ATF: Bighorn - Stair railing and stair treads

We just purchased a 3685RL. The handrail by the stairs is very loose. It is attached into only 1 wall stud and does not appear to be able to be tightened to support any weight. Any ideas on how to secure this so that one doesn't get hurt when needing to put weight on it?

Also, the stair treads are very weak nearest the exterior wall. They actually give about 1/2" when stepping in that area. What are your suggestions for correcting this?

Both issues have been raised with our dealer and they are unsure how to proceed.

Looking at the floorplan drawing, you may be able to find three vertical studs with a stud finder. One along the front of the pantry cabinet door frame, another in the center of the wall behind the toilet, and another along the bathroom door frame. It might be possible to get at least two secure mountings and use an anchor molly for the third.

For the stair treads, you will either need to pry up the treads or access the underside from the basement. Add some sections of 2x lumber to the stair framing along the outer wall to reinforce the tread mount.

A word of caution on the hand rail. I don't think it's really designed for heavy support, more for stabilizing. If you really need heavy support, you might consider having a stair rail made that mounts to the steps (after they're reinforced) that would take the downward pressure. Putting the existing rail into a shear load condition will probably rip it from the wall.

Thanks for the ideas.
The railing is mounted on the exterior wall side of the stairway. The stud finder is a good idea. Your suggestion triggered an idea to have a cabinet shop create a backing (say 1x4 or 1x6) for the rail that would be long enough to span at least 3 studs, attach the railing to the backing and then the backing to the wall. This should give sufficient area for a strong attachment. Do you foresee any issues with this idea?

varcwx01 said:

Thanks for the ideas.
The railing is mounted on the exterior wall side of the stairway. The stud finder is a good idea. Your suggestion triggered an idea to have a cabinet shop create a backing (say 1x4 or 1x6) for the rail that would be long enough to span at least 3 studs, attach the railing to the backing and then the backing to the wall. This should give sufficient area for a strong attachment. Do you foresee any issues with this idea?

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Using another piece of decorative wood to create a mounting surface is a good idea. A 1x4 is typically 3 1/2" wide, so if you span 3 studs with it and drive two fasteners into each stud, you should be pretty secure. Leave the center clear to mount the rail to it. I didn't know your rail was on the exterior wall since mine is on an inner wall and fairly secure. The framing in the outer wall is aluminum, so you'll need a stud finder capable of locating non-ferrous material.