Building a railing

Building a railing on your own isn't easy. There is a ton of planning and arguing involved. What kind of newel post, how do you fasten it to the floor, nail or screw in the spindles? So many things. We've decided on cheap 1x1 cedar spindles that are now painted. The 4x4 post was about $8, but we'll cover it in 1/2 trim on all four sides...this will cover the brackets securing it to the floor that you can see in the photo below.

The other post has to be much shorter and cut on a 45 degree angle to make allowance for the window. So the railing will go down at a 45 about 18 inches from the wall.

The tops and bottoms of the rail will also be trimmed out, so that you can't see all the cracks, etc. And the spindles are screwed in from the bottom and top...the top is obviously covered in one piece of trim...so you can't see the screws.

And of course, there's less than a 4 inch gap between each spindle...just to make sure no little heads get stuck. Although sometimes being stuck in one spot is a nice thought ;)

Next up, closet doors!