Hi all
I have a one year old kid, and I want to prevent her from falling through the railing above the stairs. Now the railing has a rather simple design: vertical square poles with a distance of 1 meter between each other and in-between horizontal bars. All parts are made of pine wood. The gap between the horizontal bars is too big, so I want to add more bars above and beneath the existing ones.
My questions regards the mounting options. In the existing railing, the vertical poles are about 5cm (2″) thick, and the bars are about 2.5cm (1″) thick. The bars are mounted blindly in the middle of the poles (I suppose with dowels or tenon). What options do I have to add more bars, and to mount them so clean and neat like the existing bar, or as close as possible – dismantling the railing is not an option.
Thanks for any idea you might have.
Mousy
Replies
Consider the Kreg jig. You can buy pre-made plugs to fill the screw holes. If the bannister is painted, then it is very easy. If it is stained, you can get plugs of the same wood as the bannister.
Thanks for the idea dherzig.
mousy
Since this is presumably a temporary condition, why not just erect a temporary barrier?
How far apart are the horizontal bars? I believe the current standard is that a sphere 4" in diameter must not pass through.
-Steve
What about something like this instead:
http://www.lifefence.com/product.asp?intProdID=3100
or a net/mesh perhaps?
Mousy,
If I'm understanding you correctly, you have square/rectangular openings that the baby can slip through? I'd do one of two things: make smaller squares/rectangles that could fit between the openings or make larger panels with screening and attach temporarily.
Typical building rules say that the spacing of the vertical bars should be four inches or less to avoid children getting their head stuck or even fall through. They WILL try.
The other rule (or rule of thumb) is to NOT have horizontal members in such a place because your one year old will start climbing anything with steps (including those horizontal bars) in six to twelve months. You might consider some arrangement to avoid this.
Andy
Carya thanks for the info but, about the rules - I don't live in the US, and I do not know the rules here, but anyway the spacing is about 6". And about the horizontal bars, I did not think of that, but I do not own the house, and the landlord agreed that I add some bars to the railing, I do not think he will change all the railing. But anyway the railing is so made that it will be very hard for her to climb, I hope :-(
mousy
Hi Mousy,
Going against the 'woodworking' topic of this forum, had you considered plexiglass panels? Not terribly expensive, you can fasten them with a few screws or clamps, the kid can't climb it, and is easy to remove when the kid is older.--------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
I don't live in the US either. Those rules apply here in Ontario and probably most places and for a good reason. I noticed that most of my son would fit through older stairway railings (at another house) that were about six inches apart when he was that age. Just want you to be warned. I like the suggestion of placing something like plexi in front of the railings. A little surprised the landlord is not worried about her liability though. Andy
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