Loft Railing

[BaileyNo5]

Sounds good. Throw up some build pics.

On your steel balusters, are you talking black gas/water pipe?
If so, consider using conduit. Lighter, cheaper on the pocket book.

Well, I'm trying to decide between the Fortress Gloss Black Steel Baluster and the Pegatha Aluminum Black Baluster.

The Pegatha baluster system has the advantage of connectors that screw to the top rail and bottom plate, making for an easier install.  But they are longer, so I will have to cut them to length.  It's a powder coated black finish, not sure it's the gloss level we want.

The Fortress comes in gloss black, which we want, but I can't find any connectors for it, which means I need to drill holes, which means it will actually be to short to meet code.  It's also more expensive.

Leaning toward the Pegatha at the moment.  This is inside, which means the ....ahem.... interior boss - has jurisdiction.  So gas pipe and conduit are both probably out.  No, they are Definitely Out.  


Oh, and code for the rail height is 34" - 38", and balusters must be spaced so that a 4" ball cannot pass through them.

[Stwood_]

Do these work well for the bottom newel?  

John

That's all I ever used John.

Well, I'm trying to decide between the Fortress Gloss Black Steel Baluster and the Pegatha Aluminum Black Baluster.

The Pegatha baluster system has the advantage of connectors that screw to the top rail and bottom plate, making for an easier install.  But they are longer, so I will have to cut them to length.  It's a powder coated black finish, not sure it's the gloss level we want.

The Fortress comes in gloss black, which we want, but I can't find any connectors for it, which means I need to drill holes, which means it will actually be to short to meet code.  It's also more expensive.

Leaning toward the Pegatha at the moment.  This is inside, which means the ....ahem.... interior boss - has jurisdiction.  So gas pipe and conduit are both probably out.  No, they are Definitely Out.  


Oh, and code for the rail height is 34" - 38", and balusters must be spaced so that a 4" ball cannot pass through them.

Ok. Just thought I'd try and save you a buck or 2.


If your* Fortress* baluster is too short, build up your lower floor rail some (lay a pine board under there) , then you may have to put some trim along the sides.

[jteneyck]

That's all I ever used John.

Thanks.
John

[BaileyNo5]

Here's a sample of the handrail I'll be putting up.  Super simple.  I looked for Douglas Fir handrails online, finally found a place that sold one like this for $31/linear foot.  This one is scrap from some construction grade DF I had laying around.  My cost: $0/linear foot.  There will be a short section where I can actually use this, so I think I just saved some $$.

[Stwood_]

Holy smokes.
  I bought cherry bendable rail for way less than that. Wow.

[jteneyck]

Holy smokes.
  I bought cherry bendable rail for way less than that. Wow.

Oh yeah, DF was $11/BF at my local lumber supplier a couple of months ago.  You can thank the government tariff for that outrageous price.  

John

[BaileyNo5]

Made some progress over the past week or so.  Picked up the rest of the Doug Fir at the lumber yard and went to work.  Made the newel posts from 4x4"x8' posts, putting a simple bevel on the top just like the hand rail.



We applied a wipe-on/off oil base gray stain and a coat of oil base varnish.



Newel posts were attached using Keylock hardware.  This is a simple and surprisingly sturdy way to attach newel posts.  The only issue I had with it were the 4 screws that hold down the plate.  Phillips head, 3-3/4" screws.  The Phillips head just doesn't cut it when you are driving screws this long, even with a pilot hole.  I threw most of them away and used star head construction screws.  Much better.

The rails are attached using Zipbolt Slipfix Railbolts.  This is an ingenious little system to attach the rails to the newel posts, and generally works pretty good.  It's a bit trickier to install, but not to bad.  I had to mess around with it a bit more, and oil the little gears in them, but in the end it worked.

Balusters were 36" Pegatha 3/4" black round aluminum, cut down to 34" and held in place with Pegatha baluster connectors.  This is nice system that is much faster than drilling holes in the plate and rail.

The final product is every bit as sturdy as professionally installed railings I've seen.  Pretty happy with it.  Thanks for the advice - when I started this thread I knew nothing about this topic, and now I've got a nice sturdy railing!

[jteneyck]

That looks very nice.  I'm pleased it's turning out well for you.  

John

[Stwood_]

Yes. Job well done.

On the screws for the keylock plates, I tend to agree that phillips isn't the best there, but I never stripped but one or two. It pays to have the right driver bit. There's many brands, same as the screws we get.
I can walk out to the shop and probably out of 30-40 phillips bits out there, there probably isn't 10 that are alike, and maybe 2-3 that actually fit keylock screws real well.
Those are black coated screws, and may have had too much coating down in the head.
And, on phillips as you probably know, one off spin, and it's toast.