Staircase Railings – Looking After this Important Safety Feature

If you live in an older home, chances are you’ve had to do more than your fair share of repairs over the years. It is essential that you do not neglect your staircase railings when going through this list. Items that appear more urgent or noticeable such as a leaky roof or broken furnace are usually the first repairs to be done. A wobbly railing may seem like an inconvenience, but few homeowners would consider it the urgent repair that they probably should.

Staircase railings are an important safety feature in your home. Small children or elderly or other people with balance issues often require them simply to feel secure walking up and down stairs. But hand railings can literally be a lifesaver to anyone at any age. The smallest of stumbles on a step can leave you grasping for the rail – and when you do, you want to know that the rail is sturdy and will support your weight.

How Do Railings Come Lose in the First Place?

A good hand railing should last you many years, but just like a car, computer or anything else, it wears down with constant use. Children can be especially rough on railings – hanging off or leaning heavily on them or using them as ramps for toy cars or slides for stuffed animals.

Older adults can also cause wear and tear on hand railings if they need to put their full weight one them. Even healthy adults cause some wear. In short, railings ages and start to get wobbly because we use them. Other factors such as moisture can also play a role.

Fixtures can start to come loose and wood can become cracked – all of which means that your hand railing is no longer as safe as it once was.

To Repair or Replace?

Just because a railing has become loose and wobbly doesn’t necessarily mean that it must be replaced. Very often it only requires the tightening of a few screws or other simple repairs to restore the sturdiness that it once had.

If the railing does need to be replaced, you should not delay in doing so. Every day you spend with an unsafe railing in your home is a day that you are taking a risk that someone may have a fall in your home.

If you are replacing your hand railing, you will have a number of options of styles, colours and materials. You may think of it as a chance to do a bit of remodelling and renovation at the same time. Of course, if you’d like a new railing that looks exactly the same as your old railing (but that doesn’t wobble!), that can be arranged as well.

Royal Oak Railing and Stair has been helping families in the Toronto, Mississauga, Burlington, Oakville and Hamilton areas for years, helping to ensure that they have safe stair railings that last. Taking care of a home may sometimes feel like a full time job. We know there are a lot of to-do items on your list – but we encourage you not to neglect your hand railings. They are, after all an important part of your home’s safety.