staircase assembly

[drongo]

My mum's house has a staircase which was installed several years ago. It looks like the type of thing you see for sale in DIY shops. It seems very flimsy to me and most of the parts are loose. The spindles rattle about in their moorings and the bannister components are loose. Is this how these things are meant to be? Or should they have been glued in place? How should I go about fixing it? I was thinking of taking out the fillets (these are the only parts that do seem to have been glued in place!) and then tightening up the joints ( I assume it's all bolted together with metal fixings?) But should all the bits be glued together? And if so should I use a PVA type glue?

Drongo

 

[macelvis]

hi there yes your right taking fillete out and fitting new ones in tight with plenty of pva glue will sturdy it up .if rails are loose you might find under the handrail after youve taken the fillet out there should be small bolts underneath to tighten handrail . but watch you dont over tighten them as they have a tendancy to break
alistair

 

[drongo]

I took out some of the fillets. They were glued in hard and some of them split. After that the spindles just fell out. I was surprised how little overlap there was. If they were an eighth shorter they wouldn't stay in.

The spindles in my house are nailed in - but they've been there a hundred years and never budge. (Although a few dozen coats of paint probably helps. And they are twice as thick.) I was wondering whether to nail in my Mum's or glue them but now I'm minded to use glue. I think they might split or break with nails and I think glue will add a bit of strength to the structure.

You're right about the bolts holding the handrail pieces together. They're very loose. Do you need a special tool to tighten them? I plan to glue them as well.

Drongo

 

[noseall]

All items should be glued and pinned.

They all should have been fitted snug too.

Shrinkage apart, it seems as though the lengths of the spindles were cut far too short, as shrinkage is not as severe along the grain as across.

 

[macelvis]

hi
yes if their short it wont be easy to get them tight fitting
you could always take all the spindles out and fit a rip of 3mm ply in the groove gluing and pinning it and then fit your spindles back in with plenty glue around filletes ,you would probably have to thin the fillet down on the peice where u fitted ply , you can pin them in but its not easy and find you start upsetting previous peices youve fitted when you hammer pins in .just make sure you put plenty glue under fillet and bottom of spindle and a good tight fit shouldnt move