, stairs, handrail, wobble, loose, custom, how to, tutorial, instruction, carpenter, carpentry, master, professional, solid, rigid, ridgid, wiggle, matt jackson, next level carpentry, protradecraft, fine homebuilding, jlc, ready rod, allthread, all, thread, bolt, lag, stringer

Id: hOaGlDACXLI

Length: 11min 21sec (681 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 23 2018