One of my daughters is thinking about replacing the railings and keeping the balusters on her home.  They are oak but fairly well beat up.

She lives in a 2 1/2 story house so there's lots of them.   The first half flight has steps to the foyer and back to the kitchen, with railings on both sides.  Part on the wall, and part on the risers. The second half-flight likewise has railings on both sides.   On the second floor, there is a return on the right side that goes back about 8 feet.  On the left side, there is a hallway about 10' long, a turn, another 8', then up to the top floor.

Then, they'll need to be finished to match the base piece, the balusters are painted white.

 

Does this sound feasible or are there other options?

It may depend on how the original balusters were installed. I've seen some that were screwed from the bottom...the entire assembly was assembled as a unit, and then fastened into place. Something like that can be removed and the  balusters saved. But I also see some are installed like rough carpentry...and they come apart like rough carpentry. I'd check the price of replacement balusters before starting (along with the other stuff) before starting...then you know what the cost might be in a worse case scenario. That's a lot of parts, you might check Menards. When I redid ours (in another house many years ago) they had a much better selection of parts than their competitors.

Baird Brothers in Canfield, Ohio have a good assortment and do custom work too.

 

https://www.bairdbrothers.com/Stair-Parts-C134.aspx

 

 

The fact that the balusters are paint grade is a plus. Are they square top balusters and are there filler strips between each baluster ? If thats the case then they are likely just tacked or glued in and you should be able to cut the rail in several places and then slowly work the rail off the balusters. Can you post pictures ?

Paul

3 hours ago, HandyDan said:

Baird Brothers in Canfield, Ohio have a good assortment and do custom work too.

 

https://www.bairdbrothers.com/Stair-Parts-C134.aspx

 

 

One of my sisters used to work there.

 

2 hours ago, Masonsailor said:

 Can you post pictures ?

Paul

Yeah, next time I'm there.   Might be a few weeks.