How it is done
Find the framing
If the landing has no blocking, we add it. A newel into drywall is a future service call.
Through-bolt
Hardware into structure. Trim hides the hardware. The hardware does not live in the trim.
Profile and height
Graspable rail, legal guard height, consistent reveal. Decorative and legal are not opposites if you mill it right.
Correct when
Every railing Green Hardwood installs.
Wrong when
A hollow half-newel glued to plaster and called custom.
Questions about this method
Read further
Hardwood stairs and Ontario Building Code
Rise, run, nosing, graspable handrails, and guards — the code details that get beautiful GTA stairs failed at inspection.
Matching hardwood stairs to an existing floor
How to stain new oak or walnut treads so they belong to a 10-year-old GTA hardwood floor instead of fighting it.