Outside step railings??

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jttheclockman

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Have a couple stair wrought iron railings that have come loose and wobble. Need to repair. What is the best method to do this?? If using cement or epoxy what is the best on the market?? Will this fix permanetly?? Thanks

My brothers house so no photos. What it is is that the wrought iron railings on the outside steps has broken loose in the holes they drilled in the steps. Whatever cement they used to secure them has broken and loosened up and now they wobble. I assume I will have to drill the loose stuff out and fill again with something to secure
 
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monophoto

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So the railings are attached via anchors that are embedded in some kind of cement or mortar?

My inclination would be to remove the anchors, drill out any loose material, and then reimplant them using a good quality exterior grade polyurethane construction cement - the variety made for use by landscapers in gluing stone work. It might be prudent to replace the anchors if they show signs of distortion, bending or breaking. Don't let anyone near them until the glue has cured for at least 24 hours.

Now the interesting question is will the fix be permanent. That depends on two factors. One is whether there are kids who will attempt to ride the railing like a pony. The other is how you define permanent. If it were me, permanent means until the day after I move out of the house.
 

howsitwork

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Other alternative is to , like they do in restorations, remove the old stuff then backfill with hot,lead. GREAT CARE with fumes and with the heating of the lead and make sure you do it on a DRY DAY ? Any water in the holes and you are in DEEP MANURE as the flash steam formed will explode the lead back at you.

Works well , is flexible and lasts , well over here we're talking 150 to 200 years and still strong. That a permanent enough fix for you?
 

jttheclockman

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No anchors involved. What they did was drill holes and dump some sort of cement in hole and placed railing in cement. I believe this is what needs to be done again. Here we use expanding hydrolic cement or anchor cement. I guess this is what we will have to go back too. Just was wondering if anyone has used this or something else that will work??
 

MRDucks2

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I fixed both rail as well as iron gates hung in to brick by using the two-part epoxy putty that you cut pieces off and knead together until it is consistent in color.

Used in 2 different methods. First was to pack the old hole and make it flush with the surface then re-drill and mount. The other was to pack the hole then screw in the gate hinge pin before the putty set. Both worked well and have now held up for about a decade.

the working time is pretty short. You can order online (pig putty was one version I had several tubes of) or get it typically in the marine or auto body area of Walmart in short sticks.
 
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I agree with what @MRDucks2 said about epoxy. However, when I used to have bulk petroleum storage tanks installed the installers used bolt that were Epoxied, head down, with a washer then filled the hole with Epoxy. These tanks were installed on concrete pads. The tanks had flanges with holes that the bolts went through and then the nuts were screwed onto the bolt. Even through earth quakes the tanks never moved. Not sure what kind of Epoxy it was but it worked.
 

Charlie_W

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John, I think the first question is why did the railing come loose? Did it rust off in the hole? Did the concrete in the drilled hole fail/crumble?
A railing company would have the answer if they are willing to do a small job. Are there other posts anchored in concrete on this section?
Can you move it out of the way to drill out the concrete? Obviously, a core drill would be the best if you can remove it to clean out the hole.
The railing company can advise as to the ideal product to use.
Years ago, we had our rusting iron railings replaced with aluminum which was powder coated. They are maintenance free.
 

jttheclockman

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John, I think the first question is why did the railing come loose? Did it rust off in the hole? Did the concrete in the drilled hole fail/crumble?
A railing company would have the answer if they are willing to do a small job. Are there other posts anchored in concrete on this section?
Can you move it out of the way to drill out the concrete? Obviously, a core drill would be the best if you can remove it to clean out the hole.
The railing company can advise as to the ideal product to use.
Years ago, we had our rusting iron railings replaced with aluminum which was powder coated. They are maintenance free.
Well this is a project my brother will do this summer. The concrete seems to have cracked from the pulling and holding onto as you go up and down stairs. My next door neighbor has the exact same problem. He too wants to fix next year. He was hoping I would get new railings on my new steps but I did not this year. Maybe will next year. My brother will drill out the old stuff because he is going to have the railings striped and repowdercoated instead of replacing with new. After he saw the prices he said $800 to repowdercoat works just fine. But then he will need to reinstall himself. Around here all they do is drill a hole in the steps and landings and install the railings and fill with anchor cement. They did the same when I had new railing replaced on my parents house about 10 years ago. They held up but I sold that house 6 years ago when my Mom passed. Seems like a thing that should be more permanent because of the pulling on them as you climb especially older folks. That is why I will install railing on my new porch even though it is just 2 steps. So will be looking at the same thing.
 

Charlie_W

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Well this is a project my brother will do this summer. The concrete seems to have cracked from the pulling and holding onto as you go up and down stairs. My next door neighbor has the exact same problem. He too wants to fix next year. He was hoping I would get new railings on my new steps but I did not this year. Maybe will next year. My brother will drill out the old stuff because he is going to have the railings striped and repowdercoated instead of replacing with new. After he saw the prices he said $800 to repowdercoat works just fine. But then he will need to reinstall himself. Around here all they do is drill a hole in the steps and landings and install the railings and fill with anchor cement. They did the same when I had new railing replaced on my parents house about 10 years ago. They held up but I sold that house 6 years ago when my Mom passed. Seems like a thing that should be more permanent because of the pulling on them as you climb especially older folks. That is why I will install railing on my new porch even though it is just 2 steps. So will be looking at the same thing.


Yup, same mounting method here too. back when we did ours, I had the railing company do just what you are going to do (2 step railing) but at my parents house.
Maybe some water got in and the freezing broke it out.
 
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