apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you are painting the floors, what about painting the railings also? If the base and railing on the stairs were white then perhaps the metal bars wouldnt look too bad, an could almost look industrial in contrast. Also hard to tell from here, but are the vertical part of the railings wood? or something else?

You could also look into using a staple gun and fabric to cover the existing top..its a cosmetic fix, and one you might have to redo in a couple of year (a whole new colour scheme!)look at upholstory fabrics - they would likely wear tougher.

Building code for railings has nothing to do with the material that railings are made of - it has to do with the structure and how far the balusters are spaced.

I would definately look into a steel pipe railing that could be assembled from plumbing fittings - there are some local plumbing shops that enjoy helping folks do projects like that.(used to be one in Hayes Valley - I think they moved to an alley of Polk Street - A1 Plumbing)

You could assemble the framework with the pipe and drill holes through the uprights to thread steel cables through, using turnbuckles to keep tension.

Those are such beautiful floors. Why don't you just paint the metal bars white and leave the rest of the wood in your loft wood, it looks wonderful as it is. In my opinion you will lose a good bit of the depth and character in your loft if you paint the floors white. It will also make your furniture stand out a good deal more, so I would wait until you have mostly high quality furniture, if you must paint.

If you want a more interesting industrial look that is still clean and minimal, another option is to drill holes through the steel pipe and run aircraft cable through the holes, and use steel turnbuckles to tension the cable tightly.

Search the archives for "Splatgirl" she built railings like ones lightspeed is describing. Her blog is www.moderninmn.blogspot.com

Please don't paint the floor white, that would be tragic, your floor is beautiful.

Please don't paint the wood floors!

I have to agree, don't paint the floors!

Unless this is a precious or rare variety of wood and would be irreplaceable, I say paint the wood floor if you like...

I agree with whoever suggested to paint the railings white. It would look really nice if you're still going to paint the floors (which I approve of as long as the apartment gets a lot of natural light) and it's less expensive.

Maybe you could use rope? For the railing on the stairs, you could have it sling from the top down to being tied at a post on the bottom.

don't paint the floors, get all white furnature

http://www.dawginc.com/industrial-safety-products/poly-coated-steel-handrail.php

I wouldn't paint the floors or change the railing--just add more white furniture and accessories. A large flokati rug under the couch might satisfy your white fix. Show off that fabulous sectional-- turn it around with both sides against the wall to open up the living area.

Personally, I like the wood floors. They give the space warmth and keep it grounded. I think white floors would take away from the character of the place, and you'd end up with a new problem, i.e. how to ground the space.

If you're looking for an industrial edge, I'd suggest you replace your spindles with cable. You could even keep all the posts and top rail to save money and labor, and I think the resulting mix of wood and aluminum would look great, both on the stairs and in the loft.

Here are a couple of links to give you an idea how it might look:

http://www.wagnercompanies.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=1501&mname=Article&rpid=525

http://www.wagnercompanies.com/Cable_Railing.aspx

http://agsstainless.com/gallery/

http://www.kenscustommfg.com/cablebalconyrailing.html

Whatever your decision, good luck with your project!

Joanna

I second (or third, or "fifteenth" or whatever) the "Don't paint the floors white" comments. The floors look good, and undoing the painting would be difficult. The railing, however, could be improved by painting, or using steel pipes for the railings, or using some combination of steel pipe, wood, and cable.

I can't quite see from the photos, but it looks like the big wooden newel post is firmly connected to the stairs -- replacing that with something else would entail more work than just replacing the railing itself, and those smaller wooden spindles. (The newel post looks good to me, though, and meshes with an "industrial" style of sorts.) You could keep the newel post, and replace the railing with 1-1/2" steel pipe (galvanized, or perhaps better to use "black pipe," which is cheaper, and takes paint better). The steel pipe could attach to the existing newel posts using standard flanges, although you'll need a 45-degree unions and a "nipple" at each end (the stairs aren't 45-degrees - more like 35-40 - so the angle won't be quite right, but it should be close enough. You could use steel cables running in parallel to replace the spindles. Eyelets could screw into the wooden newel posts, and standard turnbuckles could tighter them up to some degree -- although be careful not to rip the eyelets out of the post, since those turnbuckles can create some serious tension. The same design would appear to work for the railings around the loft as well. All of this stuff is available at you average well-stocked hardware store (or Home Despot).

