How to Anchor a Stair Railing

Run a stud finder along the wall you want to anchor the stair railing to. Locate the wall studs near the stairway's top, bottom and center. The top wall stud should be at the start of the stair landing and the bottom wall stud should be next to the first step. Select a wall stud centered between those two wall studs, if necessary.

Hold a railing bracket in a carpenter's square's corner to measure its height. Subtract its height from your desired railing height. For example, if you want to mount your railing at 38 inches and the brackets are 2 3/4 inches long, the height measurement would be 35 1/4 inches.

Measure up the wall, along the bottom wall stud, the height measurement you got in Step 2 and mark that spot. Hold the bracket on the wall, over the wall stud, with the top edge lined up with the mark. Hold a level against the bracket and adjust it so it is straight up and down.

Drill 1/8-inch pilot holes through the bracket's screw holes. Drive the supplied screws through the pilot holes to secure the bracket in place.

Repeat Steps 3 and 4 on the top wall stud and the center wall stud, if necessary. Position the hand rail on the brackets.

Put a supplied collar under the bracket so the flat edges rest on the railing's underside. Drill 1/2-inch-deep 1/8-inch pilot holes through the collar's screw holes. Drive the supplied screws through the pilot holes to anchor the railing to the brackets. Repeat with the remaining collars and brackets.