Best Anchors for Stair Banister to Plaster Wall

    by

    I plan to move my stair banister from one side to the other and the wall that’s going to receive the banister is plaster – which I don’t have a lot of experience with.

    What’s the best anchor to chose for the job? It’s not a high-traffic area per se but we are up and down with the baby so safety is a priority.

    Thanks in advance.

    5 Replies

    1. We’ve found out the hard way: Sink it into the studs if at all possible; heavier people are also more likely to have orthopedic problems and lean heavily on banisters.

      Same advice, btw, for installing grab bars in showers! Do NOT just glue them on!

    2. Assuming stairway is closed (per Bond), I’d combine Bond’s and Steve’s suggestions. Mount a 1×4 board to the wall (x8, times 2 or more till you reach full length of staircase). Securely attach boards to the wall studs (per Bond), routed and stained per Steve. Skip the separate medallions. Then mount the handrail and brackets to the 1×4. Depending on how much you use staircase, and how much you use/lean on handrail, brackets will tend to crack over time and need to be replaced.

    3. A banister has to be a lot more secure than just “not wobbly”. It’s a critical safety device. Picture a 230 pound man slipping on the stairs and putting all his falling weight on one section of banister. That’s at least how strong it needs to be, if only to avoid a lawsuit.

      A banister has to firmly attached into a stud or anchored into masonry.

    4. You can use platic mollys but since they will be located very close together, as the screw holes on the banister brackets are close, they may not hold well and could crack the plaster or pull free. Can you reach any studs? That would be ideal. But, this is what I have done in the past where I am mounting banister on a flimsy drywall wall or on a plaster wall of questionable stability: Cut out wood medallions, one for each banister bracket, making them about 4″x4″ each. I usually put a nice edge on them such as an ogee, but a roundover will work just as well and you can make the roundover w/o a router. Stain it up nice to match the banister and poly or wax. Then mount the medallions where each bracket will go using large plastic anchors and large screws; toss the 1.5″ panhead screws which come with the anchor kit and buy 2″ or longer flat head screws. Counter sink the holes in the medallions and mount them to the wall; the larger size of the medallions will allow you to spread the screws for better strength. Then mount the brackets to the medallions using #8 brass flathead screws about 1″ long.

      Steve
      http://www.thetinkerswagon.com

    5. Is the area that you are moving the banister in built up walls on both sides? You can’t have an open stairway on one side. Assuming that you have walls on both sides and can move the banister there is no anchor that I’d put into the wall that I would expect to hold up over time in plaster and lath. You’re going to have wall studs behind the plaster, the lath is nailed to them. It’s worth finding out exactly where those studs are and screwing through the plaster into them. Even screwing into the studs, you probably should put a backing plate onto the wall to keep the banister braces from compressing/crushing the plaster and becoming wobbly over time.