balustrade around a loft opening

[scousespark]

I'm looking for advice regarding fitting a balustrade.

My loft is borded on a suspended floor and is being used as an office.
The hatch is packed out to attach the ladder casing to joists.

I want to fit a balustrade and would like advice on fitting the newel posts.
I can drill down into the packing timbers, but am worried about weakening these.

Is there a method of fixing the newel directly to the flat floor, or a better option?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[xerxes]

If you are constructing a conventional balustrade with newel posts, you need to fix the newel posts to the joists, to their full depth, taking pieces out of the flooring for the newel posts to go through.

Alternatively, you could construct a guard rail as a closed frame with top, side and bottom members and screw the bottom members to the floor.

 

[scousespark]

Thanks for the reply xerxes.

I am looking at a conventional balustrade. I was hoping there was some kind of brackets I could use. My family safety is too important to get this wrong, so I'm going to get a chippy in. My woodwork skills don't go far enough.

Thanks again