Step rails

Looking for advice on how to put up vinyl hand rails for a friends 88 yr old grandmother.
I have never done it before, but I know we have experienced folk here that can point me in the right direction.
Help please.
 
Tagging this so I can post info tomorrow. Metal is much sturdier than vinyl and I have drawing details that will help.
 
i did it with the rail kits from lowes with the pickets. I used threaded rod and concrete epoxy to achor at the bottom since my steps was a older slab and have had mixed results with tap cons or wedge anchors in older slabs in the past. It has held well and wasnt bad cutting the rails with a chop saw. Mine was a little tougher on one set of steps because they were steeper and the angles were harder to make work out for the pickets. I did use the metal post with foot kit that slides inside of the 4x4 sleeves for each end.
 
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I found this, not cheap, but I think the grandmaw don't want vinyl.;)
I'll have to check with her grand daughter.
 
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I used the hollow, square-profile vinyl parts from Lowes for an install in Waynesville 8 or so years ago. It went ok, but I was unhappy with the attachment to the slab at the foot of the stairs, as @Jp8819 commented on above. It's been so long I don't remember for sure how I overcame the wobbles. I think I put a couple redheads into the face of the lowest step so the bottom bracket was held in 2 dimensions instead of just attached to the slab. The vinyl newel post fit over that, but I remember having to tweak it since it was designed to just attach to the slab. The owner ( retired guy in his late 70's)was satisfied and felt it was sturdy enough for him. I wasn't afraid it was going to fall over, but it wasn't rock-solid, either.

If I were to do the one in Basil's picture, I'd bore down through the slab and set a steel pipe "core" in new concrete 18" or more below slab, then figure out a way to slip the vinyl newel over that. Otherwise, the lower newel post is just a big lever to provide mechanical advantage to pry out the flange bolts!

BASIL said:
I found this, not cheap, but I think the grandmaw don't want vinyl.
Click to expand...
This one looks pretty, but I'd want to check how well it resisted lateral force if she had to lean on it suddenly. Looks like it bolts down with a flange and is bolted together at the joints to allow the angle to change.

A hammer drill and some galvanized or stainless threaded rod epoxied into the slab would be more stable than redheads or tapcons (concrete anchors).
 
I had some put up in the last couple of months. Don't know how we got by without them before. The ones on either side of the steps weigh almost 200 pounds each and the ones at the end of the walk half that. They have become very important in a short time.
 
Need to do something like this for my moms front steps. Tagged
 
CHRIS_WNC said:
View attachment 140781 I used the galvi steel pipe and some fittings from Lowes. Sprayed it with a copper color hammer spray paint. It’s rock solid!
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Very functional as well to help someone and much cheaper to build, that was similar to what I took down just to change it up when we added on. Helped granddad as a kid put it in for my great aunt but it just never got painted and remained galvanized pipe. Only issue really was it doesn’t block little kids from falling off but thats also part of the fun as a kid being able to swing from it waiting on mom and it teaches you life lessons when you hit the concrete under it few times.
 
Looks good Steve. Woman that small could slide down the top rail and wouldn’t hurt it
 
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