A basement stairway has been the scene of many accidents where there was nothing to hang onto. And so has a wide-open or steep stairway where there’s no railing for support on the opposite wall.

If your stair railing is old, dysfunctional, not to code, or simply not to your taste, you may have considered changing it ...

Q: One section of the stair railing in my 1903 condominium has been broken and poorly repaired for many years. Some wood is missing, and there is filler of some sort and a metal band. I asked a ...