Home Improvement

Handrail DIY: Galvanized Pipe

Our old farmhouse was built around 1900 – when people were apparently very skinny (our stairway is only 33″ wide) and short.  The staircase is so narrow that it left us stumped for the last few years on how to add a handrail to bring it up to code, and more recently to make sure neither of us took a tumble with the baby.

Then I saw this photo on pinterest and was SO inspired:

stairrail

Source: Houzz

Since we live in an older farmhouse, we like to use a combination of aged wood, tile/stone, and different metals in our decor.  It gives the home a rustic feel, and fits with the age and style of our house.  So a metal handrail felt like the perfect choice, and would also sit much closer to the wall than a traditional handrail.  We didn’t have a ton of room to work with here, so this was the perfect choice.  Not to mention, inexpensive!

Materials List:
3 Galvanized Floor Flanges (1″ Diameter)
2 60″ Galvanized Steel Pipes (1″ Diameter)
1 Tee Fitting (1″ Diameter)
2 90 degree Elbow Fitting (1″ Diameter)
3 Pipe Nipple Fitting (1″ Diameter)
2 cans of Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint

The first step is to measure where you want to hang your railing.  To follow our local building code, the rail needed to be mounted 34-38″ above the front edge of the stairs.  We decided on going right in the middle, at 36″.

First, we used some Goo Gone to remove any stickers on the pipes.  Next, it was time to assemble.  We did the attachments first.  Thread your tee fitting into a pipe nipple fitting, which then threads into the floor flange – this will be the middle.  For the two ends, thread your 90 degree elbow fitting into a pipe nipple fitting, then into a floor flange.

Second, screw in your galvanized pipes in between the fittings.  At this point you should take your assembled rail and dry fit it on the wall to make sure that all threads are equidistant from the wall.  We learned that the middle tee fitting needed a little more tightening during this step, so don’t skip it!  Use a pair of channel locks to tighten everything until it looks even.

Third, we wanted an oil-rubbed bronze finish for this handrail, so it was time to paint!  We used rustoleum oil rubbed bronze and did two coats.  It leaves such a nice finish!

This is Kyle.  He also helped on our Pottery Barn Bed project. Hi, Kyle!

Finally, we hung it!  This is a two person job as the entire railing assembled weighs over 20 lbs., so you’ll need some extra hands to stabilize while one person hangs it.  Since we live in an old house with non-standard stud spacing, the flanges didn’t match up exactly to a stud.  To work around this, we had to use drywall anchors at two of the three attachment points.  I was fortunate enough to have a load bearing wall at the bottom of my stairs which guaranteed a solid anchor point.  One end was held there while Kyle went up the stairs to hold the opposite end.

As it worked out, it was the perfect length! One end butted up against the window sill perfectly.  I’m not going to lie, installing a railing on plaster and lath walls took some finesse, but it was worth the effort.

Here is the finished product.  Rustic, eclectic, safe, and perfect for this little old farmhouse.

Smied Watermark

 

 

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25 Comments

  • Reply
    Kyle
    January 18, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    HI!!!

  • Reply
    Adrienne Brady
    January 19, 2017 at 10:53 am

    Looks awesome!!! My dad made some shelves with these galvanized steel pipes – they were super cool. Such an awesome material!!! 🙂

  • Reply
    GRANDMA JANET
    January 19, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    GREAT IDEA!! YOU TWO ARE AMAZING!!! I HEARD NOTHING BUT GLOWING REPORTS ON ISLA FROM YOUR AUNT SHERYL TODAY AS WE HAD BREAKFAST WITH THEM……………………

  • Reply
    GRANDMA JANET
    January 19, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    THEY ALSO MENTIONED WHAT GREAT PARENTS YOU ALREADY WERE BECOMING 🙂

  • Reply
    Jessica
    February 2, 2017 at 1:29 pm

    What a great solution!

  • Reply
    Ola
    February 2, 2017 at 2:36 pm

    What a cool idea! This is great for an industrial look.

  • Reply
    Handrail Fittings
    July 26, 2017 at 3:02 am

    Becky.. i must say the job done on handrail using galvanized pipes is appreciable. Galvanized pipes is one of the suitable material for making such kind of handrails.

