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" I suppose I&amp;#039;m like most people when I consider home improvement ideas--I tend to think big: adding a master bedroom suite, building a multi\u00ADlevel deck, expanding the kitchen, replacing windows and doors, and other dream projects.  But over the years I&amp;#039;ve begun to realize that smaller, quicker projects can offer the greatest satisfaction--and the most impact for the money and time spent. For example, our current home has a beautiful red-oak formal staircase leading up to the second floor. But for some incomprehensible reason, the builder mounted a plain pine handrail to the staircase wall, which is totally inappropriate. It didn&amp;#039;t match the traditional oak handrail on the adjacent balustrade at all.  That handrail bugged me for years, as I went about larger projects. The last straw came when the rail loosened and threatened to come off the wall entirely. When it became hazardous, aside from being ugly, I realized that it had to go, and the sooner the better. I replaced it with a far more attractive railing that enhanced the staircase instead of detracting from it. Here&amp;#039;s how I did it.  Out With the Ugly The old handrail was attached to the wall with three cast-aluminum brackets, and as if the rail itself wasn&amp;#039;t ugly enough, the brackets were painted black. So, the first thing I did was grab my cordless drill/driver and start backing out screws. I first unscrewed the brackets from the wall at each end of the handrail (1), leaving the center bracket for last. That way, the weight of the handrail was evenly supported until I backed out the last screw. Being a thrifty guy, I saved the old handrail to use on the basement or garage staircase someday. Next, I checked to make sure the old brackets had been screwed to wall studs by tapping a finishing nail into the old screw holes. In each case I hit a stud, and knew that I could attach the new brackets to the same framing. I could have used an electronic stud finder to locate the nearest stud, but the finish-nail method is fast and sure, even if it is low tech. (Note that you should never attach a handrail to drywall or plaster using wall anchors; it must be securely screwed to a wall stud or other solid framing.) Also, don&amp;#039;t take a shortcut by installing the new railing using the old screw holes. Spend a few minutes placing new holes to ensure a really sturdy installation. I simply used a level to mark short vertical lines onto the wall, leading up from the bottom screw holes left by the old brackets (2). Then, I marked each of the three lines \u00BD in. up from the bottom screw holes and punched a small hole in the wall at each \u00BD-in. mark using a nail set. These punch marks represented the locations of the bottom screws for the new handrail brackets. Moving the brackets up positioned the new handrail slightly higher than the old one, but it remained well within the recommended handrail height of 34 to 38 in. above the stair treads. Next, I patched all the old screw holes with spackling compound. Once the patched areas dried, I sanded lightly with 120-grit sandpaper, spackled again, primed and painted. Since the handrail wasn&amp;#039;t in the way, I painted the rest of the stairwell while I was at it.  Cutting the New Handrail As a replacement for the pitiful pine handrail, I bought a handsome red-oak Colonial-style handrail at my local home center. It sounds high-end, but these attractive handrails are readily available and are usually located with other decorative wood products in the moldings aisle. And the new rail perfectly matches the oak handrail on the existing staircase balustrade. I paid $6 per foot for a 15-ft-long piece.  The finished handrail is only about 13 ft long, but I needed the extra length to make the mitered ends. Known as returns, these are surprisingly easy to craft. Each one consists simply of a short, 45-degree mitered piece of handrail that gets attached to the long piece, so that it forms a 90-degree angle. The short length returns back to the wall, providing a nice, clean, finished look.  To start, I used a power miter saw set to 45 degrees and cut a 3\u00BD-in.-long piece from each end of the handrail. Then, I cut opposing 45-degree miters on the handrail ends (3), making sure the last cut trimmed the handrail to its finished length measured from one outside corner to the other.  Next, I attached the returns to the ends of the mitered handrail using glue and a pair of 2-in. (6d) finishing nails. Because oak is too hard to nail through, I first bored 1/8-in.-dia pilot holes (4). Then I drove in the finish nails (5). I tapped the nailheads below the wood surface using a nail set. Once the mitered returns were attached, I sanded the handrail with a random-orbit sander, starting with a 100-grit disc and finishing with a 120-grit disc. (When sanding, don&amp;#039;t forget to hit the sharp corners on the bottom of the handrail.) After wiping off the sanding dust with a damp cloth, I used a foam brush to apply a coat of Minwax Polyshades, which is a combination oil-based stain and polyurethane varnish. You could just brush on some varnish, or apply one coat of stain, followed by varnish, but I like the combined convenience, look and cost of Polyshades ($12 per quart). Once the finish dried, I buffed the handrail smooth with superfine 0000-grade steel wool. In With the New  The first step to installing a new handrail is screwing the brackets to the wall. Instead of reusing the old black-painted cast-aluminum brackets, I upgraded to a more elegant look and bought three polished solid-brass brackets that cost just $7 apiece.  Starting with the bracket located at the bottom of the staircase, I aligned the bottom screw hole with the reference hole punched in the wall earlier. I used a drill/driver to fasten the bracket to the wall stud with the three screws provided (6). Then I moved on to install the bracket at the top of the staircase.  Now, before attaching the final bracket to the middle of the wall, I set the oak handrail on top of the two installed brackets. I screwed the U-shaped straps to the underside of the handrail, locking it onto the brackets, then installed the remaining hardware (7).  Once the handrail was securely attached to the brackets at each end, I installed the final bracket to support the middle of the handrail. Note that three brackets are required for handrails longer than 8 ft. The fresh paint and the new rail really dressed up the house&amp;#039;s front entrance. I don&amp;#039;t know why I waited so long--all it took was a few hours over the course of one weekend.   RELATED STORIES * DIY HOME: How to Build Your Own Stairs in 3 Easy Steps  * PLUS: How to Build Storage Under Your Stairs  * AS SEEN ON TV LAB TEST: Does the Get-A-Grip Work?    Remove old hardware  Fashion the returns  Upgrade the hardware  Upgrade the hardwareRELATED STORIES * DIY HOME: How to Build Your Own Stairs in 3 Easy Steps  * PLUS: How to Build Storage Under Your Stairs  * AS SEEN ON TV LAB TEST: Does the Get-A-Grip Work?   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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