Maximum Effort Industrial Pipe Railings

Are you like me? Did you fall in love with the industrial design asthetic of the early 2010s before you had a house to do anything about it? In my opinon it's never too late to keep an old trend, trending.

That being said, welcome to my journey of keeping hardware-store-chic alive!

I needed to add a railing to my house and I wanted it done with as much craftmanship as I could manage. Be warned! I took no shortcuts and this is not a single day project.

1. Instead of slapping paint onto the pipes I insisted on having the bare metal.
2. Instead of buying pre-sized lengths of pipe from the store I wanted exact measurements to ensure I hit wall studs for support.
3. Instead of welding I insisted I wanted the pipes to still be threaded so I didn't have to worry about perfecly lining up all the pieces of a huge railing.
4. Instead of having a hardware store thread my cut pipes for me I opted to learn to do it myself (they were being moody about threading my pipes anyway).
5. Instead of accepting all of the scratches and imprefections I took the time to clean things up.

If this level of effort hasn't scared you away yet then this is the type of project for you!

Materials:

1. Black pipe/Iron pipe: 10ft pipe is the most affordable option. 1" pipe preferred due to handrailing code
2. Pipe Fittings: Wall Flanges, Elbows, and 'T' joints in whatever amount you need for your project

Tools:

1. Metal chop saw: Alternatively you could use a grinder with cutoff wheel or any tool with a metal cutting blade
2. Manual Pipe Threading Kit: Mine is a 1/2in - 3/4in - 1in set from Harbor Freight
3. Cutting oil: Keep that pipe threader moving smoothly
4. Medium to heavy duty vise: Pipe jaws preferred
5. Gross bucket you don't mind getting ruined: To catch falling metal chips and cutting oil
6. Cardboard: To protect the floor from metal chips and oil that miss the bucket

Chemicals:

1. Acetone: For cleaning up inbetween steps
2. Paint Stripper: I used CitriStrip
3. Cold Bluing/ Gun bluing: To help hide scratches and marks
4. EverBrite, Clear coat spray paint, or metal wax: Protect your project from rust

Safety:

1. Thick rubber gloves: Needed for paint stripping
2. Nitrile gloves: For acetone cleaning and cold bluing
3. General PPE: Goggles, gloves and ear protection

It turns out there are a lot of rules regarding handrailings and guard railings. I'll quickly go though the most important things to consider if you want an inspector-proof build.

These are general building considerations, always check your local code laws for more specifics as areas like California have more strict stipulations.

Here are the general rules listed by the ICC which are the bare minimum requirements used by the USA:

ICC International Residential Code: Handrails R311.7.8

Cliff notes version, handrailing must be:

1. Between 34"-38" high as measured from front end of the stair tread
2. Run continuously from the middle of the bottom step to the top stair
3. Must extend at least 1.5" away from the wall
4. Railing itself must be minimum 1.25"-2" in diameter

In order for your railing to meet the 1.25" diameter rating you'll need to use 1" black pipe (OD 1.315")! I messed up and only used 3/4" (OD 1.050)...I'll deal that when the time comes. If you want to be safe, don't follow my mistake.

A wall flange + 1" nipple + 'T' fitting or elbow fitting = 1.5" away from the wall, so that's I used.

There is also a general rule that a railing should be able to support 200lbs so find those wall studs!

I also needed to improve the guardrail at the top of the stairs as they were only 30" tall. At that height you really feel like you can just fall right over the railing. By adding the industrial pipe everyone is now protected by the standard 36" height requirement.

This all might not matter if you are replacing a pre-exsisting railing. I, however, needed to start from scratch because I don't think there was ever a railing for these stairs in my 100 year old house.

My home will be so much safer now!

I made a sketch of my project using general measurements and that really helped me visualize what it would look like, what parts I should buy, and what lengths of pipe would be needed.

You'll notice I have an elbow designed at the top of the railing instead of another 'T' fitting. This is partly do to keeping nice clean lines so it doesn't stick out as far but I'd also like to point out it acts as a stop for the railing. If the railing didn't end like that the whole thing would be able to pivot on the threads and shift becoming unstable. The last thing we want is an unstable railing. So I strongly recommend having an elbow at the top and/or bottom.

You can see I took an overall measurement of the space and then subtracted the length of the fittings. This gave me a ball park length for all my pipes. Don't forget to take into the consideration the extra length needed for the threads going into the fittings! I found that adding 1/4" to each end of pipe did the trick.

