C.J. Braden • 3 Minute Read
Quick and Easy Pipe and Wood Handrails
We decided to change out our outdated wood handrail in 2022 when it started to become loose. We knew we didn’t care for the plain style it had, so we used this as an opportunity to update it. It wasn’t until my friend was renovating his mom’s home recently that I thought about how important this project could be, especially for anyone that has children or mature adults living in their home, as stair safety is very important.
This is why I am posting this project now, about a year later. We have tons of projects going on that it simply got lost in the mix. What a great reminder from a friend. He’s even updated his own home’s stair balusters to a modern black metal look within the last year and they turned out great!
Modern staircase idea
People tend to not think about handrails being able to be stylish and functional pieces in a home. Does a basic handrail do the job? Absolutely! Does it have to be unsightly though? No. We created a DIY pipe handrail in our last home out of real pipe for our attic stairs (but we painted the wood backer board white in that project). Now that Amazon seems to have everything, we checked their site out to see if they had a similar handrail that would be less expensive. They did, but of course.
Minnie Pearl modeling our pipe and wood handrail
Knowing it was difficult to install a real, heavy and sturdy pipe handrail into our old plaster walls of our 1800’s home, we decided to use the same wood and pipe rail concept at our Sanibel Island home, which we are fortunate to have still standing after Hurricane Ian hit it in 2022. Read our story about that by clicking here.
Pipe and wood handrails
We first removed the old wood handrail. We saved it so we could donate it or repurpose it somehow. We used painters’ tape to mark where the original handrail was attached (ours was a standard 32”, measured from the step), as we knew this is where the studs were. Getting a handrail into studs is very important.
See Tommy install the wood and pipe handrail via a one minute video on our YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:
Our Sanibel Island home staircase is steep
We then took lots of measurements and ended up needing to combine two stained decorative 1”x 4”x 8’ pieces of wood (using a saw to trim to the size we needed for our particular stairwell) and used 3” wall screws to attach it to the wall. We purchased the wood at Lowe’s.
The second pipe handrail
We purchased the correct size pipe handrail from Amazon (for us this was a 11.4 foot rail) and used a drill to attach it to the wood. We had leftover wood from one of the cuts, so I decided to add it to the opposite wall at the bottom of the staircase. We bought another small matching 3.3 foot handrail and attached it to the wood in the same way. I always seemed to grab onto the opposite wall as I walked up and down or steep staircase, so a second rail made sense.
Pipe handrails coming down the steps
Overall, our pipe and wood handrail came together quickly and it was inexpensive. You need a drill and a saw for this project (besides the wood and handrail) but if you already have those, you can do this for well under $100. A level (we like this one by Kapro) and a measuring tape would also be very helpful. I see this project being great for many households, as stair safety should always be a priority!
Minnie Pearl carefully goes up and down the stairs
If you love this project, we know you’ll love this one too: DIY Pipe Balcony Safety Rail
C.J. (Carolyn) Braden is a regular contributor and editor for Carolyn’s Blooming Creations. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.