Thanks for the response. I am a “late night” away from finishing my project and I crafted up a different solution than both of the ideas listed above! I’ll quickly explain.

First, I thought about it again and again and opted to NOT use the floor connect concept. Like you said, it was going to be a bit tricky and I had no idea what to do on the angled section… and ultimately I was going for the most simple way to create my rail. One thing I did have going for me was my posts were not completely set. I had them secured with temporary screws but I eventually have to place lag screws in to secure them. So, I suppose the “butting up at the end” maybe could have had a work around. But never the less.. I kept thinking.

I too wanted to drill straight through the posts. However, I don’t have a drill press and/or the know how on how to make those precise angled drillings on the posts on the stairs. Add that to the face that I couldn’t ruin my custom posts via experimentation and that idea went out the window as well.

I was pretty close to using the MDF concept that you illustrate, but I just didn’t want to involve additional wood. I am using a beautiful Douglas fur pine and keeping them natural. Adding MDF boards to the inside of them would have destroyed that look and I would had to of either painted, used real wood (much more money) or not at all. So, I went with the not at all.

Well, I was out of options so far… until I came up with this idea. This is the one I am nearly complete with and it’s going GREAT! I loved it so much I had to share.

Items are:
1. 1/2 Conduit
2. 1/2 Conduit Brackets (double screw)
3. 1/2 Pull Elbows for Conduit with set screws.
4. 5/8 Chrome Caps (found in the hardware section of Lowes, used to cap of the conduit)

What I did was run the conduit along the outside of the posts and fastened them to the posts using the brackets. I found out later that the brackets do NOT snugly hold the 1/2 conduit at all. They can be pulled right out. So, I purchased clear plumbing tube, I think it was 1″ or so… cut it into slices and wrapped it around the conduit so it acted like a rubber washer around the conduit. The bracket was then placed over the conduit (which had the tubing around it) and fastened down. It fit so snug I couldn’t even turn the dang things. I used the pull elbows to wrap the conduit around the posts at the 90 degree corners. I wish there was a way to post photos because that explanation was terrible. If you would like to see some. I can send them.

Let me know and thanks again for the help!

Best,
Matt

I like your idea of the floor connect, but how would it work on the angled pieces? I went through a lot of different ideas as well. Ideally I wanted to just drill holes in the posts and run the conduit straight through for a cleaner look. However, that and some other ideas don’t work because ultimately the conduit butts up to the end post, so there is no starting point. (It is the same problem as trying to run conduit for wiring through a stud wall that is already in place. You end up having splices everywhere.)

Using the floor connect is a metal version of what I did with the MDF mounting blocks. The block holds the conduit and then the block is attached to the post. I cut the conduit to length for the span. For the angled pieces, I cut the ends at an angle so they end up flush to the post. The holes in the MDF are cut at an angle as well. If you cut them straight, the mounting block would have to be larger. I fed all the conduit pieces through the holes in the MDF then attached the MDF with a couple of screws.

As far as tightness, it is probably looser than you may expect. I didn’t really try to make it rigid. Conduit is pretty thin, so it flexes quite a bit. The conduit sort of floats. It is retained by the MDF blocks, so it can’t fall out, but it does rotate and move a bit. I put guerrilla glue on a couple of them to try to stabilize it, and that sort of worked. I suppose I could put in set screws through the MDF, which would have a similar effect. But honestly the fact that it is not tight was never much of an issue for me.

You are not the first to request more pictures. I intend to post more at some point. I wish I had taken more pictures during the construction process, since there is so much interest in this topic. When I have some time I will post some. At present I am in process of a huge remodeling project of my master bath which is consuming most of my DIY energy!

Keep me up to date on your project. I would love to post the results when you are done. And feel free to post or write with any other questions or comments.

Craig, my only confusion is how you were able to install these pieces so everything fit tight. Did you construct the MDF and conduit section before securing it to the posts? Any help, and if you have more pictures, that would be wonderful. Let me know and I can contact you with my e-mail. Thanks!

Conduit is very cheap. It generally comes in 10′ lengths (rather than 8′ like a lot of building supplies). There is actually a fair amount of waste since you cut a span to go between each of the posts. My posts were about 6.5′ apart, leaving several feet left, but not enough for another run. I was able to use some of it at the small landing at the top of my stairs.

The lengths of 3/4″ conduit are about $5 apiece. I needed 10 pieces.

I definitely recommend using a polyurethane sealer to give a protective surface. The coating is pretty durable, but constant touching by hands can really wear it.

Just my $0.02.

Tommy

For a smoother look, you could use aluminum tubing (available in a small metal section at Lowes). It is much more expensive…but not $11K!

I have not found any other sites with DIY info on railings. If you find one, please share it here.