Handrail Project: Completed

We had Steve, our master carpenter make a very difficult handrail for us 4 years ago when we did the home renovation.  Hawaii has very strict codes for handrails. 

The rails have to be continuous and uninterrupted for the entire length of the stairs. Railings must be placed so that there is at least an inch and a half of space between the wall and the rail to allow for safe gripping, and they should be mounted between 34 and 38 inches above the stairs.  The ends of the railing must also turn back into the wall so clothing cannot snag on the ends.  All this made it a huge project.

Then I read Dianne's blog and realized that it would be a lot safer to have railings on both sides of the stairs.  When I mentioned it to Art, he said we'd have to call Steve to do it.  Then the wheels in his head started to turn.

He studied how Steve had done his railing and began to plan.

We went to Hardware Hawaii at Mapunapuna and bought a 12 foot length of 2x2 and 2x6 fir.  We also went to City Mill and bought eight hard to find 4 1/2 inch bolts.

Art made sure he located every stud on the wall so that the railing could support 200 pounds of weight as required.  He first attached the 2x2 to the wall on which he would be hanging the 2x6 and took precise measurements.
 

He cut a groove on one side of the 2x6 so that there would be an easy to grip hand hold and then used a router to round out all the edges.  Since he didn't have all of Steve's fancy tools, he had to make do with what he had which took more time.

Surprisingly, the fir lumber wasn't all that heavy.  The helper at Mapunapuna was very nice about allowing us to find the best piece of lumber for our project from the large stack that he had to sort through.  I can be so anal.

Here's the hard part.

Art had to puzzle together the end pieces so that they would turn back into the wall.

The top hand hold was glued and bolted to the wall.

And here's the puzzle piece to round out the other end.

Art gave me a small part to do so I could say I helped.

I stuck wood putty into all the bolt holes to make it one smooth surface.

Then there was a lot of sanding to smooth out any rough surfaces.

Then I primed the railing...

and gave it two coats of glossy gray paint.

It took 3 weeks, but I must say Art did a gorgeous job.  The thing is, it looks like it was always there and I have a feeling nobody would ever notice it.

I have to hand it to Art.  When he says he can do something... usually he can.