Newel post types, designs, and options for connection to the stairway or for independent support at stairs, ramps, and landings.

Page top photo: my sister, Linda Berman, illustrates a beautiful newel post that unfortunately would not be particularly easy to grasp if one were losing one's balance at this location - in Mexico City.

This article series lists all major building code specifications for stairs, railings, landings, and guardrails - information useful for constructing or inspecting indoor or outdoor stairs, railings, landings, & treads, and for evaluating stairways and railings for safety and proper construction.

Newel Posts for Stairs & Railings, Stair Landings & Guardrails

Here we illustrate options for newel post installations at stairs, ramps, guards and railings.

Definition of newel post: a central or end support post found at the top or bottom of a stairway or access ramp, used to support the handrail and guardrail along those walkways.

In most stair and ramp designs, newel posts are the primary structural element supporting the stair and ramp handrails and guards. Balusters along the stair guard or ramp guard may provide secondary structural support.

Illustration of newel posts adapted from Carson Dunlop Associates, a Toronto home inspection, report writing & education company.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Newel Posts at stairways and ramps are critical structural features for the secure anchoring of the ends of stair railings or guardrails.

Newel posts are more than decorative - they provide a structural anchor for handrails, stair guards, rails and guards along access ramps and often at stair top or bottom landings as well.

The enclosed masonry stair guard being rested upon by the tourists is certainly at adequate height and strength; a graspable handrailing was installed on the opposite side of the stairway.

Photo above: wooden newel posts have been lag-bolted into the brick masonry stairs of this Cape May New Jersey home.

Question: best way to attach a newel post to stairs

2019/03/25 Anonymous said:

[what is ] the best way to install a newel post on a concrete stairs

This Q&A were posted originally

at RAILING CODES & STANDARDS

Reply: newel post installation options: independent, stair top, stair side, integrated into stringer.

Anon:

Newel post set into the ground, or into a concrete landing or floor

First-off, as shown above, a newel post doesn't have to connect to the stair at all: it can be supported independently such as by setting the post base into the ground completely independent of the stairway itself - (outdoors as in our photo from the base of a hiking path up to the Queen Anne Trail in New Zealand).

Newel post connected to stair stringer or floor

Most wags and freeform writers describe using angle brackets to tie a newel post to an existing stair side or to an existing floor.

That might work if the hardware is sufficiently heavy, but having inspected stairs since the 1970's I have to add that I've found a lot of wobbly newels supporting loose handrails and stair guards.

If you're using angle brackets and connecting to concrete stair side or floor choose ones of sufficient strength; drill into the concrete either at a diameter to set an expoxy-set anchor and lag bolt or to accept directly-screwed Tapcons(R).

IMO if you must bolt a newel to existing stairs, connecting to both the floor and the stair side is far more secure than just bolting to the floor alone.

The "best" way to support a newel a post at concrete stairs in my OPINION depends ... as Mark Cramer says.

What is the material of the newel post? What is the floor material?

Our photo below shows a conventional wooden newel post screwed to the supporting stair stringer in a Cape May New Jersey home.

Notice that the upper winding stair steps have no continuous handrail?

Just how we connect a newel post depends on the stage of construction at which are we adding it.

Can I build the post set into the floor slab or is the floor already poured?

Is this a ground floor that I may or may not drill into? Can I set a pin in the concrete to peg a concrete Newel ?

Must we bolt the wood newel post to the side of a solid concrete stair using lead anchors and lag bolts or using Tapcons? Sure but what if the post is concrete or steel. The fastener choice depends on the materials involved.

Is the concrete stair indoors or outside?

Newel Post Set into Concrete Interior Floor

Our photo above illustrates stair handrails, glass stair guards, and metal newel posts that are set into the concrete floor slab of the new science building on the Vassar College campus, Poughkeepsie, NY.

Newel Post Set into Exterior Concrete Landing or Floor

Watch out: Drilling into concrete outdoors can leave holes into which water leaks - in a freezing climate you're going to see frost cracking or even breakaway of the concrete step if your fasteners are not absolutely water tight. There are bolt setting epoxies and sealants that can accomplish that.

Below: a stair newel post set into poured concrete and sealed against water entry.

Newel Post Connected to Stair Stringer

It's also possible to avoid the newel post anchoring question entirely by fabricating a stair stringer that includes connections for newel posts, handrail and stair guard posts and those wire stair guard enclosures that I consider an attractive nuisance for children.

Our photo just above shows that some exterior stair designs like these found at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt estate in Hyde Park NY avoid the newel post anchor question entirely by integrating the newel post with the pre-fabricated stair stringer.

Starting Newel Post Attached to Stair Surface

Many stair designs include installing a starting newel post by connecting its bottom through the stair's structural surface using a pin and hardware such as shown in our illustration above. The pin has to be sufficiently thick in diameter and tall above the floor to support the post without bending or breaking.

Above: special hardware used to attach a stair bottom newel post to the bottom (turn-out type) stair tread, adapted from the step by step stair building guide by Crown Heritage cited in detail below.