  • Reply
    Debbie Perkins
    November 8, 2017 at 8:11 am

    Hi Becky. I found your post while trying to figure out how to “age” pipe. Pfft, I’m going to Lowes! Anyway, I have an upstairs sewing room, over my garage. Hubs threw me out of the house….Really finished the upstairs for himself. I do believe that idea backfired on him. Lmao! I need a handrail. I had been mulling pipe over in my head. This will be perfect, and your instructions were great. Heading to my local hardware store to make my guys weep. Again. They give me grief all the time, hmmm, I just keep them busy and guessing on my next project. Thanks again!

    • Reply
      Becky
      November 8, 2017 at 8:35 am

      You are so welcome! 😊

  • Reply
    Tara
    December 7, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    I was wondering how much this project cost you? Thanks! Love it!

    • Reply
      Becky
      December 8, 2017 at 10:58 am

      Hi Tara – good question! We bought everything at Lowes for a total of $80.77, if you have a 10% off coupon you can get the price even lower. I have links to the exact items we bought in the post – my advice is to order everything online and pick it up in the store. Soooo much easier than searching for the products in store yourself. Thanks for your comment 🙂

  • Reply
    Rob
    January 27, 2018 at 9:49 am

    Hi, what size screws and wall mounts did you use?

  • Reply
    Hollie
    February 6, 2018 at 4:26 pm

    Hi Becky, can you tell me how long the length of this handrail is after completely assembled? My contractor said l need a 12 ft handrail so l want to make sure this will be long enough. Thanks!

  • Reply
    Jane Ava
    May 27, 2018 at 9:26 am

    Hi Becky can i use this method for my basement stairs or is it a safe enough? Please reply!

    • Reply
      Becky
      June 10, 2018 at 4:34 pm

      Hi – without being able to see your space in person, I can’t tell you if this is the best solution for you. Your best bet to ensure safety would be to check your local building codes to be sure this option would be up to code in your area.

  • Reply
    Mike Heher
    June 2, 2018 at 11:57 am

    Was super excited to do this type of handrail in a new house, but just FYI it wouldn’t pass code in CA, which in this case, is dumb. The little bumps of the fittings certainly aren’t inhibiting the safety of the rail, but just FYI, if you’re dealing with an inspector, this is one of those annoying things where I believe the code says otherwise.

    “A handrail shall consist of a lengthwise member mounted directly on a wall or partition by means of brackets attached to the lower side of the handrail so as to offer no obstruction to a smooth surface along the top and both sides of the handrail. The handrail shall be designed to provide a grasping surface to avoid the person using it from falling. The spacing of brackets shall not exceed 8 feet.”

    • Reply
      Becky
      June 10, 2018 at 4:33 pm

      Thanks for your input! It’s always wise to check your local building code before taking on any project – we did this for our state before we started. Hopefully you’ll find a workaround or other solution!

  • Reply
    Roger Rock
    August 9, 2018 at 8:13 am

    This is amazing and nice, I should take note of this. Thank you for sharing this one.

  • Reply
    Rory
    August 13, 2018 at 4:19 pm

    I love the look of this DIY, but I have to caution you against trusting those drywall anchors to support the handrail. Each of those drywall anchors will give you barely 60lbs of shear or pullout strength, whereas construction screws properly embedded into structural timber will give you several hundred pounds each. In a situation where a person might be moving (slip and fall) with some speed, grabbing a handrail will cause the t-fittings to act as a lever, both of which will multiply that ~180lb static load into a much larger dynamic load.

    If you made a solid attachment into the framing of the house and I missed it in the above writeup, my apologies.

  • Reply
    Alissa
    February 12, 2019 at 4:39 pm

    Thank you for this! We bought a 1900 brick farmhouse in WI last year and started the remodel/refurb process. Love this as a railing idea for our stairs as we are going more “industrial farmhouse”! (We just rebuilt them so they aren’t as steep and pitched forward!!)

  • Reply
    Sheila
    November 8, 2019 at 4:24 am

    I love this idea. Wondering how the paint is holding up?

    • Reply
      Becky
      November 17, 2019 at 3:27 pm

      So far, great! And we have a very rowdy toddler who likes to hit it with her toys!

  • Reply
    Stacey
    December 8, 2019 at 7:01 pm

    Hi Becky!

    Just did this for my basement handrail and I LOVE it!! 😍 A friend of mine helped and it turned out awesome! I would post a pic if I could 👍

    • Reply
      Becky
      December 19, 2019 at 12:58 pm

      I’m so glad you’re happy with the results! Ours has held up very well.

  • Reply
    Michelle
    January 22, 2022 at 4:00 pm

    Looks great! We are heading to Lowes using your material list – but thought we should double check the length of your railing. We are looking to build one that is 10 ft long. Thanks!

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