Most of my adult life I've been involved with woodworking of some sort. I have been a remodeling contractor, a furniture builder, and currently am a professional would turner. And for much of the time I've had an eye toward stairways. Not only have I appreciated the challenge of constructing and trimming stairway but I also have an appreciation for what makes a stairway beautiful. Stairs, in many settings, become an architectural focal point of the home. As such, architects, designers, contractors and homeowners should always pay special attention to the design and construction of stairways.

In this first article I would like to talk about some of the basics of stairways. First I'll talk about some of the major stair terms.

Newels: these are the major support columns that the handrails attach to. Typically there is a starter newel at the bottom of the stairs and one at the top of the stairs. There are also intermediate newels at the landings. Additionally there are newels along balconies for support if needed.

Balusters: these are the smaller spindles that attach from the treads to the handrail. Typically there are two or three per tread. Of course, the balusters also support the balcony hand rail and fasten to the floor.

Treads: We've already mentioned treads. Treads, of course, are the steps that you walk on as you climb the stairs.

Handrail: And of course, the handrail is used to support and protect you as you climb the stairs and overlook the balcony.

These are the major stair terms but there are dozens of others. We may get into those in a later article. But first let's discuss two of the main types of stair rail systems.

Post-to-post: a post-to-post stair system is one in which the handrail terminates at each of the newels. Your hand running along the handrail would bump into the top of the newels. These newels have a flat area to attach the handrail to.

Over-the-post: On the other hand, an over-the-post system has a continuous handrail. The handrail runs continuously over the newel post. If you were to let your hand ride along the handrail as you wallked up the stair way you would feel the handrail in your grasps thoughout unlike the post-to-post above. Very elegant, but a bit more challenging to build.