Below: a Sure-Tite™ newel post fastener kit sold at Amazon.com illustrates typical hardware used for newel post attachment through a wood stair or floor surface. Similar products use a ring-bolt in place of the nut and washer shown here.

When attaching a newel post at concrete stairs, for newel posts that can not be independently supported in the slab or into the ground or integrated with a stair stringer, I prefer

a newel post that is set into the concrete floor, slab, or walkway as shown in our photo above (on those ice-covered and totally treacherous steps in northern Minnesota)

or

if the newel post has to be pinned to a pre-existing concrete floor and steps, you might use a core-drilled pin set into the concrete under the base of the Newel , over which the newel post is installed.

Above: a cast iron newel post installed at the original observatory on the Vassar College Campus, Poughkeepsie NY.

Newel Post Attached to Finished Floor or at Stair Bottom

Illustrated below is a newel post attachment bracket sold by Home Depot stores and other building suppliers.

Here is Home Depot's description of this newel post bracket:

This Newel Attach Kit from Surewood-LNL is designed to attach one newel post to the finished floor of a balcony or at the bottom of a stair. Made from unfinished Red Oak, it will fit any newel post with a bottom square of 3 in. width.

"L" shaped brackets attach to the newel with anchor to the floor system with wood screws. Decorative moulding then covers the metal brackets and can be finished to match the newel and or flooring. - Home Depot Stores retrieved 2019/03/25 original source: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Stair-Parts-3-in-Unfinished-Red-Oak-Newel-Attachment-Kit-9400R-300-HD00L/202088451

Newel Post Bolted to Stair Stringer

This post is supported by a hidden rod set into the concrete step. This handrail would not meet modern safety standards as it does not extend fully to the bottom of the stairway.

Inadequately supported long stair runs like the exteriour stair shown above leave the stairway shaky and wobbly, possibly contributing to loosening of the structural connectors of the stair and also adding to the slip trip and fall risk for such stairs.

A common shortcut on long stairs, visible in our photo, is the failure to carry an intermediate stair railing newel or post down to the ground. On these stairs the newel was bolted to the stringer but was not secure - it wobbled when grasped.

Carrying an intermediate post to a footing in the ground will add stiffness and support to the stairs but the newel posts at the stair bottom may be either securely bolted to the stringer or they may need to be anchored to piers.

Watch out For Weak Newel Post Connections

Watch out: Above: this stairway is unsafe at any speed: rotted stair stringer means the stairs are collapsing, the newell post is "bolted" to an area of rotted wood, the stair guard is not enclosed, and the handrail is not graspable. The treads are also rotted and when I stepped on the first one to test it, it collapsed.

Newel posts may be connected to a stair riser, stringer, joist, floor or other structural members but the connection must be adequate to provide a secure railing and guard that meets the load requirements of those components.

Newel Post Construction Codes & Specifications

Our photo, taken at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, illustrates a design for continuous handrailing passing over a stairway newel post at a stair landing.

• There are no dimension specifications for newel posts.
• Handrail continuity can be interrupted at the ends of railings by newel posts but posts should not interrupt handrailings along their length of run along a stair or access ramp.
  
• IBC International Building Code 2000 (BOCA, ICBO, SBCCI) Stair & Railing Codes - ICBO 100333.11.4 Handrail or Guardrail Continuity
  
  Handrail-gripping surfaces shall be continuous, without interruption by newel posts or other obstructions.
  
  
• IBC: Handrail-gripping surfaces shall be continuous, without interruption by newel posts or other obstructions.
  
  Exceptions:
  
  1. Handrails within dwelling units are permitted to be interrupted by a newel post at a stair landing.
• IRC International Residential Code R311.7.7.2 Continuity.
  
  Handrails for stairways shall be continuous for the full length of the flight, from a point directly above the top riser of the flight to a point directly above lowest riser of the flight. Handrail ends shall be returned or shall terminate in newel posts or safety terminals.
  
  Exceptions:
  
  1. Handrails shall be permitted to be interrupted by a newel post at the turn.
  
  2. The use of a volute, turnout, starting easing or starting newel shall be allowed over the lowest tread.
• STEP by STEP STAIRWAY CONSTRUCTION [PDF] Crown Heritage PO Box 130, North Wilkesboro, NC 28659 WWW.CROWNHERITAGE.COM 800.745.5931 retrieved 2019/03/25, original source: Lowes Building Supply, http://pdf.lowes.com/installationguides/716781141688_install.pdf
• Visual Interpretation Of The IRC International Residential Code, 2006 STAIR BUILDING CODE [PDF] Stairway Manufacturers Association, SMA, PO BOx 448, Dalton OH 44618, USA, Tel: 877-500-5759 Website: www.stairways.org, retrieved 2019/03/25 original source: https://www.brockportny.org/files/building-code/Stair-construction-visual-2006-Code.pdf
  

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Continue reading at BUILDING CODES for STAIRS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see CODE DETAILS for STAIRS & RAILING, FAQs - questions and answers about stair and railing codes and standards posted originally at this article

Or see these

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