- Graspable oak, maple, and walnut profiles, including farmhouse and contemporary
- Box newels, pin-top newels, and metal newel conversions
- Iron, steel, wood, and cable infill — mixed-material stairs done cleanly
- Wall rails on both sides where the code or a toddler requires them
A railing is a piece of millwork you put your full weight on at 11 p.m. If the newel is toe-nailed into a hollow newel block, it will fail. Green Hardwood through-bolts newels into structure, not into trim.
We mill and install hardwood handrails in the same species as the stair, or we specify a painted newel with a clear-finish oak rail — a combination that reads expensive in Forest Hill and stays wipeable in a family house in Burlington.
Ontario requires a graspable handrail and a guard height that depends on the drop. Decorative 2x6 caps with no graspable profile fail inspection. We will not install them. We will show you three profiles that pass and still match the architecture.
Railing replacements are often paired with hardwood stair retreads. Doing both in one mobilization is cheaper, cleaner, and means one stain formula, not two.
Related GTA work
Oakville estate staircase
Custom walnut staircase, box newels, iron balusters, 32 steps across three floors.
How we do it
The assemblies behind this service, documented step by step.