How to Repair a Loose Newel Post | This Old House
This Old House general contractor Tom Silva shows how to bolster a wobbly post with a single screw. (See below for a shopping list and tools.)
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Shopping for How to Repair a Loose Newel Post:
– brace, made from scrap wood to press post tightly against stair tread
– extra-long, flat-head screw, used to fasten newel post to stair tread
– wood putty, used to conceal screw head
– 150-grit sandpaper, for smoothing the wood putty
– orimer and paint, used to finish area around the puttied screw head
Tools for How to Repair a Loose Newel Post:
– drill/driver, for drilling holes and driving screw
– layout square, used as a drilling guide
– standard-length twist-drill bit, used to start screw-shank clearance hole
– spade bit, for drilling counterbore hole
– extra-long bits, used to bore screw-shank-clearance and screw-pilot holes
– putty knife, used to apply wood putty
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How to Repair a Loose Newel Post | This Old House
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That post was definitely not made by Norm.
Chainsaw.
Very good tip and repair instruction. Please Thank Tom for us!
Gotta love those Headlok screws. The Timberloks too.
I WOULD OF SQUIRTED SOME GLUE THE STAIR TREAD N NEWL POST
Thanks
Any idea how to repair when the newell post is not adjacent to a stair and at the top of the staircase? It stands flush on the floor – would I take the same approach and just try to angle the screw into the floor, or am I better taking apart the newell and pulling it up to see what's going on underneath?
Thank You, this was a big help!
i would have screwed the bottom of the post too for an even stronger fix.
at the very end it was still loose.
oh come on you could do it yourself
Most of this video was ok, but you should of used poplar plugs instead of that putty crap. In the future if you want to tighten or replace, simply crack the plug. Another screw should of been put into the front side of the post, in order to keep the post square and plumb.
We just had a local stair builder remodel our stairs and completely messed up all my materials. He used sure-tite most likely improperly to attache the newel posts on the 2nd floor balcony and with all the weight of the wrought iron panels it is shaking a lot and stamped unsafe by a structural engineer. Do I have to buy new posts and core mount it inside the sub-floor framing by dropping in?
a screw into end-grain like that will never last
Please watch
Are these screws something you can find at lowes?
They are showing how to repair that ripped off cap, while there was totally no need to rip it off other than showing the inside for the camera.
Excellent and to the point. I see lots of people making little arguments about nitpicky things you could have done differently, but at least this gets a person started in the right direction. Plus is concise. Something you rarely find on YouTube.
I think I prefer the Clark Griswold Method. Just break out the chainsaw…
Why would you have to repair a new post?
"Tom this is great" as he shakes it and it still wobbles… Rekt
We all know there's only one way to fix it. With a chainsaw.
he was like tom this is great and the whole thing fell apart lmao.
Why not screw into the stringer
4:43 Tom this is great, it still wiggles.
Those long black still bits. Does anyone know what they are called? I’m in the UK and I’ve been trying to find them for years.
1:22 5 gang box
Why is it my house always has more unique problems with various issues???
Just took another look at my shaky railing….great, posts are turned and sit flush on floor..
You think these guys would have better drills.
https://youtu.be/0IcFNiNDb8E just a little stair humor!
I have only seen about 3 videos with Tom in them. But in all three there were problems. Sad. Gimmie Bob Vila.
Tom is a beast. “This top is nailed on let’s just rip it off”
Here come the keyboard carpenters
"Fixed the newl post"
If AARP is going against Jay Weber, then we know Jay is good. AARP is nothing but a front for the DIMWIT communist party. The demms will stop at nothing to try and get back in control of our lives again.
Should have used 5/8" lag bolts, about 5 on the side and 5 on the front edge.
Lmao, wtf did the 90 degree triangle tool help accomplish? idiot… lol
Uses square to guide drill…still drills donward…
Easy repair. Show us how to tighten an existing loose wobbly round newel post which is mounted in the center of the first tread, no place to secure it except for below.
Tom: ‘I’ve got a work around to fix your pos staircase. ‘
Chevy Chase uses a chain saw to repair his newel posts. LOL
8
drilling from the front into the side grain would have been much better, plus it would have pulled the post into the stair railing and maybe eliminating some the wobbling that was still left at the end of the video
One thing that is recommended when you're screwing in hardwood is to pass the end of the screw in your hair before; you then collect a little tiny bit of body grease from your hair, sufficient to prevent the screw from overheating!
Christmas Vacation
A bit you put in a horses mouth. A drill will do just fine, thank you.
Uses peanut butter to fill screw hole.
Bullshit,that's not strong enough,should squeeze 8n carpenters glue too
Chain saw. Fixed the newel post.
Took cap off top for no reason at all.
At the end he says, this is great before testing the post, then it wobbles, and he lets go right away, and the camera changes scenes. I would say that newell posts appear to be badly engineered for profit, and nearly impossible to make them not wobble.
It still wobbly though.
When everything is made of wood…
Now I want to be a door and railing repiarman
I would have just left that brace board in there indefinitely.
hmm, "I don't want to put a brand new post up, I'll just screw this phooker to the stairs"
Why is it called a Newell post?
Hm.
You need to open tread somehow and reinforce framing of stairs and than use lag bolt. Of course this do not work. It is second I see this guy hack, other is crown molding installation at kitchen.
My buddy Clark did it quicker with a chainsaw
"That will be $500"
I'm a mechanical engineer. I clicked to see what a "newel" is.
Pretty disappointed.
if they ever have to fix that stair tread they are in for a surprise
Does anyone have a simple solution to loose posts? I see it all the time. This video explained a lot, I had thought that most posts were made with a hollow tube and a threaded vertical rod going into the subflooring with a tightening plate at the top and nut just under the cap.
Wouldn't that be nice?simply pop off the cap, use a deep socket to tighten a nut and wallah.
I don’t know, Clark W Griswald did a good job of fixing the Newell Post in Christmas Vacation.
Why not make sure that you are truly saved by Jesus Christ and practice this way. Remorsefully confess with your heart your sins to Jesus Christ who is God and tell Him that you right now are repenting of your sins and you want to be born again of the Spirit from above. Tell Jesus that you are remorsefully sorry for breaking His commandments and that you are begging for forgiveness from Him. Allow His blood from the cross to wash away your sins. After this is done with your heart successfully the Holy Spirit will come to live within you and He will rebuild you from the inside out.
Look for signs that you are saved. Things like spreading the good news from Jesus, getting other people saved, a craving for the word of God, reading the Bible, etc… These things are known as a calling and fruit bearing. If you're not bearing fruit then keep doing it. Sometimes it takes time to get saved. Read Matthew chapter 13 from the King James Bible. God bless!!!!!
I'll take Tom's fix over the video critic's any day of the week.
I thought all you needed was a chainsaw.
I'm sorry, but Clark W Griswold showed me how to fix a newel post more than 30 years ago.
Why did he put the brace in so far up??? The lower it is the less it would be levering the post out of position. I thought best place to put the brace is right down next to where the screw goes in.
Once that screw is in and later you want to remove the post, how do you remove the screw if it has been threaded and there is no grip?
Better than doing it with a chainsaw like Chevy Chase,
You cut it off with a chain saw, obviously.
who knew you could use hair products in construction!
A good long screw works every time
LOVE IT!
I’m a carpenter / joiner here in the UK and I was wondering why ?? You used a masonry drill bit to make your first drill hole into a Wooden Newel Post
Could you please answer !
My solution was easier. Hang a sign that says "Don't Pull On the Newel Post". Done.
lol funny " wow this is great" as the pole wobbles like hell