A few weeks ago, Ken and I embarked on one of our scarier DIY projects — crafting a wood/glass staircase railing. Sure, we’d never built a sauna before and had certainly never sided our house (and hopefully never will again), but for me, safety-related DIY projects are always scary no matter how much experience you have.
After months of researching, we decided on a solution that would be both durable and beautiful, and then began brushing up on our knowledge of safety regulations, weight restrictions and more. Turns out it was much easier to craft than we’d expected with a few learning curves along the way. Care to see how we fared?
Get your math hat on, friends, because this one’s a killer equation. We spent an afternoon measuring our desired glass size, handrail height (36 is standard), length, wood spacing and more. Many headaches ensued, but we finally reached a verdict and headed out to the hardware store to order our tempered glass in custom sheets (with a milk shake as a treat for using our wicked math skills!).
The custom glass turn-around time was 2-3 weeks, so we prepped and cut our wood as we waited patiently for the tempered glass to arrive. Because we would be insetting the glass, we had to dado the wood with a hand-held router to allow for a seamless finish.
We installed basic foam weather stripping directly to the wood so the glass would be well-padded with little play once it came time to lay the glass inserts into our frame. Worked like a charm, and I was thrilled to have a job that was more my speed!
This step was much easier than I had envisioned, as we were lucky that our wood wasn’t warped in the slightest and each angle necessary was a near perfect 90. Oh, the DIY gods were indeed shining on us that night.
Once our frame was built and metal plates were attached, it was time to prep the floor to install the frame! By this time, our glass had arrived and we were itching to finish.
Bolt the frame to the floor, secure the railing and admire our handiwork! Only one more step to go…
Once our frame was secure, it was time to install the glass panels and attach the handrail to the top of the frame. Everything fit properly and we’re thrilled with how durable the entire piece is!
You know my favorite part about this project? We no longer have a giant hole/death trap in the middle of our floor, so we can bring on the guests! If you’re in the Midwest, come on over! Especially if you’re handy with a miter saw…
Erin Loechner is a freelance writer/blogger whose work has been featured in Glamour, Dwell, Lucky, Nylon, Print and ReadyMade Mag. Follow more of her daily renovation musings at her blog, Design for Mankind.
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