Thursday, September 17, 2009

Calculate Spindles For Railing

Spindles in banister railings add appeal and safety.


Railings on stairs, balconies or porches in your home help family members to be safe and steady when using stairs or leaning on banisters. Properly spaced for safety, decorative spindles help to create a more stable railing, and add beauty and appeal to the look. To add spindles, you must first determine how many will be needed. Does this Spark an idea?


Instructions


1. Determine how far apart you want to space the spindles. If you decide you want to space your spindles four inches apart, for example, measure the width of your spindle at its widest point. If the spindles are 1 inch wide, the space of the 4-inch gap plus the 1-inch width spindle equals a 5-inch space.


2. Measure the banister's lineal feet inside the banister. Lineal feet are defined as straight line measurements, directly from point A to B. If you have more than one banister in which spindles are being placed, measure each one separately, always from inside the banister railing.


3. Total up the measurements. If, for example, you have measured 12 feet and 6 inches on two different stair or porch railings, convert your measurements to inches my multiplying 12.5 feet times 12 (inches per foot), which equals 150 inches, minus 4, then divide by five. The initial subtraction of 4 inches is because there is a 4-inch distance from the post before spindle placement begins. This calculation allows for 29.20 spindles, so round up for 30 spindles per railing. You will need 60 spindles for both railings. The reason for dividing by five is to allow for 4 inches between each spindle, plus the 1-inch space taken for each spindle.

Tags: each spindle, inside banister, plus 1-inch, want space