Stair handrail

[LeeST]

Hi guys.

hoping for a bit of direction…..

I have a wall mounted stair handrail in my house (built 1997). The stairs is a U shaped so the handrail is in 5 parts.
The paint job on it was shocking and difficult to sand. So I thought I’d use a heat gun and because I didn’t want loads of mess I decided to remove it.

so far so good, except I split the last piece removing it from the wall.
Try as I might. I can’t find anything even remotely resembling what I have.

it’s like a moulding that’s mounted to another piece of timber to make it stand off the wall.

I’ll quite happy replace the lot with something similar but all I can find is mop and pigs ear. I’d much rather keep it similar to what it is now.

any suggestions?

pics attached

 

[RandomGrinch]

Can you show the split?
The wood may be salvageable?

 

[foxhole]

Looks like it’s a cut down skirting, maybe ogee.

 

[LeeST]

I did contemplate repairing it. Just thought it would be easier to buy all new. Would save me stopping the paint off the rest.
That was until I realised it does t exactly look “off the shelf”

 

[LeeST]

It’s also 29/30mm thick. All across the width Which is around 103mm

 

[LeeST]

Looks like it’s a cut down skirting, maybe ogee.

Didn’t think about skirting boards……

the original skirting was similar to ogee but slightly different. So maybe it was done to match that.

everything in this house is slightly different to anything In a shop

 

[Swwils]

It's repairable.

Everbuild stixall.

 

[RandomGrinch]

It's repairable.

Everbuild stixall.

...or a bit messy, some resin and maybe a reinforcing mesh?
Is this piece in an area that is likely to be grabbed in a fall?

 

[LeeST]

Ok that’s an idea worth trying then.

trouble is the split is at the thinnest point so not sure how much wood is left to actually glue together.

It won’t be grabbed in a fall. The stairs are like a u shape so it’s all a bit awkward anyway.

it’s the piece on the left of this picture that is split

 

[Swwils]

If you do use stixall you will destroy the wall before getting the wood off again. So beware!

 

[LeeST]

I just want to use it to repair the piece that’s damaged then screw to the Batton that needs fixing back to the wall

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Looks like it’s a cut down skirting, maybe ogee.

Not ogee, but torus, but even that isn't 100% right. Technically that's a centre bead, albeit a big one, so the OP's assumption about it being a limited run might be right. It might possibly be dado rail, although I can't recall seeing any of that style. The other possibility is that having run the bull noses on the treads the cutter block was lifted a bit and some planed softwood was run through to produce the moulding. That might explain the rather wide grooves either side of the bead

To repair this I think I'd clean off the backs of the rails thoroughly, with a scraper or sharp plane if needs be, then glue a strip of 3 or 4mm hardwood plywood to the backs using a good quality PU adhesive and piloted and screwed to the backs of the original timbers (every 50 to 60mm in 2 rows) whilst the glue sets. Pilot drill before screwing and you should be able to avoid further splits. Remove all the screws when the glue is fully cured and clean up any squeeze out with a sharp chisel. Trim the edges flush (if required) with a plane.

The damaged area(s) can now be dealt with, either by cutting back and splicing in softwood repair section and shaping to match, or by filling with 2-pack filler and sanding/filing to the required shape. You can actually use the existing moulding to help make up a shaped sanding block (ask if unsure how to do this).

The resulting moulding(s) will now, potentially, be thicker than the original. In the case of a spliced and reshaped repair the plywood only needs to be applied where there is splitting and could be power planed off before reinstallation (after removing yhe screws!). In the case of a 2-pack repair the plywood stays on, will need to be applied to all the pieces, and the mitred ends will also need to be trimmed slightly to make it all fit properly

 

[LeeST]

Thanks all for the advice. I shall attempt a repair…..

sorry for the late reply it’s been a mad weeek