Welcome to another edition of Carpenter's Corner! We’ve covered lots of ground on the Pinto Carpentry blog over the last few years, but there's always something exciting to share. We understand that not everyone is familiar with industry lingo, so our Carpenter’s Corner segment aims to enlighten and educate to make navigating convos with your contractors a breeze!
On today's blog, we'll be discussing some important terminology regarding the interior of your home that may come up during your renovations or railing and stair installation process. We want you to feel confident in navigating these tough areas of home improvement and renovation, so take it from your friendly neighborhood railing installer: it’s not as scary as it sounds.
Of course, while there’s no replacement for years of service and experience, it will certainly serve as a wonderful primer and we hope it piques your curiosity to learn even more. It’s also our hope that these posts will help you feel more comfortable when asking questions before scheduling installations, navigating the ins-and-outs of estimates, and during any consultations with your contractor. So, let's take a look and learn all about carpentry and construction terms for the interior.
A Baserail is also sometimes known as “Bottom track” and it runs parallel along your staircase from the top to the bottom and along the landing if applicable; its purpose is to support or hold the balustrade, securing wooden or metal spindles/balusters, or decorative panels in place.
A Continuous handrail is a single handrail must run from the top riser to bottom riser of your staircase, and also that a person should be able to maintain grasp of the handrail all the way up or down easily.
A Header is a load-bearing horizontal beam placed above an opening to provide support and distribute the weight of the structure above to the wall framing on either side. They're generally placed at the top of openings for windows, doors, and interior passages.
A Girder is an oversized, more robust option of support beam, acting as a main support for smaller beams. There are three types: Rolled steel girders, plate girders (welded) and box girders. Girders support a significant amount of weight. While all girders are beams, not all beams are girders.
A Joist is vital for supporting the weight of ceilings, floors, and the objects placed on them. They're a horizontal structure created out of wood or metal, which frames the span of an open space, often between beams.
A Load-Bearing Wall this structure supports the weight of the building above it, including floors, ceilings, the roof, and are a vital component to the stability and structural integrity of a building. A load bearing wall runs perpendicular to the joists, is generally thicker than a partition wall, and will be supported by a beam or column. Exterior walls are almost always load bearing walls
A Newel functions as an anchor pillar for a railing and staircase. It is the post at the head or foot of a staircase which supports the handrail, also sometimes referred to as a central pole or support column. Additionally, it may also refer to the upright post which supports and/or terminates the handrail of a stair banister.
A Newel Cap is a decorative and functional component that sits atop your newel post. This can definitely be purely aesthetic as a finishing touch as well as providing additional support and protecting the newel post from damages. A Starting Newel is he newel used at the beginning of the balustrade railing.
Non-Load-Bearing Wall runs parallel to the floor joists, and does not bear any structural load from the building above; they're generally room dividers such as interior walls and infill walls.
The Rise/Riser of stairs refers to the vertical distance between the top of one stair tread and the top of the next, generally a maximum riser height if 9.2”. The Run is the horizontal depth of each step.
A Stringer is also sometimes called the string or string board; this is the vertical support board that runs along either side and/or center of a staircase to which the treads and risers are affixed.
If you’re looking to update your home, school, or business’s handrail,, or you’re a home builder with new construction and need a railing system installed, we would be thrilled to work with you! Just give the crew here Pinto Carpentry a call at 908-922-1778 and request a consultation for a custom estimate. We bring more than 20 years experience to the table, and would love to guide you to a safer, more beautiful indoor railing system to suit your home or business! At the time of publication in March 2025, we're accepting new appointments for May or June 2025 and onwards.
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