Timber handrail for an outdoor staircase - problems, please help!

**scottybeez** · 25th April 2012, 10:23 AM

Hi all,

I'm in the middle of putting a hand rail around my new deck and I'm having a problem with the angles I need for the rail that goes down the staircase.
I'm using 140x40 merbau placed flat all the way around my deck.
I think I've cut the piece that goes down the stairs at the wrong angle as they simply won't line up.
Cutting one piece at 0 degrees and the other at the angle of the stairs - around 33 to 34 degrees - has made the surface area of the joining face of one rail larger than the other.
It's hard to describe in words so I've included photo's.
You can see the small gaps under the joint at the top of the stairs and above the joint at the bottom of the stairs.

Is there anything I can do to fix this or will I have to buy a new piece of merbau and start again?

**Glennet** · 25th April 2012, 10:46 AM

Anything like that you have to share the angle equally between both pieces so the surface areas are the same.

I'd probably buy a new piece of wood and chalk it up to experience. You can probably cut down the longer lengths to make the shorter ones, and wood always gets used sooner or later anyway.

**ScottLands** · 1st January 2021, 12:29 PM

This is common to have this overage. The only way to avoid it is bisect the angle and cut each piece to match. But another option, especially in your current situation is just to cut the top of the step rail horizontally to match the top of the handrail on the deck. This will essentially move the outside miter out onto step handrail instead of at the joint. Hope that makes sense. Scott

**DJ’s Timber** · 1st January 2021, 09:41 PM

Thread is 8 yrs old, probably all sorted by now.

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