Antique Staircase Railing Save

[Loren Souers]

I am currently renovating an old Victorian home from the late 1800s into apartments. It has this beautiful handrail for the staircase, but there are a couple problems with it. First, it’s a little wobbly. More wobbly than I want for a rental unit. Second, the height of the railing is a little shorter than code allows, or I am comfortable with in a rental. Has anyone dealt with this before? Is there some sort of solution where I can keep the old railing in place and make it safer without breaking the bank? I have considered enclosing it with another railing to keep the look, raising it, or adding a top rail above it. I am open to any ideas. TIA

[Matt Devincenzo]

From what I see there are two separate issues that may or may not be solved concurrently. For the railing height, I'd find a local carpenter to ask about completely removing the railing and balusters and doweling in an additional length on them. The profile looks simple enough at the top and bottom that this should be doable without having to turn a new profile. I'd probably try adding on the bottom since there is more meat to the square profile there to connect to...but I'd trust your chosen professional. 

For the wobble I assume that the issue is wear and tear which has made the connections loose. Doing the above probably doesn't solve this directly, but by removing and reattaching all the balusters the connections are tight and the glue joints are solid...if that's not the issue then you may need to introduce some other improvement to prevent the wobble. You may want to consider having the newel matched and adding a few more...place another at the corner at the top of the stair and one at the corner closest to you in the photo. This may help stiffen it up more than the balusters can.