Cast iron staircase

[bobby spray]

Hello. I would appreciate your thoughts on this staircase. The newel post is a bit wobbly. Its attached to the handrail but sways as its leaned on. The bottom spiggot seems to have failed. Some of the spindles are also wobbly but look to have detached from the handrail. I also would like to remove the multiple layers of paint on the spindles. Is this a DIY job or one for the experts?

 

[Cubist]

A temporary, hopefully, measure would be to have a 'stay' made to anchor the upper section of the newel to the wall behind. The purpose being to prevent, or at least significantly reduce, any further significant movement at the head of the newel. That movement, transmitted through its length, is almost certainly further weakening and destroying whatever fixings or fittings that may be holding the foot in place. That weakness is perhaps also contributing to some of the movement higher up the stairs, and exacerbated by the weight transfer of people navigating the turns, resulting in the observed damage to the connections of some of spindles to the bannister rail.

Recalling some of your prior posts you seem to have some experience of dealing with cast iron fittings and will be aware that while such are strong and durable they can also be extremely delicate and can be easily broken by careless handling. You will also know that repairs to cast iron is far from easy and considerable expertise is needed if there is any need for welding of the metal to effect any repair.

For the repair, personally, I would be thinking of disassembling and removing the entire bannister rail and all the spindles and newels to thoroughly assess their physical condition and determine any needed repairs and would take that opportunity to also have the old paint and underlying rust professionally removed. This would also allow the tread of exhaust stair to be examined to determine whether corresponding repairs are also needed. However, this approaches a number of significant risks. The first being that it is not clear whether that newel post is constructed of solid metal or of tubing. If tube, there is a danger that it may fracture at or near the mount (spigot) beneath that first tread. The next would concern the possibility of breaking some of the bannister mounting brackets of the spindles and/or breaking off the heads of the screws to leave their bodies in the wood of the rail. Then of course there is the possibility of damage to the stir treads and also, perhaps more likely, the bannister rail itself.

Or, would you prefer a more tactical and less extensive solution if one were possible?

 

[Cubist]

I came back to this with the thought I had forgotten something but was side-tracked when I saw that this sites 'auto insert/correct' function had been doing its own thing. For 'exhaust' above please read 'each' and for 'stir' read 'stair'.

That curmudgeonly comment aside, back to my memory lapse; you would be wise to carefully check the foot of every spindle and the wood into which it sits. Condensation from any heating system in that space will have formed on the ironwork to then collect at the foot and in the wood of each tread. There may be little that you can do about it if you don't choose the strategic solution I suggested above but you might consider seeing whether a wood hardener and anti-woodworm treatment may be useful.

 

[fernicarry]

Lovely stairway but ah, less than lovely condition, with which I cannot help. Except to say that a friend of mine, also central belt, had some reproduction iron spindles, not unlike yours, made for the extra flight of stairs up to his loft conversion. I can find out who he used if you are interested. I suspect @Cubist is correct in that you are looking at a disassembly and recondition of all the components to really sort it out.