Need Carpenters Help

[David Justice]

I am putting down wood floors in the upstairs of my house and I want to refinish the rail and bottom plate of the rail that looks over to the first floor (see picture). What is the best way to remove the spindles without damaging the rail or bottom plate? I plan on replacing the spindles with new ones.

Thanks!

 

[chris_goris]

Cant you just cut them and remove them if they're going to be replaced?

 

[Graywolf]

Yep, if you’re replacing them then just cut them in half remove the top half they may be glued and or pinned but a good solid twist and you should be able to remove. The bottom could be installed with double threaded lag bolts, so just unscrew them. If the bolt remains you can use a pair of channel lock pliers to back them out. Or they could be as simple as a dowel with glue, that would involve a twist and a jerk. Maybe one or two jerks, your results may vary. If you want remove the rail, we will need more info to determine how it was installed before giving any advise. Good luck

 

[ssmith]

That type of baluster typically has a small dowel (roughly 1/2” dia and 3/8 long) turned on the bottom that’s inserted in a hole in the bottom rail to secure it. So, after removing them as noted above, you’ll probably have to remove small nails and/or glue from the top and bottom rails. Then you can probably insert the new balusters without removing the top rail if the holes in the top rail are deep enough and sloppy enough to push the balusters up far enough to get the dowel end over and then into the bottom rail.

 

[David Justice]

Thanks guys! I thought about cutting them out, which is the easiest way, but what about installing the new ones? Can I do this with the rail in place, or will I have to remove it?

 

[Craptastic]

Thanks guys! I thought about cutting them out, which is the easiest way, but what about installing the new ones? Can I do this with the rail in place, or will I have to remove it?

Depends on construction.

Had a rail set one time that was simply glued in and placed, and got lucky when I slit them all in half and pulled them. Cut the new ones (much fancier than the old ones) so they just barely fit when pushed down on a harder felt insert in the bottom rail hole. Rounded a little sloppy on the bottom, but pretty much right on for fit for the top of the spindle. Place felt insert, put bottom of spindle in and grunt and groan the top in with glue. After applying rubber bands and blocking at the bottoms to hold up straight for glue setting, mostly fill the bottom hole (with felt in place) with more glue but not enough to quite totally fill the hole. Then after those set use sawdust and glue to finish filling the lower hole for a nicer finish.

It worked well. Just make sure that the bottom rail hole lip is above the bottom of where the spindle rests on the felt so you have some strength there.

 

[HITCH-]

I would just go ahead and remove the bottom rail. It is a short span and you don't have flooring down up against it so you don't need to worry about damaging the floor.

 

[Ecr1]

You can usually over drill the depth on the top rail slightly. That way you can slide the top in far enough to let it slide in the bottom hole. This method works well for changing from wood like you have to metal. I have done several change outs this way. My method after in place is to epoxy them in with two part epoxy from caulking gun.

 

[JimD]

I did what Chuck said except I used construction adhesive to secure them instead of epoxy. I was worried about epoxy running out and it also costs more. Wood spindles would go in the same way - up into top rail then down into bottom plate but would be secured with a bit of wood glue at the bottom and 23 gauge pins top and bottom.