Change Order

I'm not sure if the photo above is a joke on the owner's original intent for his boat, or if the larger boat was made possible for a contractor because of his client's numerous change orders.

It happens.  People change their minds.  Anyone who has built a home will attest to this.  Given the hundreds upon hundreds of decisions that go into building a home, it is inevitable that changes will occur.  In the construction world, such changes of heart are known as change orders.    As the name implies, a "change order" is a deviation from the original plan or design.  They come in all shapes and sizes...sometimes they are as simple as swapping out a few light fixtures while other times they are as complex and costly as relocating a staircase.  Generally speaking, the further into a project, the more costly the change (after all, if you decide you want a basement after your home's foundation has been poured, its going to cost you).  Yesterday, I had my first change order....fortunately, my change order came before it was too late.


My change order involved the terminal end of my handrail.  Before installing the handrail on the outside of the stairs, I spent some time thinking about how to terminate the rail at the bottom of the stairs.  Most contemporary handrails come in two flavors: truncated and extended (I'm not sure if these are the actual architectural terms, per se, but this is what I am calling them).  Below are some examples:

Truncated handrail (of note, 3 of the above staircases would never pass code in this country...can you guess which ones?  I'll give you a hint..."4 inch sphere rule")

Extended handrail

In my initial planning for my handrail, I consulted several people regarding which style to choose.  After weighing everyone's input, I opted for the truncated style:

Original Configuration

Initially, I thought this style made the most sense for a few reasons.  First and foremost, it eliminates a potential physical barrier for entering/leaving the stairs.  What I mean by this is that if there is an extension, you run the risk of something catching on it (such as a cord, piece of clothing, or handbag strap).  There is also the potential for banging your hip on the extension as your round the corner.  While each of these scenarios are indeed unlikely, they nonetheless warrant consideration.  The final rational was that it offers a cleaner, less fussy look.

As I was prepping the handrail for paint, however, something occurred to me:  the hardware for my cable railing will be sticking out beyond the last newel post, much like the staircase photo below:

Although one could argue this is perfectly acceptable (after all, it was done on the project above), I personally feel every portion of a railing system should be contained within the vertical footprint of the top handrail.  I have no formal references to support this assertion, but in my mind it just seems strange to have hardware like this "floating" out there beyond the railing's perimeter.

Suffice it to say, this is one of the benefits of being your own architect, contractor, welder, and homeowner--I didn't have to consult ANYONE about this change order.  I just did it...and it didn't cost me anything but time.

The extension was created by welding on a scrap piece of metal to the terminal portion of the handrail

With a little bit of welding and some time on the grinder, I was able to add a small projection to the terminal portion of my handrail.  I went ahead and placed one of the cable hardware coupling devices in the post to show how the hardware is now "covered" by the handrail projection.  I think in the end this will look better.