How to Build Banisters for Stairs for an Old House

Make the banister’s top and bottom posts by cutting either two 4-by-4-inch or two 6-by-6-inch wood posts to roughly 40 inches in length. Hold the first post against the support on the staircase’s side, known as the stringer, at the top of the stairs where the banister begins. Let the wood post’s bottom 4 inches sit below the level of the step against the stringer.

Use a one-half inch drill bit and make four holes through the stringer into the wood post. Make the holes in a square pattern, roughly an inch in from the edges. Drill roughly 2 inches deep into the post. Driving 4-inch bolts through the stringers into the post secure the post.

Move to the bottom of the stairs. Hold the second post against the bottom stair as with the top stringer. Drill into the post and attach the post to the stairs with bolts.

Count the stairs and cut down two 2-by-2-inch wood posts to 38 inches in height for each stair. Secure two posts on the stringer next to each stair with screws, so that 2 inches of each post’s bottom extends beneath the step and the posts are spaced evenly on each stair.

Measure from the top post you installed to the bottom post. If you would like the banister extend slightly past the posts at each end, add 2 to 4 inches to the measured length. Cut a 2-by-4-inch board to this length.

Hold the 2-by-4-inch board at an angle, so that one end of the board sits against the top post’s corner and the other end sits against the bottom post’s corner. Trace a line across each post where the wood board passes it. Cut off the tops of each post at this angle.

Lay the 2-by-4-inch wood board on top of the posts. Drive a screw through the board into the top of every post to secure it. Stain the wood the same color as the other wood features of the old house.