Hi,
I'm hoping to have my pine (white painted) newel posts and spindles \ rail replaced with a hard wood alternative, so that they all match.
The easiest way to do this is to replace them, but to do this, the floor has to be pulled up. This is bad news since I've just have the floors replaced (glued down and together). I've also had the place plastered, and I don't want cracks appearing in the stud walls near where the joiner has played tug-of-war with getting the things out.
With hindsight, I should have have the stairs replaced before all the new flooring went down, but I live and learn.
I've found what I think may be an alternative. You can cut the newel posts off at floor level, and drill a hole in the middle of what's left. You then buy a 'pin post' and glue (?) this in. The ground level set-up should look like this:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/goodproducts101/Dsc00457_s.jpg
What I'm unsure of is how this would work at the top of the stairs. If I cut the newel post of at floor level, there does not appear to be all that much left to drill into. See the pictures of my stairs top here:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/goodproducts101/Dsc00454_s.jpg
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/goodproducts101/Dsc00455_s.jpg
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/goodproducts101/Dsc00456_s.jpg
I know from when I had the floor up, there was a thick joist butting up to the last stair, and it would appear that the top newel post has been cut around this.
Can I still cut the newel post off at floor level and drill a hole for the pin post?
Please note that I will not be doing the actual work. I have a joiner who has his own shop in mind. But he seems to want to pull both posts out, and I'm not sure if he is just creating a bigger job for the sake of it, or if it genuinely cannot be done with the pin posts.
Thanks.
I'm hoping to have my pine (white painted) newel posts and spindles \ rail replaced with a hard wood alternative, so that they all match.
The easiest way to do this is to replace them, but to do this, the floor has to be pulled up. This is bad news since I've just have the floors replaced (glued down and together). I've also had the place plastered, and I don't want cracks appearing in the stud walls near where the joiner has played tug-of-war with getting the things out.
With hindsight, I should have have the stairs replaced before all the new flooring went down, but I live and learn.
I've found what I think may be an alternative. You can cut the newel posts off at floor level, and drill a hole in the middle of what's left. You then buy a 'pin post' and glue (?) this in. The ground level set-up should look like this:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/goodproducts101/Dsc00457_s.jpg
What I'm unsure of is how this would work at the top of the stairs. If I cut the newel post of at floor level, there does not appear to be all that much left to drill into. See the pictures of my stairs top here:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/goodproducts101/Dsc00454_s.jpg
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/goodproducts101/Dsc00455_s.jpg
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/goodproducts101/Dsc00456_s.jpg
I know from when I had the floor up, there was a thick joist butting up to the last stair, and it would appear that the top newel post has been cut around this.
Can I still cut the newel post off at floor level and drill a hole for the pin post?
Please note that I will not be doing the actual work. I have a joiner who has his own shop in mind. But he seems to want to pull both posts out, and I'm not sure if he is just creating a bigger job for the sake of it, or if it genuinely cannot be done with the pin posts.
Thanks.