Balusters in a wooden house — how to choose, varieties

The house with balusters is an unusual building with small architectural forms. They are widely used in the construction of fencing structures and are distinguished by a variety of sizes and shapes.

For the manufacture of balusters, specialized equipment is used, and unusual products are cut out with a jigsaw or manually. How to make from your own hands and install, we will consider further.

Balusters in a wooden house. Varieties of balusters

Balusters have different sizes and shapes. There are flat, square and round supports. The latter are columns of various sizes with a smooth or carved surface. The most popular section of cylindrical products has become from 2.5 to 4 cm. Most square-type supports are produced with the same section. Recesses for decor are applied to the ribs of the side surface. Flat balusters are decorated with through-type ornaments. This type of product is easiest to make with your own hands, and for their manufacture a simple jigsaw and sandpaper are enough to grind the wood.

Depending on the manufacturing method, balusters are distinguished:

• Turned.
• Milled (they are made from solid wood species by means of a milling machine).
• Carved.

Milling and turned products have an elegant design, and they are also the most popular in a wooden house. They are round, square and flat in shape. The latter type of supports is most often used when constructing a fence for a porch, terraces and arbors. Such products are made from plywood or wooden boards. Patterns on flat balusters are cut-through cuts in the form of carved platbands. Balusters made in industrial production are produced in accordance with the requirements of current standards, which determine the classification by grade. By price, balusters are divided into the following classes:

• Prestige.
• Economy plus.

Supports from the second category are of lower quality, as well as a modest design. Most often they buy to equip summer cottages. Country houses are equipped with prestige class balusters. After milling, they are additionally worked out by hand, and then polished. The price of supports for prestigious balusters is much higher than for the economy option, but high quality ensures great demand.

How to choose

When choosing the type of supports for fences of different designs, you can be guided by many factors. These include the material of manufacture, size, price and appearance. When ordering a fence device for special organizations, structural elements are made of wood of the same species. A similar principle should be followed when installing a fence yourself. You can not put oak balusters, and railings from larch or alder. Purchased products must have the correct geometric shape. They should not have deformation, blue on the surface, voids from the inside and defects. It is better not to buy products made from raw wood or loose knots.

Manufacturing technology

The tree lends itself perfectly to the processing process. Balusters at the second stage in a private house began to be used more and more often. The properties of the material are such that they allow applying baluster blanks of varying complexity and type to the surface. Masters make supports that fit the interior from hi-tech to modern. Work begins with the development of a sketch. After approval, draws up a drawing on which all dimensions will be indicated, including cuts and bends. Before starting the manufacture of supports, the dimensions indicated in the drawing are transferred to the workpiece and marks are affixed. Each of them is assigned a number, and to cut decorative elements, cutters of different shapes are needed.

Supports that are round in shape are made by rotation. According to this principle, the work of a lathe is arranged. They are adapted for processing blanks made from different tree species. In a lathe, the workpiece is fixed in the headstock. It will rotate at a given speed around the axis. The ornament is applied to the surface by means of a rigidly fixed cutter support. The position of the tool is adjusted by means of a movable sled. They can be moved manually or automatically. The type of ornament applied to the surface of the blank will depend on the incisal position.

On a milling cutter, a rotating spindle serves to fix the cutter. A stationary workpiece is fed to it by means of a caliper, and the industry produces universal machines that combine milling and turning functions. They make products with original ornaments. If there is no universal CNC equipment, patterns that are difficult to cut are made on sequentially used milling and turning machines. After applying the ornament to the surface of the products, they undergo final processing. First, grinding is performed by machine or by hand, and then polished. Products prepared by this method can be coated with paint or wood varnish.

Material requirements

Each type of wood has its own technical properties. Ash or oak react differently to temperature changes and humidity in the environment. All tree species can be divided into hard and soft. They have different levels of rigidity, which will affect the installation site, service life and material processing methods. The selection of a certain type of material is determined by the availability, demand for products made from it, as well as the conditions for further operation. Balusters mounted on stairs must be made of the same type of wood as the steps with railings. Similar technical properties of all structural elements are a prerequisite for manufacturing.

