Beautiful railing is an integral part of the stairs leading to the porch or second floor of the house. It consists of handrails, entry columns and balusters. Although you can find the models from metal, polyurethane and even glass in the photos or videos of the projects, wood remains the most common material. The advantages of this material are strength, aesthetics and optimal price. However, even wooden balusters can be performed in different styles: you can find both simply decorated and luxurious carved models for the porch.
Types of wooden balusters
Balusters can be classified by their shape and processing method. According to the shape, they can be:
- round;
- square;
- flat.
Round balusters are very popular and universal. They are mounted on the wooden staircase of the house to fence the balcony and decorate the façade or porch. Such balusters can be manufactured both manually and on a lathe. Carved patterns are often applied to the columns as a decoration.
Square balusters are not so common due to the complexity of their manufacture. They are mainly installed as angular poles.
Flat wooden balusters for the porch are typical for the Russian architecture. There are several embodiments of such wooden baluster. All balusters can have the same shape, and the order of their installation on the porch doesn’t matter. In another case, the pattern is created by the formation of voids between the balusters. In the third option of porch, the pattern can be made by consecutive implementation of columns of certain shape. Here it is important to look in the drawings and strictly observe the installation order.
Manufacture of balusters
According to the processing methods, balusters and columns are divided into three groups:
- fine-molded;
- carved;
- milled.
Fine-molded balusters are more popular than the other two. They are usually manufactured on the lathe. To create the carved models, you will need drawings and complex equipment, which makes it possible to get the products with a fanciful ornament. Milled balusters are characterized by the cutting elements, including screws and scythes.
What’s the price of wooden railings? That depends greatly on the sort of wood and the amount of decorative elements. Generously decorated carved wood poles are more expensive than the models with minimum finishing. As for the analogs, wooden balusters compete with the articles from plastic, concrete or metal. To date, the price of the latter remains very high.
How to carry out the work with your own hands?
If you want to make the structure with your own hands, you should opt for the flat wooden racks. To build the balusters for the porch or house, you will need a common plank board. Here is an approximate operation algorithm:
- sketch and drawings;
- workpiece;
- ready balusters.
After finding the appropriate element in the photo or video of the finished interior, you can prepare the sketch on its base. You should carefully transfer the ready drawings to the board and saw them according to the marking. When making it, you should strictly observe the sizes of the future balusters. Now you can use this blank to manufacture the wooden railing elements.
To make all balusters identical, you should have the drawings and check the size of every detail and workpiece.
Cutting the flat wooden elements of railing with your own hands, you should pay special attention to the edges. They must be properly treated with a cutter. Ready wooden article should be coated with varnish. To visualize the whole process, you should watch the video on this topic at the end of the article.
After finishing the manufacture of balusters, you can start mounting the wooden racks with your own hands. For that, you will need: drill, hammer, mill, level, square, roulette and fittings. Bolts and tapping screws are used for attachment of columns to the steps. Handrail is fixed over the railing filled with balusters. To provide a secure fastening, you should use the joiner’s glue, and then additionally fixed with tapping screws.
Wood species used
Hardwoods (such as oak) are used for building the wooden balusters. Balusters made of this material have brown color. Oak is characterized by density and resistance to rot and wear. Its structure allows you to make balusters with small or bent decor.
Larch is less firm than oak. However, it has a high strength and moisture resistance. This material is characterized by red-brown color. Columns and handrails made of larch have a long service life.
Pine is sometimes used for the railings. It has soft wood, which is easy to process. Pine may have light yellow or reddish tone. You should take into account that due to its structure, wood is more difficult to paint than larch steps.
Due to their aesthetic and operating characteristics, it is not surprising that wooden balusters are so widespread. Guided by the photo or video, you can build a simple model with your own hands. Share your ideas on how to decorate the original wooden railings.