I want my hand railing to be just bare metal, that's what makes it really feel industrial to me. If I want to see bare metal, then I'll have to remove the factory coating.

Other tutorials I saw simply degreased the pipe after bringing it home from the store and then spray painting it black over top of the pre-exsisting coating. You are welcome to do it that way if you prefer that look. That'll keep it looking clean, uniform and add a layer of protection!

I opted for CirtiStrip as it smells nice and can be used indoors. I recommend using it indoors because you don't want the gel to dry out. As you can see by my pictures I did it outside on a sunny day and doubled my work because the gel dried out. Always read the labels when using a new product! If I had read the back I would have seen the note about avoiding sun, high temps, and breezy conditions.

I had 30ft of pipe to strip (3x 10ft). I coated all of them at once. Do not do what I did. Doing one at a time is plenty and then there is even less chance for it to dry out.

IF your gel does dry out, the best way I found to re-wet it is to add more gel back on top. You can try to wrap it in a wet paper towel but that didn't work as well for me.

NITRILE GLOVES ARE NOT ENOUGH PROTECTION FROM PAINT STRIPPER. IT WILL DISSOLVE THE GLOVES! USE RUBBER CHEMICAL RESIST GLOVES! FOAM BRUSHES ALSO DISSOLVE (I learned this the hard way)

Here's what you DO want to do:

1. Apply the stripping agent with a paintbrush, paper towel, or appropriate chemical resist gloves
2. Wait about 30min
3. Wipe away the stripper with disposable towels and make sure the paint is fully removed
4. Clean remaining stripping gel and loose paint with Acetone

I went through probably half a roll of paper towels wiping all the CitriStrip gel off and removing the stripped paint. The paint layer came off well but it took a little scrubbing.

Even if you have learned by my mistakes and it takes you half the time ( I took about 4 hrs in the end) know that it is a lot of work and it's best to get it done as its own step. I was done for the day after just doing that.

PRO TIP: I wrapped my sawhorses in plastic cling film to prevent the paint stripper from getting on them.

Use whatever you have on hand to cut your pipes to length be it a metal chop saw like me, a grinder with a cut-off wheel, or any power tool equipped with a metal cutting blade.

Be safe! Wear long sleeves, pants, closed toed shoes, gloves and goggles!

Here is a reminder to double check your measurements!

I found that generally the threading of the pipe screws about 1/4" into the fitting. That means you can simply add 1/2" to your needed length as measured to fit between the fittings to compensate for the threads!

For example:

1. I need a length of 73" between the fittings
2. I'll add 1/2" for the threading depth (1/4" for each end)
3. Total length to cut: 73 1/2"

I went ahead and cut off all the factory made threads because fresh cut threads look a lot better and it gave me more control over my measurements.

We've got our pipes (hopefully) cut to the correct length. Now we need to add threading so we can screw into the fittings!

You'll want to set yourself up with a gross bucket you don't care about, a cardboard sheet to lay on the ground, and a nice vise that has pipe jaws.

The bucket will collect dripping cutting oil and oily metal chips that fall. The cardboard will protect your floor surface from the oil and metal chips that miss the bucket.

I tried using a standard vise at first but the pipe kept slipping and scratching up the metal (Use what you have though, maybe try a rubbery barrier between the pipe and the vise if you have no other option).

This here is a link to the YouTube video I watched to learn how to do this. It worked for me so I hope it'll work for you too!

Just know you can never use too much cutting oil and to periodically reverse your threader and "crack" the chips off and clear them out now and again. It'll save the life of your tool!

You can see how much nicer the threads are from the fresh cut of our tool. I found they seemed less sharp as well. The threader uses an angled cut so you'll always have some explosed thread sticking out from the fitting. I usually cut about 1/2" of threading.

If you cut your pipe a little too long you can put the tool back onto your pipe and cut the threads even deeper. Then your pipe will simply screw into the fitting further. The only connection this can get tricky for is a flange connection since the flange is only 1/2" thick and eventually you'll hit the wall.

Pro tip: if you have a large magnet on hand, use it to sweep the area for rogue metal chips when you are done.

I designed simple 3D printed collars to help cover the threaded joints. It looks nicer and adds protection since threading can be sharp.

