Staircases have recaptured the imagination of builders, buyers and rehabbers in recent years. What once were drab vertical hallways have become the architectural statements they were in houses built decades ago.
“Staircases have always been a focal point in homes,” says Pat Johnson of Johnson Reconstruction, a Chicago-based firm that specializes in custom millwork and trim.
“And key areas of older home restorations are frequently fireplaces and entry halls that include staircases. It’s those places where you can get the most bang for the buck with the restoration,” adds Johnson. “Staircases are a magnificent piece of work and they’re also very functional.”
And, for the most part, they are maintenance-free. But when repair is needed, “For the most part, most the problems that do come up . . . can be easily handled by the average do-it-yourselfer,” says Jack Philbin, president of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.
What follows is a primer for indoor staircase repair.
Loose, missing balusters
Balusters-the vertical posts that support the handrail-often become loose over the years as a house settles, says Philbin.
Retightening or reattaching the balusters-also known as spindles-can range from a “fairly simple to a fairly complicated job,” adds Philbin, who also owns the Orland Park-based Philbin Construction and Remodeling Co.
“It depends on how the baluster was originally attached to the stairs,” he says.
In the simplest situation, a baluster that’s slightly loose from a handrail can be tightened with wooden wedges or wooden shims, available at home improvement stores.
Coat a wedge with carpenter’s glue and drive it between the top of the baluster and the handrail with a hammer and block of wood. After the glue dries, cut off the exposed edges of the wedge and touch them up with matching stain or paint.
A baluster can also be tightened by driving a screw up through the upper backside of the baluster and into the handrail. Use a drill to start a pilot hole and be careful not to use a screw that is too long.
If a baluster is loose at its bottom end, reattaching it may be a bit more complicated, says Philbin.
Balusters that are doweled, or rounded, are often attached into the tread of a staircase via a dowel rod, which is a small round wood stick. If the dowel rod has been broken and the baluster moves freely across the top of the tread, the baluster needs to be removed and the dowel replaced.
“Start by popping the baluster loose up top from where it attaches to the bottom of the handrail,” says Philbin. “That might entail removing a small nail; or break it free from a glue bond.”
The upper end of the baluster may also be secured to the handrail via fillets-small, flat strips of wood that run between the balusters on the bottom of the handrail. The fillets can be pried out with a pry bar or chiseled out with a chisel to loosen or remove the upper end of the baluster.
Next, pull the bottom of the baluster out of the tread by pulling up on it. “If the dowel rod is broken, drill out the old pieces from the baluster and the tread and replace it with a new one,” says Philbin.
Coat the new dowel rod with glue and insert it into the baluster. Then slide the upper end of the baluster back into place under the handrail. Scoot the lower end of the baluster so that the dowel fits into the tread hole. Then reattach the upper end of the baluster with a finishing nail or screw.
If a baluster is square in design, it may be fitted, or dovetailed, into a slot in the tread and holes in the handrail above. To retighten the baluster, pry off the end trim piece from the outside edge of the tread with a pry bar. The baluster may slide out of its slot or it may need to be chiseled free if it was glued in. It may also be screwed or nailed into the slot.
Clean out any old glue from the slot and reglue and replace the old baluster, stabilizing it with a finishing screw or nail. Sink the head of the screw or nail into the wood and replace the end trim.
Removing a baluster for replacement is a similar task.
A broken doweled, or rounded, baluster can be sawed in half and a pipe wrench can be used to extract the bottom of the baluster from the tread. Then pull down on the top half of the baluster to remove it from the handrail.
To remove a square baluster, again pry off the end trim piece from the outside edge of the tread. Follow the steps listed above.
Then pull down on the baluster to remove it from its slot in the handrail.
There are a couple of ways to replace a broken or missing baluster. The first is to search the local salvage houses for an exact duplicate or similar baluster.
A second alternative is to have a new baluster built or “custom turned” by a stair-building company or a millwork house that specializes in staircases.
“Because the spindles have to be re-created by hand, they will cost about $20 to $50 apiece to create,” Johnson says.
To accurately replace the missing baluster, Johnson recommends removing another baluster of the same size from the staircase. “Figure out how many of each size you need; it’s ideal to bring a sample of each one.”
Loose handrails
If the handrail holding the balusters itself is loose, first determine how it is held down to the newel-the main post at the bottom of the stairs.
Sometimes, handrails are attached via a concealed bolt or nut. By removing the top of the newel, you may be able to locate the fastener, says Johnson.
If you can’t find the original fastener, you can try to tighten the handrail by toenailing or screwing it to the newel. Glued-in wedges may also help tighten the connection.
Handrails are also attached to walls via brackets that may need tightening. Usually the brackets are mounted so that the bracket screws go into the wall studs behind the plaster or drywall. If the screws will not tighten, try longer wood screws or add additional brackets, again mounting them over the wall studs.
Squeaks
Most squeaks occur when loose staircase pieces rub together. There are a number of ways to alleviate squeaks.
The most permanent method is to retighten the pieces of the staircase, preferably from the underside of the staircase.
If you can access the underside, locate the source of the squeak by simply walking up and down on the staircase. If the squeak is coming from the front edge of a step, fabricate two small wooden blocks out of a one-by-two-inch piece of lumber.
From the underside, glue and screw the wooden blocks at the spot where the front of the tread meets the top of the riser.
If the squeak seems to be coming from across the tread or from the riser, it can be eliminated-again from the underside-by attaching metal shelf brackets to the bottom of the tread and the back of the riser.
If the squeak is coming from the front edge of a step and you can’t access the underside, use finishing nails or finishing screws to retighten the tread, driving them into the riser. Philbin recommends finishing screws, which look like a cross between a finishing nail and screw. “If you use a nail, there’s a good probability it’s going to work loose again,” he says.
Pre-drill a hole to guide the finishing screw in and use a screwdriver to drive it in, says Philbin. “Drive the head of the screw below the top of the tread and use a prefinished filler to cover it.”
If the tread can be pried up from the riser a bit, Philbin also suggests filling that gap with wood glue or caulk before securing the pieces with finishing screws.
Wooden wedges or shims can also be used to tighten the gaps between stair pieces if you can’t access the underside. Coat the wedges with glue and then drive them into the gaps with a hammer and block of wood. Cut the exposed edges of the wedges and you’ll also need to use molding-such as quarter round or cove molding-to cover the exposed gap.
