Stairway to the third guest bedroom

There’s a lot of work to be done here. The stairs leading to the third floor require handrails before we can even think of having guests stay up there. The existing safety barrier is awful. I looks like we live in a barn.

Without any hesitation, the ugly barrier was removed.

All of the wood was reused. I had some 2x12’s that were leftover from the downstairs remodel. I cut those into stiles using a bandsaw. The sharp edges were rounded with a router. The cross braces were also cut into stiles. I used some recycled 5x5’s (not 4x4’s) for the upper rail posts. Any screws holes were hidden with plugs.

The whole thing will get a coat of primer and white paint. Up next…the upper rail installation, but first...

Also pictured is a piece of hinoki that was given to us from a farmer near Hasama. He gave us many hinoki logs that I’ve used for the legs on my work benches, supports for a wood shed, along with several other things. I must be nearing the end of the remodel because this is the last log. I’ve saved it for 5 years just for this project. It will be used as the post for the base of the stair handrail.