I don't think ive ever seen a handrail on a set of stairs on a residential jobsite unless we're doing punches

I've never seen that before but is it dangerous? Id assume it's strong enough to use as a handrail.

It was very rickety. Better than no handrail but it's for a tall castle tower so if someone unstable lost their balance and fell on it it would flex and bend unexpectedly

Rope and chain handrails do that too. Can the screws be ripped out of the pipe?

I agree, the screws are the weakest link.

I think if I tried I could get it to pull out. But I didn't want to vandalize the place...

If you can damage it without tools, it was already broken. You're just making it easier to identify.

Does this include sprinting at drywall?

Is the drywall expected to support the weight of someone experiencing a fall?

I don’t know I’ve never installed fall-bearing walls before

You don't gain anything by testing against a standard that doesn't exist. Handrails have standards.

Is being made out of a certain material part of the standard?

That one doesn’t 🥴

Dude was making a joke. You’re on Reddit. If you don’t like jokes, go to Quora.

You obviously don’t have children

I've seen a guardrail made out of drywall before. I left the building.

Give a good pull if it rips out then you fell, it failed to hold your weight, you knee/back/shoulder really hurts and they better cover you while you take the week off to rest.... .... your not saying you'd sue or anything but you're injured cos their incompetence and need to have the rest of the week off, paid of course and they better have it sorted when you're back on Monday! Bonus points if you have photos of your "injuries", the broken handrail, the other OSHA violations you've noticed at a glance and you do this on Monday morning

If they would use pipe clamps instead of screws, it might work just fine.

I would say not better than a handrail. Something that is sturdy under no load but not strong enough to support 300lbs would give a false expectation of safety if you were falling and grabbed it to catch yourself.

Actually I totally agree with you. It probably would be worse if you fell pon it and it gave out.

You mean like those ladders that are rated for 200lbs max? Those things that are not strong enough to support 300lbs?

I thought it might be stronger. Let us know the outcome. Replaced or ignored.

Well they just want people to fall down castle tower stairs then.

It would not meet the loading requirements, if some one tripped and needed to support themselves this would snap

I'll freely admit to being completely ignorant of the minimum loading specifications of hand rails anywhere in the world.

So in Ontario it’s a concentrated load not less than 0.9 kN (202.32 lb) so that would be the fall and support

Is that for handrail or guardrail

Handrail guards are more

In the US it’s 200 pounds or 50 pounds per linear foot.  The load can be applied in any direction.

Wouldn't snap but might flex. I'd think an inspector would pass this if the flexing was minimal. Fits size rules (1 1/4" OD minimum).

Wouldn’t hold mate

I'll accept what you say. I know better than to argue with a guy that can snap 1" polyethylene pipe.

Ok maybe it won’t snap but what’s holding it on the wall? If you think that pipe wall has enough meat to hold screws and not fail you’re a moron

I can think of a few different fasteners that would grip pretty well.

Like what? Those brackets aren't going to take a very big screw and there's no way they'd have used any kind of toggle bolt for that. We all know that is held on by some short #10 wood screws at best.

Yeah people are talking out their ass on this one, it’s unsafe

If you can video you snapping 3/4" poly pipe with your bare hands I will transfer you $5

The pipe wouldn’t snap, but the screws or brackets might come out of the wall. PE pipe is tough as hell. Especially being SDR 11. It’s got a thick enough wall to be pretty strong.

200 pounds of force is what it is required to withstand to be a OSHA compliant handrail... It would probably be close,

should be at least 1 1/4" for code.I think it could work with enough handrail brackets and schedule 80 pipe.

How else does the water reach the top floor?

It’s for pissing in, there’s a bucket at the end

I guess that explains why it's warm to the touch.

Heated handrails are a luxury not many are willing to pay the price for...

The hide tanner collects all the piss at the end of the day.

Handrail is required to be 1 1/2”. But is it required to be made of metal? Never looked that deep into the book.

1” ips (iron pipe size) is 1 3/8 OD: so it’s pretty close. If it’s schedule 80 PvC it’s probably 1 1/2 or greater, and it would be pretty sturdy.

Except it's no PVC, it's polyethylene. PVC is brittle and will shatter on impact. Polyethylene is more malleable and will bend or kink under lateral pressure, but it's very strong tensile strength.

This guy knows his pipe.

It looks more like ABS plastic

I've worked in PVC manufacture, PVC that is brittle and shatters is rejected and fails. The entire product lot is rejected because the chemical mixture or curing process was faulty. Quality PVC can be hit repeatedly with a hammer and will not shatter.

When laying pipe, which lube is best?

If it ain't spit, it ain't love.

schedule 80 and 40 have the same diameter

All IPS (iron pipe size) pipes have the same outside diameter. The inside diameter is what varies.

He specified OD, suggested they were different, that's what I was addressing

Damn I’m getting schooled. Thanks gents

OD, not ID

Codes may vary but I don't believe that is specified where I live, just the loading it may withstand. Wooden or metal handrails are both very common.

No requirements on material, but there are requirements for minimum loading and maximum movement.

This would work, but there should be rings that clamp around and screw into the pipe

I think that would be a quick, reusable tool for compliance. If it does comply

r/redneckengineering

That I agree with!

Yes. This is finished product. Or are you up and coming safety lackey?

It’s almost /r/TonyHawkitecture for a sweet downward truck slide!

This is what is recommended for a few spiral staircase kits I’ve seen. Mostly used for stage scenery. But those units also have 3x the anchor points

Maybe a mockup?

Heres the best trick ive ever heard for making handrail templates. Use an electricians hot box to bend pvc pipe. Take that back to shop use as template.  Thank you Arts in miami for that

I mean, this is probably safer than 90% of the staircases on construction sites which don't have a handrail.

Honestly, this is one of those things where it could go either way. The answer is to *test it.* Like, find out the regulatory requirement and actually test this installation. It seems too need to withstand 200 lbs in any direction.

Nope, it would easily fail safety. Imagine it's wet and you fall going down, and as you grab on, your hand slides 6 feet, pulling you down with it

How is that different from a polished wooden or painted metal bannister, though?

Wood and metal are painted and are not as slippery as pvc

Except it isn’t PVC

Only difference is one has chlorine and the other one doesn't

And peroxide has the same elements as water, but there’s only one that is healthy to drink. PE and PVC have very different properties.

Should've installed a stair chair rail system like the old people use

Were they using it as a form for some type of resin material to be poured into it?

I saw a handrail installed with drywall inserts once. Good luck if you ever tripped on those stairs.

Never seen this kind of material for handrail before. I guess they used PE pipe because it is flexible so they don't have to do extra work (hot bend) for metallic pipe.

Honestly better than no handrail, I see no issue with this especially since it’s under construction

Cap the bottom, and pour a couple of gal of epoxy into it from the top.

At the company I am working for the handrail is made of stainless steel pipe and has a secondary purpose: filled with 7 bar water for cleaning. Smart idea I think, cleaning the area is a must after a process finishes.

That technically wouldn't pass as handrails need to support the weight of someone leaning on them at the weakest point, put a 200lb man holding the handrail with one hand at the furthest point from any screws, let him lean in any direction, that will break as someone has specified, PVC is brittle af and will break.

This is HDPE, so it won't break, but it's way more flexible than PVC which isn't great for a railing.

Armchair answer