Almost all modern building codes these days, both residential and commercial, require you to have at least one handrail installed along any staircase that’s made up of three or more steps. I’m not sure how our own home ever passed inspection without any sort of railing going down the steps to the basement, but it did. We didn’t initially worry about this too much until we started to actually use the basement for living space and we quickly realized that a railing would increase the safety of going up and down the stairs all the time.
I installed my own stair handrail on our basement steps in just a few hours and if you’re the least bit handy you can probably install your own handrail as well. You’ll need a drill, a tape measure a few pieces of hardware and a lot of patience to complete this job.
Preparing the Handrail
Measure both the angle and height very carefully for your railing.
First things first: you’ll want to decide on what type and length of handrail to use. Most large hardware stores sell handrails in 12 to 16 foot lengths and that should cover most single story stairs just fine. If you choose to get creative for what you use for your handrail remember that it has to be strong enough to hold up a person’s weight and the width of the railing should fit well in the hand.
For determining your handrail length you’ll want to use a tape measure from the top to the bottom of the stair. Remember, though, that you may want your railing to go past the top or bottom step, so plan accordingly. If you’re going to use a standard wood handrail then you may need to cut the ends at a 45 degree angle to extend it outward.
If you’re using wood then I also suggest sanding it thoroughly with a high grit sandpaper even though it may already feel smooth. You can check out this wood sanding article for more information. Once sanded you probably want to finish it with a stain and polyurethane or several coats of paint before you install your railing. After your railing is installed on the wall it will be much more difficult to work with.
Find the Wall Studs
My basement stairs never had a handrail of any sort installed as far as I could tell. If you are replacing an existing handrail then you’ll want to remove the railing and the brackets from the wall before you really do much measuring. Don’t cover over the holes or clean anything up yet, though. Knowing where the old railing was may be useful.
First you’ll want to go up and down your stair wall looking for wall studs. There are lots of different ways to find wall studs that you can use. If you just removed an old railing you can tap a nail into those existing holes to see if they were attached to studs or not.
Go up and down your stairs several times, putting a small mark on the wall where you find each stud. They may be the standard 16 inches apart but they may also be a little more or less when you’re around the top and bottom of your stairs. If you’re installing a handrail on basement stairs with exposed walls then you can move on to the next step.
Installing Stair Brackets
Now comes a tricky part which may require an assistant or two. You want your railing to run from the top of your stairs to the bottom of your stairs at the same angle as your stairs and at the same height for each step. If your railing is 30 inches from the floor at the top of the stairs and 33 inches from the floor at the bottom of the stairs it will be confusing and a little disorienting for people using your railing. It doesn’t sound like much of a distance, but it could be a real safety hazard.
Most building codes require that the top of the railing be 30 to 33 inches high, so that’s how you’ll want to proceed. You can do this by having an assistant help you hold the railing up against the wall at an agreed upon height. You’ll now want to draw a line on the wall that is in line with the bottom (flat part) of the railing. Holding your railing in place, you may want to have a third person “test” the railing by walking up and down with their hand lightly resting on the railing. Does it feel natural? Does it feel even with the flow of the stairs?
Here’s how the railing attaches to the wall brackets.
Another way to make sure your railing will go up even and straight is to use a protractor to make sure the angle on each stud is the same all the way up and down the stairs.
If so that same person can go along the wall and put a pencil mark on the wall along the bottom of the railing. But this time you want to be sure that the railing mark lines up with the spots where you found a wall stud. You’re going to install stair brackets where these two areas meet.
Again, there’s a little bit of a measuring trick here because the screws for the brackets are much lower than the top of the railing. So if the top of your railing is at the 32 inch mark from the base (or “run”) of a step then you’ll screw for the bracket will probably go at least six inches down, about 26 inches up from the bottom of the stair. Most stair brackets have three screw holes, so the bracket will have to be installed directly on the center of the wall stud to make sure all the screws hit it.
The whole job is much easier if you can have two people hold the railing in place while you move up and down the stairs, marking exactly where the brackets should go.
Once you have the places marked, move as close to the center as possible and install the first bracket. You can drive the screws into the studs with a drill, but don’t overdo it. To make things go smoother you may want to hold the bracket up the wall and drill in small pilot holes. The bottom of the railing should just be touching the top support flange of the bracket.
With your first bracket in place move on to the next one, making sure not to change the angle or height of the railing on either end. You can simply measure the height of the handrail to the floor each time and be sure your assistants keep it steady and equal on both the top and the bottom of the stairs.
Attaching the Railing to the Brackets
Once your brackets are installed securely on the wall you can now attach the railing itself to the brackets. To do this you’ll be using two small screws to drive a metal clamp or strap around the flange end of the bracket. For this you’ll want probably want to drill pilot holes first and then use a screwdriver to tighten the screws into the wood. This will reduce your chance of over tightening your screws and splitting the wood.
The metal straps should be tight and firm and there should be no movement in railing or the bracket once everything is tightened and in place.
Before you attach all the brackets and finish up you’ll want to actually test your railing and walk up and down the stairs a few times with your hand resting lightly on the railing while you descend and ascend the stairs. This testing can alert you to any sort of angle mistakes or height inconsistencies. If everything checks out then you’ll want to tighten each bracket up and down the length of the rail.
Railing Return Ends
After the main part of your stair railing has been installed you can move on to the railing return ends at the top and bottom of the stairs. You can miter the ends or cut them as needed. To attach them you’ll most likely want to use finishing nails and wood glue for good measure. For extra strength you can use small metal brackets on the bottom to hold the pieces together. Be sure recess any nails you use so that they don’t snag or grab hands or clothes of people going up or down your stairs.
You might want to check building codes in your area to find out if you need a railing on both sides of a staircase in some situations. Installing a railing along a flight of stairs only takes a few hours but it’s an incredibly helpful safety feature that really can prevent injuries. About three weeks after installing my railing I actually slipped going down the stairs but I was able to quickly catch myself with the railing.
