ᐅ Building Stair Railings with Aerated Concrete Blocks – Is It Stable?

Created on: 28 Jun 2018 15:04
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Snowy36
I have a question... Our construction manager wants to build a railing on our 1.07m (3.5 ft) wide concrete staircase using 7cm (2.75 inches) Ytong blocks and then plaster it...

From the beginning, we wanted a masonry railing, but now the stairwell opening is quite large, so a full wall from top to bottom across the two floors is no longer possible...

But will something like this hold? Has anyone done this before?
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IsabellaMS
8 Sep 2018 07:00
We want to do something like this. Using 15cm (6 inches) Ytong blocks, then applying a bonding layer and plastering.
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Snowy36
8 Sep 2018 09:18
As I said, we only have seven, and they are not fastened anywhere else, yet they hold.
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Knallkörper
8 Sep 2018 09:31
I still have my concerns. The joint is brittle (meaning "not tough") and especially at the base point, it can break relatively easily if a sudden impact is applied to the railing.
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IsabellaMS
8 Sep 2018 09:44
@Snowy36 thank you!!!
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Snowy36
8 Sep 2018 10:55
Yes, it is undisputed that it would be more stable if it were fixed somewhere else. But it saves a lot of space; otherwise, our steps would be too narrow... and I don’t plan to throw myself against it.
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Bookstar
8 Sep 2018 11:09
Knallkörper schrieb:
I would still have my doubts. The joint is rather brittle (in the sense of "not tough"), and especially at the base, it can break relatively easily if there is a sudden impact load on the railing.

That is fundamentally correct. It depends on whether the adhesive was applied properly and on the stair construction. With a landing staircase, there is an interlocking structure that better absorbs lateral forces. For a straight staircase, I would be more critical.

A structural engineer would probably not approve such a construction. In practice, after plastering, I don’t see any problems as long as a 100kg (220 lbs) bowling ball doesn’t crash into it with full force.