You can see here I experimented with both black and gray. Black is a nice dramatic design element. Gray is a little more understated and trying to blend in. I ultimately chose gray, but I'd love to know which you would have chosen!

You'll probably need to adjust the Z height of the collar to fit your needs. Most of mine were between 14mm-16mm but I had a few weird ones that needed to be longer. Just remember to turn off 'Uniform Scaling' before changing the Z height!

If you went with 1" pipe you *should* be able to use the same file just scaled up 120%

This is the easy part! All the pieces screw together!

I started from the top and worked my way down installing each piece while mounting it to the wall as I went.

If I needed a tighter fit with a length of pipe, I used a pipe wrench.

If I needed a tighter fit with a fitting, I would use a threaded piece of scrap pipe as a cheater bar.

Get everything tightened, lined up, and screwed into the wall with some nice heavy duty screws.

You can't unscratch a scratch but you can stop it from being an eyesore! You'll also want to ensure there are no sharp spots or areas uncomfortable to the touch.

If you are imperfect like me, you may have scratched or dented your pipe in the vise. Or maybe you kept the pipe in your damp basement for five years and it got a little rusty. Maybe the pipe got beat up in transit from the factory. No matter the reason, we can clean up those defects and hide those mistakes with a little effort.

It's ok to have a few dents and spots of interest on your pipe. We just want to keep it smooth, safe to touch, and looking good.

The stripped metal has a gray patina to it so scratches stand out with a bright silver shine. In order to match the gray color I used Gun Blue or Cold blue to oxidize the metal.

This takes a bit of patience and artistry so take your time.

Wear Gloves! (Nitrile gloves are fine here)

1. Gently filed any sharp spots or raised sections that could catch on someone's hand
2. Use sandpaper (about 150-200 grit. I used a foam sanding block) to remove rust and rough sections
3. Wipe clean with acetone
4. Using a fine paintbrush or q-tip, add the gun blue. The more layers you add the darker it'll get. If it gets too dark you can easily sand it again to lighten the color or start over.
5. After applying and letting it dry for a second you can scrub at it with a dry q-tip to avoid hard liquid chemical lines.
6. Keep playing with adding cold blue, scrubbing, and lightly sanding until there's a pretty good match

You'll want to seal your pipe soon after doing the cold bluing or it will continue to oxidize and get darker or rust!

Let's make this project last forever by protecting our metal from rust, oxidation, and hand oils!

The best options I can recommend for sealing are

1. EverBrite: Low odor, brushes on smoothly, super durable coating. Expensive.
2. Rust-Oleum Clear Coat: O'l reliable. Its easy to find, cheap, and works.
3. Renaissance Wax: No plasticy coating so a true metal feel. Needs to be re-applied perodically. Bit pricey. There are other waxes out there too but this I've used before. Also consider carnuba wax or bees wax.

The EverBrite and Renaissance wax can be done while already installed on the wall. Clear Coat spray paint would probably need to be done before installation. I'm not sure if it would be better to seal all the pipes and fittings before assembly or after; but doing it after it's wall mounted ensures you don't put any new scratches in it during the install!

I used EverBrite and I love it. It has low VOCs (so can be used inside), cures quickly, goes on smooth, layers well, and is a very tough coating. Not an advertisment but I just wanted to share my choice!

Personally, I installed the railings first and coated it while mounted on the wall. I laid down painters cloth to catch the drips and studiously went around every connection and length of pipe. Twice.

My house is safer now, and I still love this design choice as much as I did in 2010.

My parents and in-laws are getting older and were struggling to traverse the stairs. They rightly complained that we needed to install a handrailing but doing anything in an old house is an intimidating adventure. You can see in the first picture the temporary solution was a rope, and that helped, but it was a poor and unsafe solution to the problem. My father-in-law having hip surgery was the thing that finally pushed me to get this project done. He was very thankful for it. I can't wait for my mom to visit and see that she doesn't have to use the rope anymore!

This project took some long days of work, lots of planning and measuring, and a lot of problem solving. I learned a bunch of new skills to make this happen and that effort and new knowledge makes me appreciate the end result every day. I proudly show off this project to all who visit and comment daily to myself how wonderful it is to finally have a handrailing- a great looking hand railing!

This Instructable should save you from a couple of my time consuming mistakes. I hope this build brings as much joy and stability to your home as it did to mine!

Good luck and happy building!