Anybody replace wood balusters with metal ones? (Austin: maintenance, price)

[cBach]

Has anyone on here replaced wood balusters with metal ones? We have kiddos that keep breaking the wood ones, they are so fragile, I was thinking of upgrading to metal as it can't break and looks better.

Any experiences? Recommendations? I had some estimates but they seemed pricey. They wanted to also replace the carpet with wood and some other things that jacked up the cost.

Also, will this raise the value of the home?

[Trainwreck20]

Huh, our wood ones are extremely stout, I can't imagine them breaking, especially considering the abuse the kids (and ourselves) have put them through so far without an issue (almost 15 year worth). Is there any other design issue involved?

[unihills]

Maybe the bulldozer should be an "outside only" toy?

[scm53]

When we built our house, we spec'd metal. Imagine our surprise when we walked in and they were wood! Builder was great about swapping them out. They used the same hand railings. Both bases were on stained wood, but the actual step is carpet (starts about three inches over).

Looks great - have no idea what the effect on value is.

[Trainwreck20]

I would suspect there is little actual monetary value effect on the house, although maybe some appeal for those that like the metal vs. wood. Wood steps can also be considered a negative, especially with younger children that are more likely to slip. You can put a stair runner on the steps, but that can be more maintenance and/or damage the wood.

[Austin97]

we swapped ours out estimates were in the 1200 range to 2500 for about 100 balusters. Here are the things to watch out for

1) the metal is a smaller size than the wood. This means that if your stairs are stained there will be an outline of the wooden baluster on each step. Our guys assured us it would not be a problem but never came back to fix it. Color matching the stain might mean restaining your entire stairs.

2) the metal is smaller than the wood which means they need to have a good way to lock the metal into the bigger size holes. One of ours is loose.

3) make sure the balusters if square are facing a pleasing direction, ours are ok.

4) when installing they couldnt finish in a day. Rather than start at the top and work their way down, they started at the bottom and worked their way up. This meant we had a giant gap on the second floor railing for a few days. This was bad for our 1 year old.

wrought iron is definitely much more sophisticated than the white painted wood we had before.

[malarkey]

Yes, did it. Went from el cheapo white metal balusters & 2x4's for handrails, to super nice metal railing (wrought iron style).

I think it was worth it because the stair case is the first thing you see upon entering my front door.

I used Austin Stairs. It wasn't cheap, but it is gorgeous now.

[cBach]

Any pictures? Also, they wanted to replace the rail and the banisters (the big post looking ones) as well but they seem sturdy and I don't think they need replacing. Shouldn't they just be able to replace the balusters with metal and then fit the existing rail and keep the existing banisters? About the metal being smaller, is it worth it to get the larger metal or to pay for the caps at the bottom to cover up the possible gap that may be stained?

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Huh, our wood ones are extremely stout, I can't imagine them breaking, especially considering the abuse the kids (and ourselves) have put them through so far without an issue (almost 15 year worth). Is there any other design issue involved?

Do you have square ones or those dainty decorative ones like we do? The diameter on the smallest portion of the baluster is probably about 1/4". The square portion is 1"x1", which would have been harder to break. No wonder why people are shifting to solid wood ones as well.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by cBach

Do you have square ones or those dainty decorative ones like we do? The diameter on the smallest portion of the baluster is probably about 1/4". The square portion is 1"x1", which would have been harder to break. No wonder why people are shifting to solid wood ones as well.

I will have to look at them tonight to see how thick they are, but I am pretty confident they are much bigger than 1/4 at the narrowest point.