New Front Steps & Handrails

When I knew that my summer was going to be full of downtime, I was suddenly scrambling to figure out how to get a few big DIY projects done. Summer is short here, and it’s my last one before putting the house on the market. I was especially worried about wrapping up exterior projects because most of them require heavy lifting.

Installing new front steps and handrails is one of those jobs, and it is something I can’t do by myself right now. Fortunately, my friend Dale has saved the day. He has offered to complete the project while I sit in a chair and tell him what to do. That’s true friendship, because not many people willingly sign up to be micromanaged by someone sitting on a memory foam pillow, sipping lemonade.

Don’t worry; I promise I will be on my best “you’re doing me a favor,” behavior (AKA favor behavior). He can drink lemonade too.

To bring you up to speed, Dale is my long-time running buddy and skilled woodworker friend. He was an integral part of the street-side front porch fiasco, which eventually became one of the makeovers I am the most proud of here at BHH. He has also offered advice and help on many other projects in the last few years..

I use the street-side front porch as an example of projects I completed with Dale’s help because that is where the steps and handrails are falling apart. I always intended to get back to them after the porch makeover, but you know how it goes. Old house triage is a game of whack-a-mole.

Before & Before Photos

When we first moved in, the steps were covered with green indoor/outdoor carpet. I apologize for the small photo. It was 2014. I was doing my best.

About four months later, I pulled off the rug and put some lipstick on the pig.

Despite yearly maintenance, the pressure-treated treads began to decay, and the handrails surrendered to rust. This is what the stairs look like today:

Andy actually just nailed one of the treads back on this morning. Yesterday, It fell off completely. Another tread is split, and the handrails are unsafe and shaky.

The Plan

Dale picked up the wood and fasteners for the new treads a few weeks ago. I went with Cumaru again. I know Cumaru is not a historically accurate choice, but I explained my reason for choosing it when I was working on the porch. It has been five years, and I am still very happy with the decision.

The wood is currently resting on stickers. I learned that term from Dale. Stickering wood is stacking it with small pieces of the same wood between so the air will flow through the boards and prevent warping.

The risers are still in decent shape and we should be able to reuse them. However, the tongue and groove on both sides of the staircase is in bad shape. It looks like it was never primed, and it butts up against the dirt. We’ll replace all of that.

Finally, one side of the porch is still a disaster. I’ll explain in-depth in another post, but the short story is that I changed my mind about what to do here repeatedly. So, nothing got done instead. When in doubt, embrace project paralysis. (I’m kidding. Don’t do that.)

New Handrails

I am not going to reuse the handrails. Unfortunately, the part that holds the fasteners has rusted off. That is why they are so shaky. Each side only has one intact bolt. Also, the upper ends attach to the columns, and that is a bad idea. I plan to get new handrails with newels that attach directly to the treads on both ends, upper and lower.

At first, I thought I wanted wood handrails. However, after a lot of research, I never did find an example of wood handrails that would look appropriate on BHH. Everything I saw looked heavy and out of place. When BHH was built in 1885, it’s unlikely there were railings on this side of the house at all. The porch was not enclosed, and there were no building codes as far as I know.

So, instead of wood, I’m going to go with iron again. Iron feels timeless and also low profile. Metal railings do not scream for attention, which I appreciate, because BHH’s exterior is already a little chaotic.

I am still looking for the perfect design and a local fabricator, but I am sure that I’d like the newel posts to be heftier, and I think a ball on top of each would be super cute.

Dale and I are coordinating a time to complete this project, but I expect it will be in the next few weeks. I’ll update as soon as we get going. And when I say we, I mean Dale because I’ll be sitting in a chair watching. I think I could get used to that.