By the way, although steel cables could probably be tightened enough to look just fine stretched between the newel posts (i.e. the entire length of the stairs, or the width of the loft), you'll want to be aware that at least with a "home brew" design, they can't be tightened so much that they won't deform quite a lot if placed under stress (i.e. if someone climbs on them, or tries to poke their head through). I *think* bldg codes generally require these to pass the "4-inch ball test," meaning that the spindles (or their horizontal equivalent) should be spaced so as to prevent a 4-inch diameter ball passing through. (This is to prevent children putting their heads through.) Anyway, you'll want to check the codes in any event, and if children will be in the place, it's a real concern, as are any horizontal "spindles" in a railing design, since kids are wont to use them as a ladder to climb over the side.

We used steel wire (1/8") for that invisible touch, tunrbuckles and round eyelets self drilling screws. I will keep the main posts, remove the rest and put your wires thru the posts, so you don't have a bunch of turnbuckles after each termination, just at the end. I spent a little doing this and everything is at homedepot. The only "code" should be no more than 4" space between the steel cables.

Look at the link for a picture:

http://blueantstudio.blogspot.com/2007/02/diy-wire-railings-for-stair-part-2.html

regards,

joel pirela
blueantstudio.com

In my previous apartment I painted the floors white -- ignoring howls of objections from everyone I knew. It looked unbelievably fantastic, and they all ate their words. The room seemed to double in size. This doesn't look like special antique flooring, so I say go for it.

It's true, though, that your non-white furniture will "pop." That sectional is going to look like the Great Wall of China. You'll need something else weighty to balance the room.

P.S. As for the railings, I'd be very, very nervous about DIY. If you or a guest ever trips, that railing is all that protects you from a year in a bodycast.

I was about to suggest something like lightspeed's steel and cable solution. Very cool. I'd string several cables horizontally, though--especially in the loft area, so no unfortunate rolls out of bed to the downstairs take place.

I, personally would not use steel pipes for such a lovely loft apartment. But if you wanted to go with a material other than wood, you should consider lucite or glass panels.

You could also paint the beam, steps and platform white and use the lucite/glass panels as a railing. That would look super fab and less theme-ish than pipes or cable railing.

I've seen some nice pictures with floors painted white...I think it would work in here, especially with the nice blue wall.

Of the things to paint white, I'd start with the underside of the loft, the steps and the railings. The floor should be the last of your worries. My loft floors are white stained wood, which lasts a long time and wears well compared to paint while lightening up the whole joint. But start with the undersides - that's what's darkening your place.

My friends Mella and Nicole live in a loft in Oakland and its
staircase has a railing constructed out of pipes and plumbing
fittings. It looks awesome. Actually, their whole loft is gorgeous.

Here are a couple of photos of the railing, as taken by Mella:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyperborea/473304857/in/set-72157600132275164/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyperborea/473304387/in/set-72157600132275164/

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the great suggestions and links on the railings. Great information! I think I am going to follow the suggestions of painting the railings white and replacing the spindles with cable railing. Especially after seeing how great Joel’s railing turned out. Seems like it will update the look without a horrible hit to the pocket book. Once again thanks for the idea!

As far as the floors go, in the pic they look like they are in much better condition then they really are. They don't have any finish on them anymore so any moisture that gets on them immediately gets soaked up by the wood. That and an older cat is a bad combination if you get my drift. The boards are about a 1/4 inch thick, too thin to sand and refinish. I thought painting them and sealing them would help with the moisture problem and make them look nice for a few years until replacing my floors would be in my budget. Plus truth be told I like the look of white wood floors.

thanks everyone.
Monica

Ah man heatherly I was totally set on the steel cable until I saw your comment. Your friends railings out of plumbing look awesome now I am back to trying to decide.

please paint that huge eyesore cross beam.
or put a sail on it