New Stairway Overhaul (before & after)

[WoodWhisperer]

Start off by saying I loved building all the parts for the stairway. Installing a pre-finished stairway, not all that fun!  I spent countless hours in the shop building the 20 newel post, milling the landing treads, and sanding all the pieces and parts.
I used a locking 45 corner for the newel post. First time I used the locking 45 on a project. I loved how they worked. It's a lot of set up but worth it when u are running a lot of corners.  I used over 50 kreg jig screws per newel post.

From start to finish, it took me and a helper almost 6 days to remove the old stair parts and install all the new parts. 

All the parts were poplar.  Once I finished building all the parts, I packed them up and took them to our painters shop. He stained everything with an ebony stain and then lacquered.

We removed the iron spindles and reused once everything was replaced. The existing stairs had carpet wrapped around the exposed tread. The whole reason for redoing the stairway was because the customer wanted wood tread caps installed. Then they decided they really didn't like the stain color of the existing stairway. It was only 10 yrs old but whatever!!

Thanks for taking a look!
Sean

 

[nclemmons]

Wow - great transformation and really well done.  I like the new style and color much better.  Thanks for showing all the in-process photos.  Love the lock joints for truing up the pieces.

Looks like you reused the balusters.  Curious, how did you anchor the newell posts? 

neil

 

[WoodWhisperer]

Looks like you reused the balusters.  Curious, how did you anchor the newell posts? 

neil

I forgot to mention, I left the existing newel post in place. The inside dim. of the new newel post was a little wider and slid it right over. Just nailed the new post to the old. Someone down the rd will be remodeling this house and will find two newel posts in one!! Haha

 

[wow]

That is one nice looking rail.

I'm not sure which finish I like better, but as long as the customer is happy...

 

[Woodkrafts]

Good job. Looks really good, givs a completely different feel to the room/house in the after pictures.

50 screws x20 post=1000 screws wow.. Lots of screwing around.

 

[Gene Davis]

Nice, but I gotta ask.

Why the gate?  Dog containment?  Baby containment?  Someone just likes gates?

And who made the design decision for the gate newels to sit on the first step, rather than go down to the floor?

Followup edit:  Ahh, now I get it.  The existing posts were there on the first step, and all your new ones were designed to just slip-fit over existings.  Nice solution for a new look.

 

[Thunderchyld]

Very nice work!  I love the integrated kid/pet gate at the base of the stairs. 

 

[mike_aa]

The thing that impresses me most is that with this one change you have really transformed the look of the house.  What an improvement!  Great idea to keep the existing posts and cover them.  That had to really simplify installation.  Nice job!

Mike A.

 

[WoodWhisperer]

Nice, but I gotta ask.

Why the gate?  Dog containment?  Baby containment?  Someone just likes gates?

And who made the design decision for the gate newels to sit on the first step, rather than go down to the floor?

Followup edit:  Ahh, now I get it.  The existing posts were there on the first step, and all your new ones were designed to just slip-fit over existings.  Nice solution for a new look.

Yeah I would have liked to move the newel post to the front of the step but they were already there. I had enough work to do and that would have meant moving 4 existing post. 
The gate was to keep the customers German Shepard from eating their other yuppie dog! 

 

[WoodWhisperer]

The thing that impresses me most is that with this one change you have really transformed the look of the house.  What an improvement!  Great idea to keep the existing posts and cover them.  That had to really simplify installation.  Nice job!

Mike A.

Thanks Mike!
It did make it a little easier but some were out of level pretty bad so it made it interesting on a couple of them!

Sean

 

[Grasshopper]

I like this.  This is timely as I have been considering trying to just upgrade my newel posts without having to tear everything out and starting over.  Slipping the post over the previous newel is a great idea.  I am also getting ready to make some posts to support my kitchen island with a very similar style.

My question - I assume your rails and stiles are 1" thick milled poplar give or take (If i am wrong, what are the sizes/thickness of the rails and stiles?).  It looks like you attached the rails via pocket screws to the stile which is a 45 lock miter.  My question is what is the center recessed panel made of and how is it attached (and how thick are the center panels)?  In the picture looking down inside the center from the top, i didn't see how the inset panels were attached.

