How to Install a Stair Handrail on Stairs | This Old House

now the building code establishes a height for these railings to be set at and it goes between 32 and 34 inches off the nose of the tread i'm going to put the level tight against the stair holding it plumb i'm going to mark the top of the stair tread and there's our mark right there okay okay now what i want to do is you've chosen 32 inches i want to mark 32 inches for a height of a okay now what i have to subtract is the thickness of the railing and the height of the bracket okay in order for me to do that i have to measure the railing diagonally because if you see it's going to sit parallel with the stairway okay so that measures three inches diagonally think of this part of the leg of the frame and square under the railing in this part the wall holding it up against the bottom of the railing and against the wall the center of that hole down the bottom is three inches okay so that means i want to subtract a total of six inches off of that 32 and that will establish where i want to mount the bracket on the wall i'm going to simply take this measurement holding the level plumb tight to the stair nose i'm going to mark a dot right on the wall right there okay now i'm going to mark the top just as i did the bottom using my level as a gauge tight against the thread okay leopard i've got a chalk line there right you want to pass me one end now run the line past the dot and i'm going to run past the dot up here you see it there got it okay now i'm going to snap this chalk line this gives us a parallel line with the stair that tells us where we can mount the bracket anywhere on the wall use a stud finder see if we can locate the edge of the first stud there's that side now we'll come back this way the edge is right there so i'm going to drill a hole right in the middle okay okay by using a 7 64th drill bit we're going to drill a pilot hole for the first screw now we're ready for the bracket [Applause] two more pilot holes two more screws and we're on to the top bracket now we're going to mark the length of the railing and we're going to use the molding that's sitting on top of the skirt board right where the miter meets i'm going to mark right here where that miter meets the top and you do the same thing down the bottom okay there's our length now set the saw to 45 slide it down line up my edge and make a cut okay now we're ready to cut the other end i want to change my saw and i want to mark my end transfer that to the outside slide it to you now we're ready to cut another 45. hold it firm now you ready ready [Music] okay by taking the cutoffs from each end and swapping them i now have a nice miter and a great return i'll use a little glue drill a couple of holes and drive a couple of nails and we're in business that's good okay let's see how it fits up here it's perfect how about down there looks good okay now all we have to do with these two screws in this collar put it up underneath the bracket and the railing is mounted great

Channel: This Old House

Views: 2,094,542

Keywords: This Old House, Ask This Old House, DIY, Home Improvement, DIY Ideas, Renovation, Renovation Ideas, How To Fix, How To Install, How To Build, stair, staircase, banister, hand rail, handrail, real estate, install, install handrail, Railing, Build, Rehab, Do it yourself, Flip, Ollie, Skate, Skateboard, Skateboarding, Stairs, Episode, Tom Silva, tom silva this old house, tom silva house, tom silva construction, tom silva tools, tommy silva

Id: wYBYzxsH8bs

Length: 3min 55sec (235 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 07 2012