Nothing fancy...just essential. We have had a few falls on our front step over the years, especially as our friends and family get older. So I finally got around to this project. We needed a second railing for our steps as the one that came with the house is on the far side and made inaccessible by the adjacent porch column. So I added an exact copy of it (excluding scroll) to the other side of the steps.
We also have an odd single step on our walkway leading to the door. We have had one friend take a nasty fall here as she wasn't expecting it. I can't get the image of her at 71 years of age doing a face plant on the concrete; it still haunts me. So I also made a second railing here to match the others—more as a visual cue when approaching it that there is a step there. Hopefully this will do the trick.
In one of the pics you see that the original railing has a scroll on it. I actually have a great scroll bender (https://images.app.goo.gl/sFy3B2iSsDcsMiQY7) but it is just slightly too small to handle 1 1/4" x 1/4" flat. So instead I just did a drop bend on my press brake, and will cut off the scroll on the original railing next week and weld on an identical drop bend so everything matches.
Materials:
1 1/4" x 1/4" for top rails
1" x 1/4" for bottom rails
1" x 1/8" wall square tube for posts
1/2" x 1/16" wall square tube for balusters
4" x 1/4" mounting brackets, 1/2" holes punched on ironworker and secured with 2 3/4" x 3/8" concrete wedge anchors. I know some people love Tapcons for these, but I don't use them in any application that wiggles. I've never used that fancy epoxy either—but I hear it works great and really should try it one day. I always oversize bracket holes so I have some play. Plus, I use temporary tacked brackets for markup on the concrete, then re-punch if necessary as you always seem to wander off centre on concrete.
Finish is Tremclad Red Oxide Primer (love that stuff) with two coats black semi-gloss Tremclad metal paint.
We also have an odd single step on our walkway leading to the door. We have had one friend take a nasty fall here as she wasn't expecting it. I can't get the image of her at 71 years of age doing a face plant on the concrete; it still haunts me. So I also made a second railing here to match the others—more as a visual cue when approaching it that there is a step there. Hopefully this will do the trick.
In one of the pics you see that the original railing has a scroll on it. I actually have a great scroll bender (https://images.app.goo.gl/sFy3B2iSsDcsMiQY7) but it is just slightly too small to handle 1 1/4" x 1/4" flat. So instead I just did a drop bend on my press brake, and will cut off the scroll on the original railing next week and weld on an identical drop bend so everything matches.
Materials:
1 1/4" x 1/4" for top rails
1" x 1/4" for bottom rails
1" x 1/8" wall square tube for posts
1/2" x 1/16" wall square tube for balusters
4" x 1/4" mounting brackets, 1/2" holes punched on ironworker and secured with 2 3/4" x 3/8" concrete wedge anchors. I know some people love Tapcons for these, but I don't use them in any application that wiggles. I've never used that fancy epoxy either—but I hear it works great and really should try it one day. I always oversize bracket holes so I have some play. Plus, I use temporary tacked brackets for markup on the concrete, then re-punch if necessary as you always seem to wander off centre on concrete.
Finish is Tremclad Red Oxide Primer (love that stuff) with two coats black semi-gloss Tremclad metal paint.
Last edited:
