While on vacation in Peru last month, I went to a restaurant that was a converted residence with an open-air courtyard. They left all of the rooms upstairs and turned them into a Bed & Breakfast and made all of the lower level the restaurant and bar. It was quite an eclectic place; each bedroom had a theme. All of the dining tables were white clawfoot bathtubs with live goldfish swimming in them, with a large piece of glass over them to eat your meal on. While walking up the stairs to the upper level to check out the themed rooms, I noticed the stone staircase had some very old stair rods. The carpet was no longer there, but the stair rods were. They had a simple bracket and ball finial on each end.
I’m sure I’ve seen stair rods before I started working at The Hardware Hut, but I never gave them much thought. Now that I am surrounded by hardware, I see them everywhere. If I disappear from the group, it is usually because I’m looking at a door or cabinet with interesting hardware on it.
Stair rods have not evolved much. They still consist of three components: brackets to hold the rods down, the rods themselves, and optional finials to give it a finished look.
For each stair you will need one pair of brackets, one stair rod, and one pair of finials.
Brackets
You can order brackets with either a hole on the end for the finials or without. They come in a variety of finishes as well as plain and simple, or with a more elaborate design on them such as the Greek Meander.
Rods
The rods are available in the same finishes as the brackets in three styles: plain, reeded, and rope. The reeded and rope are available in three sizes: 28-1/2″, 36″ & 48″. The plain is available in the 28-1/2″. Each rod is 5/8″ in diameter.
Finials
The finials screw onto the brackets with a bolt and are available in three designs: mushroom, pineapple, and urn.
See our hardware for more. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us or connect with us on Facebook.
