How to Replace a Staircase Banister

Disconnect the balusters that lend support to your length of banister, and help to hold it in place. Place a piece of scrap wood against the downstairs side of each baluster right near the top. Strike the wood with your hammer so that the small nails that hold the baluster against the underside of the banister are released. Repeat the process for each baluster until the banister is free except for the posts at both ends. Use your hammer claw and pliers to remove the old nails from each baluster.

Disconnect the banister from the posts. Locate any screws on the underside of the banister at both ends, which may have been toe nailed into the posts at an angle. Use your screw gun to remove these screws. Some banisters have anchor bolts and nuts holding them in place against the posts instead.

Locate the access opening on the underside of the rail, and check for an exposed nut. Use your wrench to loosen and remove the nut and slide the banister off its post. In other cases, a banister may be attached to its posts by a wooden dowel or lag bolt inserted through the side of the rail. If this is the case with your banister, locate the dowel and use your hammer and blunt concrete punch to drive it out of position. Use your ratchet set or screwdriver to remove any lag bolts.

Cut each end of your new banister to fit the angle where it meets the post. Use the old banister as a guide to mark your post, then use your miter box and saw to make the cut. Install the new rail in the same manner as the old.

Replace each baluster in the same location it occupied previously. The angled top ends of the balusters will fit your new banister perfectly. Use your nail gun and small finishing nails to fasten the top end of each baluster to the underside of the handrail.