A builder in the Washington DC area was creating a custom contemporary home. It had 2 flights of stairs that required custom stair railings. When the initial budget design conversation was initiated the custom railing design was very minimalistic. It included ½” round vertical pickets, 2 ¼” caprail, 1 ½” X ½” bar channel and 1 ½” square posts. As we got deeper into the design conversation, the custom railing design shifted even more towards a modern, minimalistic design. This included ½” round vertical pickets that are drilled directly into the tread. It also had the caprail be a rectilinear style with 2X1 with rounded edges.
Also, for this stair railing, the client wanted a modern ascending radius in both stairs. This is opposed to the traditional starting volute design. On the main floor, the ascending curve on the modern railing was a graceful curve that spanned 3 stair treads. These 3 steps did a complete wrap around which was a perfect tie in for the modern ascending curve.
We designed this rail with a modern caprail in a 2” X 1” configuration, designing the ½” round vertical pickets to be drilled directly into the treads and the floor.
In creating this custom modern railing there were 2 significant challenges. One was the graceful ascending curve. The other challenge was the fact that there was no top channel to hide the welds for the top of the round railing pickets. So, this project required exposed welds. If we welded with a mig welder a lot of clean clean up would be necessary. So, we experimented with welding tig and found that this method really produced a much more visually pleasing joint. It also required minimal to no clean up.
Then, we powder-coated this modern railing. Next, the install team spend days doing the tedious work of epoxying each individual railing picket into the floor and treads. Now, this modern home in Washington DC area boasts a modern and minimalistic railing for all its guests to enjoy for years to come.
