How to Repair a Metal Staircase Rail

Lag bolt 3-inch

By Gary Boutin
 
Supplies and Tools:  
Adjustable crescent wrench 12-inch
Lag bolt 3-inch

For my regular viewers, I am back from a little crisis that happened a few months when I crashed my personal computer. In October 2013, I started working part-time as an associate for The Home Depot. The Home Depot trains their associates very well on the building materials products which I am selling to my customers. My benefit is I learned even more for future blogs

George Morco new home had a very loose metal staircase rail which had no lag bolt on the top and the bottom bolt was pulled out of the metal railing. The lag bolt fell off from from heavy abuse. George had told me that the last renters had a huge family and they rode the metal banister from the top to the bottom. That was the reason why is was staircase was so loose. He called my repair service to repair this little job.

This post shows the three steps to repair the loose metal railing.

Step 1: Fig.1 shows the metal rail has a missing lag bolt near the rug edge and the bottom lag bolt has been pulled out because it was very loose.  

Fig.1 Lag bolts loose

Step 2: Fig.2 shows the metal leg was bent out of shape and needed to be bent back to shape to fit the existing holes.

Fig.2 Staircase rail is bent

Step 3: Fig.3 shows the two lag bolts are in place. The bottom lag bolt was placed using a 12-inch crescent wrench. The wrench needs to be at least 12-inches to get the torque to thread the lag bolt into the stair wood studs. Now the stair rail is secure for the new occupants.

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Note: The DIY Advisor assumes no liability for omissions, errors or the outcome of any jobs. The reader must always exercise reasonable caution, follow current codes and regulations that may apply, and is urged to consult with a licensed contractor if in doubt about any steps on these posts. All names were changed to protect client's privacy. DIY Advisor. Reproduction of site content including photos without permission prohibited. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2011-

Backyard Gate Wall Latch

Fig.1 Latch fell out

By Gary Boutin

Supplies and Tools:
Crescent wrench  
Cordless electric drill and 1/8-inch drill bit
Flat washer 1/4-Inch

Hammer

Lag Bolt 1/4 by 3-1/2 Inch

Lead wall anchors

Wood shims cut in 1/4-inch sections

Last week Emma called from Ontario, California. She stated she saw my Craig-list advertisement on the Internet and wanted to know if I was the repair services. She asked me to come to her home and repair her backyard gate screw latch that fell off the wall.

This post shows the seven steps to repairing a gate screw latch.

Step 1: Above fig.1 shows the custom wall leg gate had a missing lag bolt. 
Step 2: Fig.2 shows a 1-1/2 inch lag screw, not nearly long enough to stay inside the wall and hold the gate leg up for a reasonable length of time. The lag screw needs to go through the stucco, past the stucco wire, one or two layers of 30-pound felt paper and into the wood beam. In this case only the tip of the screw was making contact with the wood behind the stucco. But that little bit lasted 5-years.

Fig.2 Lag screw damage

Step 3: Fig.3 shows the hole inside the wall, noticed that only one piece of the lead anchor was inside the wall and the second part was missing or it might have fallen inside the stucco wall. 
Step 4: Inserted four 3-inch x 1/4-inch (82.55 millimeter) wide wood shims. The shims allows the stucco hole to create pressure against the lead anchor when the new lag bolt would be inserted into the wall hole.

Fig.3 Fill the hole

Step 5: Fig.4 shows the new lag bolt and flat washer that will go into the wall hole to give the lag bolt screw more support.

Fig.4 Replaced hex head lag

Step 6: Fig.5 shows a 3-1/2-inch lag bolt that will give the gate a chance to hold on to its gate leg.

Fig.5 Insert new washer, 
place into stucco

Step 7: Fig.6 shows the edges of the wood shims with a metal hammer to flatten the area, then drilled an 1/8-inch (3.175 millimeter) pilot hole into the wood. Pushing the metal leg over the hole, screw in the lag bolt into the pilot hole in the hole with a crescent wrench. Now the the job was finished and should hold up the gate for quite some time. 

Fig. 6 Tightened 
and job is finished

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• Cookie Alert: European Union laws requires that you know that this blog uses cookies. If you are concerned about this please click here to see how Google uses this information.

Note: The DIY Advisor assumes no liability for omissions, errors or the outcome of any jobs. The reader must always exercise reasonable caution, follow current codes and regulations that may apply, and is urged to consult with a licensed contractor if in doubt about any steps on these posts. All names were changed to protect client's privacy. DIY Advisor. Reproduction of site content including photos without permission prohibited. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2011-