Porch Revival: Handrail Repair

Below is a list of materials and tools, as well as a summary of the steps as featured in this Don't Sweat It project.

Materials:

2x2 pine (8-foot lengths; 60 for total of 180 spindles)
12' top rail (6)
12' bottom rail (6)
caulk
wood glue

Tools:

air compressor
nail gun

Steps:

Creating the jig. Since we'll be making several pieces that are all the same, we can save time and steps by building a jig. Start by laying out your pattern (for this project, we're using 4-inch spacing, so we used 4-inch spacer blocks.) Draw out the pattern full scale on a sheet of plywood, then cut spacer blocks and tack them into place along your pattern. In this way you simply need to lay in your spindles and nail your top and bottom rails in place — with no need for repetetive measuring.

Removing the old rails. Carefully remove the old rails, making sure not to damage the columns in the process. We used a reciprocating saw to cut through the old rails for easier removal (figure A).

Cut the top and bottom rails to fit. Measure the top and bottom rails separately, since the columns are tapered. The bottom measurement will be slightly shorter than the top. Cut the ends of the rails to fit the curve of the rounded column.

Set up the jig. Measure the center of each rail and run spindles each way from center. This way, the spacing against the columns will be consistent.

Prime first. Prime all the pieces before you begin, then you can skip a step later. Priming a few bigger pieces is easier than priming a bunch of little ones.

Nail and glue. Nail the spindles thru the bottom and top rails (figure B), gluing at each joint.

Installing the handrails. Install the handrails (figure C) by tacking them into place, then pre-drilling and screwing from underneath to hide the screws.