Newel Posts

From the 2 pics you've posted, unless you have a massive extension.

 

My gaff.

 

Well, unless you go for a total replacement in oak, your best compromise is to cut the newels leaving the bottom square section with the rounded top corners, and painted white along with the rest of the stringer. Then dowel onto the cut off with the oak. The dowel sizes vary. You need an auger bit to make the hole. Then polyurethane glue, clamps and such.

The whole newel base section is integral to the staircase, joined to the stringers and will be fixed to a joist in
the floor. Most stairs will come in sections, with the banisters added to the base newel after the first fix. To get a newel out would probably involve undoing the stair fixing. In which case you might as well replace the whole stair.

But I wouldn't do it with the existing stairs in their current reasonably good state.

 

If you cut into the square section of the newel you will weaken the joint, and run out of material to work with. The staircase is made with the square sections and the rest is added after. If you cut through the bottom of the moulded section, at the rounded corner of the square, you will see the dowel. Or in fact it was part of the moulding and fits into the hole in the square. This can be cleared out or redrilled. Then you drill into the moulding to allow for the dowel, and glue together.

This is the only place you should think of doing it.

There isn't that much to a stair and banisters, and its all held together on itself. The handrail is glued and screwed to the newels, the spindles glued and pinned to the handrail and treads. Its not much really. The end of the handrail again might just be screwed to a wall or half newel or in older buildings cemented into the brick. Under sustained misuse it will eventually weaken and shift about and become wobbly.

 

Retail market leader for stair balustrades (spindles, rails, newels etc) is Richard Burbidge whose website (www.richardburbidge.com) contains detailed instructions on every step needed to replace everything using their system but is pretty well applicable to any one else's too. Their system for the newels is based on lopping off the old one (exactly square!) and then drilling out the stump to accept a spigot (big dowel) that is machined onto the newel top that sits on top of the old stump..... just think of it like a dentist fitting a crown .... but more painful.

I'd echo the majority view expressed above: Don't mess with the newels unless you are serious about it and are really confident of your skills.

By the time you have made any changes to the newels or the base rails that nice looking carpet is going to need replacing so don't forget to budget for that, too.

 

Gonna look a right mish-mash adding oak for example to existing remainders.

Mr. HandyAndy - Really