This will make it possible to avoid deformation during use. Most often, the supports are made of pine, and the material itself has a beautiful appearance. The price of pine balusters is the lowest. Among the advantages, we highlight the flexibility of processing, low weight, and also resistance to temperature extremes. Balusters made from it can be used for the construction of external enclosing structures. Among the other types of wood used in production, we highlight:

1. Larch is a hard wood species that does not rot, and is also distinguished by high durability and strength. The supports made of larch are installed in external and internal structures.
2. Oak — a tree can be attributed to valuable tree species, and it also has a beautiful texture and high strength. Despite this, oak is quite plastic. It is used most often when creating stairs from the prestige or premium category. Finished oak structures perfectly tolerate environmental influences and have artistic value.
3. Ash — the felling of such a tree species in the Russian Federation is strictly limited, which will add additional value to ash products. The breed is not worse than oak in terms of plasticity, and also has excellent strength. The spectrum of shades of wood from brown to pinkish. Among the disadvantages of ash is its sensitivity to high levels of humidity and the difficulty in polishing.
4. Alder — a tree is perfect for carpentry, and the disadvantage of such alder products is the rapid darkening of the surface when in contact with air. This can be avoided by polishing the supports. Alder balusters are installed only in dry rooms.
5. Beech is an easy-to-work breed that lends itself well to sanding and toning. Beech products are distinguished by their elegance, and the material also makes it possible to apply unusual ornaments to the surface. Due to the high sensitivity to moisture, such products are used only in the arrangement of interior spaces.

The workpieces used for the manufacture of stairs with balusters in the house must be with a moisture content of no more than 14%. They should be free of dirt, cracks larger than 0.1 cm, dead knots, chips and deformation. Most manufacturing companies make blanks from spliced ​​dry material. It completely lacks knots, which significantly improves the aesthetic appearance of finished products.

Manufacturing of flat balusters

Flat-type supports are easiest to do with your own hands. The production does not require complex equipment, and skillfully made supports have a beautiful appearance.

They are able to decorate any type of interior.

1. To begin with, it is worth preparing all the tools and materials necessary for balusters — paper, jigsaw, scissors, marker, ruler, sandpaper or grinder, plywood or dry boards.
2. After that, a sketch should be developed for the future support, for which the full size of the contour of the patterns and the product is applied to the paper. After that, according to the dimensions printed on the paper, a support template is cut out.
3. Next, the stencil is applied to the workpiece, the contours of the future product are applied to it and the supports are cut out with a jigsaw.
4. When everything is ready, the surface of the products is processed. To do this, use a grinder or sandpaper.
5. To increase the service life of products, their surface must be treated with an antiseptic. After drying, the supports are treated with wood paint and varnish, which will improve their aesthetic appearance.

And now about fixing methods.

How to attach supports

When choosing fasteners for supporting structures, a variety of factors are taken into account:

• Structural features of the fence.
• The shape and size of products.
• The type of tree.

Professional craftsmen most often use dowels or wooden studs to fix volumetric supports. It is recommended not to make their diameter more than 25% of the diameter of the base of the baluster. This can lead to cracking of the product. According to the requirements of the current SNiP, fences are mounted on stairs with more than 5 steps. The minimum distance between the balusters in the stairs of a private house has become 0.1-0.15 meters. The upper part of the supports is attached to the handrails. The method of fixing the bottom of the balusters will depend on the type of structure. They can be connected with a bowstring or a stringer, with steps or a landing. It is unacceptable to use nails for fastening structural elements. During operation, they loosen quite quickly, which will lead to a loss of strength of the unbalance of the fence. When attaching balusters to a narrow bowstring, a special board with a larger width is placed on it. It will serve as the bottom support of the baluster. Incorrectly mounted and poorly fixed supports make the use of the ladder traumatic. The strongest fastening should be at the support posts, and intermediate supports are installed between them at regular intervals. When fixing the supports to the bowstring, their upper part and base are cut to an angle of inclination, which has a flight of stairs.

Fixation of supports with dowels

The fixing process begins with marking the place for drilling holes for mounting dowels. It is located exactly in the middle of the base of the baluster. The depth of the hole is 50% of the length of the dowel inserted into it. The strength of the fastening of elements in the structure is increased by using wood glue. They fill the hole before installation. Recesses are drilled in 2 steps. You need to start with a hole with a diameter of 0.5 cm, and then gradually expand it, changing drills of different diameters. The dowel should not enter the hole completely. The length of the outer ends of the fastening should be at least 5.6-6 cm. Before installation in the base of the stairs, they are lubricated with an adhesive composition and sprinkled with fine-grained sawdust. This will increase the adhesion strength of structural elements.

Fastening the supports with metal studs

One end of the fastener must be with a screw thread, and the other end with a thread for a nut. The depth of the hole for the stud in the base will depend on the length of the fastener. It most often ranges from 0.1 to 0.2 meters. First, with a drill in the middle of the base, make a recess on the support of 0.1-0.2 cm. After that, start screwing in the mount, and the ends of the studs protruding from the supports are inserted into the through-drilled holes of the steps, and then put on the nut with the washer, which are tightened to the stop.