If your stairs have no railing and you want to construct one for safety reasons, or if you just want to change your existing stair railing to improve your home, then you might want to know how to construct stair rails. This article will give you a step by step procedure for a do-it-yourself stair railing project.

But before you construct a railing for your stairs, you need to know first the reasons why you should do that. As what has been mentioned earlier, stair rails add safety to your stairs. They also provide support for people who are using them. People can hold on to the stair railing for balancing or to keep from falling.

To construct stair railings from scratch, you need to prepare some materials like woods, nails, and other carpentry tools. But if you want to do it fast, then you should get yourself one of those DIY stair rails kit. You can buy them online from http://www.tamko.com/ or http://www.worthingtonmillwork.com/quickrail.html. These kits include all the materials that you will need except tape measure, saw, screwdriver or drill, and a level. If you will use one of these kits, here are the steps for proper installation.

• Measure everything that you need to measure such as the length and the height of the stair rails, the height of the balusters, the spaces between the balusters, and so on.
• Install the post. These are the large beams that will support your stair railing on either end. Cut a square area on the first and last steps of the stairs. Insert the two posts. Secure it firmly with nails or bolts.
• The next step is the preparation of the hand rail. To properly install it and also the balusters, you should measure its angle so that it can be securely attached to the post. The balusters’ angles also depend on the angle created by the hand rail. Get the exact angles.
• Mark the areas where you will cut holes on the steps and on the area under the hand rails for the balusters. Make sure that the spaces in between are equal or your stair railing will look irregular.
• Install the balusters on the steps. Secure them tightly with bolts.
• The next step is the installation of the railing. Since you have already cut holes on the hand rails for the balusters, all you need to do is to lay it on the balusters and posts properly. Make sure that the balusters will be inserted snugly on the holes of the railings. Secure the railing by using bolts.
• Smoothen up any uneven edges and apply a fresh coat of paint or varnish on your railing to improve its appearance.

These are only the basic steps for installing stair railing. If you want to have a special kind of hand rail for your stairs, you might want to improve some of the steps. You should also remember that in constructing hand rails, be very careful, especially if you are using tools like saw, drills, or hammer. If you want to know the detailed steps for constructing hand rails, you should visit this website http://www.ronhazelton.com/archives/howto/stair_railing_handrail.shtm.