Can you clarify?  Also, if you don't mind, I'd love to know the dimensions and thicknesses of materials you used as the scale looks really good.  Nice job indeed.

 

[WoodWhisperer]

I like this.  This is timely as I have been considering trying to just upgrade my newel posts without having to tear everything out and starting over.  Slipping the post over the previous newel is a great idea.  I am also getting ready to make some posts to support my kitchen island with a very similar style.

My question - I assume your rails and stiles are 1" thick milled poplar give or take (If i am wrong, what are the sizes/thickness of the rails and stiles?).  It looks like you attached the rails via pocket screws to the stile which is a 45 lock miter.  My question is what is the center recessed panel made of and how is it attached (and how thick are the center panels)?  In the picture looking down inside the center from the top, i didn't see how the inset panels were attached.

Can you clarify?  Also, if you don't mind, I'd love to know the dimensions and thicknesses of materials you used as the scale looks really good.  Nice job indeed.

Thanks!
I attached a few drawing to help explain the newel post detail.
Once I assembled each of the four sides but before I glue up all the locking 45 corner is when I rabbited out the back. 1/4" deep to receive 1/4" plywood. I glued and pinned the panel from the back with 5/8" brads.
Hopefully this helps u out!
Let me know if u have anymore questions.
Sean

 

[Grasshopper]

Sean,

You are awesome!  Thanks for posting the pictures (sweet Festool graph paper by the way!).

I will study this and let you know if I have questions.  This is exactly what I needed!  (i just got my CMT lock miter bit and am rearing to go).

 

[WoodWhisperer]

No problem!! The locking 45 is awesome. Good luck setting it up! Make sure u run a lot of test pieces through it just to make sure it spot on.

Sean

 

[tiralie]

Nice job Sean...and I like the idea of slipping the new posts over the old ones.
Tim

 

[Grasshopper]

Sean,

Based on your design, I drew up a post in Sketchup scaled for my project.  I'm pretty excited as the proportions looked perfect.

Do you think your post would be strong enough to support a granite overhang as opposed to being a newel post?  My first project is constructing a couple of posts for my kitchen island, (the two posts will support around a 21" overhang +/-).  Previously, I had considered building a post out of 3/4" plywood (around 3 3/4" wide) and trimming it with 1/2" thick poplar to create a similar effect (it would end up being 5 1/4" wide).  I strongly prefer your design as the lock miters look seamless. 

Just curious if you thought it would support granite vs. being used as a newel post.

 

[WoodWhisperer]

Sean,

Based on your design, I drew up a post in Sketchup scaled for my project.  I'm pretty excited as the proportions looked perfect.

Do you think your post would be strong enough to support a granite overhang as opposed to being a newel post?  My first project is constructing a couple of posts for my kitchen island, (the two posts will support around a 21" overhang +/-).  Previously, I had considered building a post out of 3/4" plywood (around 3 3/4" wide) and trimming it with 1/2" thick poplar to create a similar effect (it would end up being 5 1/4" wide).  I strongly prefer your design as the lock miters look seamless. 

Just curious if you thought it would support granite vs. being used as a newel post.

Yes I think u would be fine. If u are worried about it u could add a solid post (4x4) inside of it. But I think only holding up 21" u should be fine.
Sean

 

[Grasshopper]

Thanks again.  Now to get my lock miter bit setup

 

[tiralie]

Thanks again.  Now to get my lock miter bit setup

Paul Marcel did a nice video on using the Valfor Tools GrooveCenter and 2-Axis Depth Gauge to set up a lock miter bit.



Tim

 

[Grasshopper]

Thanks for sharing that.  I spent over an hour last night and killed a lot of scrap in the process without much success.  I will check out the Paul Marcel method for sure!

Thanks again.  Now to get my lock miter bit setup

Paul Marcel did a nice video on using the Valfor Tools GrooveCenter and 2-Axis Depth Gauge to set up a lock miter bit.
Tim