Serving Williamson, WV and nearby communities
A railing that holds when someone puts their weight on it, on stairs with even risers.
We'll reach out to schedule a look.
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The kind of stair & railing work we take on across Williamson and the surrounding West Virginia communities.
Jack Smith
4 months ago
Had them out after the back steps started going soft underfoot. He came and looked properly before quoting anything, and told me the structure underneath was still sound — so it ended up a smaller job than I had braced myself for. Turned up when he said he would, cleaned up after himself, and the price at the end was the price we agreed. Not much more you can ask for.
Owner replied
Skyler White
9 months ago
Called on a Tuesday and had someone out the same week. What I appreciated most was being told straight what needed doing now and what could safely wait until spring. No pressure and no trying to talk me into the bigger version of the job. It has held up fine through the winter since.
Trevor Alford
2 months ago
The quote came through itemised and the final bill matched it, which has honestly not been my experience with everyone around here. They worked around an awkward driveway without once making it my problem, and left the place tidier than they found it. Would have them back.
Kaleb Withrow
3 weeks ago
Fair price, showed up on time, tidy work. No complaints.
Sample reviews shown for illustration.
Send a few photos and we'll tell you what it'll take — free written quote, no pressure.
Stairs and the railings beside them are the one part of a house where a small mistake has real consequences. People climb by feel, not by looking, so a rail that gives or a riser that's half an inch off is a genuine fall risk rather than a cosmetic flaw.
Stair railings on interior staircases
Porch steps with railings on both sides
Wall-mounted handrails on basement stairs
Newel posts, balusters, and handrails
Deck and porch railings
New treads and risers on sound stringers
What you get when Mackwood does your stair railings — and what we won't do.
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From first call to finished work — no surprises in between.
Step 1
Call, text, or send a message with what you're looking to build or repair. No form to fill in and no call centre — it comes straight to us, and you'll get a real answer about whether it's something we do.
Step 2
A few photos are often enough to tell us what we're dealing with. Where it isn't — anything structural, anything hidden underneath — we'll come out and look properly before quoting rather than guessing from the kerb.
Step 3
You get a written quote that itemises the work, so you can see what you're paying for and what you aren't. If we think part of it isn't worth doing, we'll say so. No pressure and no surprises at the end.
Step 4
We turn up when we said we would, work clean, and haul the offcuts away with us. The job gets built to last in this climate — and we'll walk it with you before we call it finished.
We'll come and look, then tell you straight — including if it isn't worth doing.
Straight answers to what we get asked most.
It depends on the length of the run, how many posts it needs, and the finish. A plain treated rail on porch steps and an oak stair railing with turned balusters are very different jobs. We quote in writing after seeing what the rail has to fix into.
Almost always the newel post at the bottom. It has to be anchored into the framing, and once it's worked loose, tightening the visible fastener doesn't reach the actual problem. The fix means getting to the structure it bolts through.
Yes, and it's worth doing on any stair used daily. What matters is fixing it into studs or blocking rather than drywall or siding. A rail that looks right and isn't attached to anything solid is worse than none, because people trust it.
Yes, if the framing under it is sound. The posts have to bolt into that framing to hold anyone. If the porch or deck itself has gone soft, that needs dealing with first, and we'll tell you before quoting a rail on top of it.
Usually. Creaking is movement between the tread and the stringer or a loose wedge underneath. If we can get at the underside, it's fixed properly with blocks and adhesive rather than screwed from above. From the top only, it's a decent repair but not always permanent.
Yes, if the stringers underneath are sound. It's a common job and a fraction of a rebuild. We check the stringers before quoting it that way, because new treads on split or rotted stringers hide a structural problem.
Not usually if they're left alone, and often there physically isn't room. But when a railing or a flight is being rebuilt anyway, it's worth tightening baluster spacing and handrail height, particularly with small children or older family in the house.
Yes. Newels and balusters can be matched or turned to suit, and tread material and stain can be matched to existing floors. In an older house it's worth doing, because a modern staircase in a period hallway stands out badly.
It's the most common stair complaint we see and yes, it's a real trip hazard. People climb by rhythm, so an odd step at the end catches them out. Fixing it properly means recalculating the flight rather than shimming one step.
Yes. For rentals the brief is usually durable and straightforward: solid construction, simple railings, and safe spacing. That's a cheaper build than a feature staircase and it stands up to heavy use.
We handle stair railings across Williamson and the surrounding West Virginia communities.
The full picture
Most people are buying a result, not a list of tasks. Pick a topic to see how stair railings actually gets done and what moves the number.
Mackwood Construction handles the stair railing installation West Virginia homes need, inside and out. Railings and handrails lead: interior stair rails, porch and deck railings, and handrails added for safety and easier access. We also build and rebuild the stairs those railings belong to, from treads and risers down to the stringers and exterior steps.
What's involved
Most stair railing installation WV homeowners call us about starts with a rail that flexes when someone leans on it. The handrail is almost never the problem. It's the newel post, the heavy post at the bottom or top that everything else is anchored to.
A newel has to be fastened into the framing, not just screwed to the tread or the floor surface. A railing has to resist someone falling into it sideways, which is a much bigger load than a hand resting on it, and a post fixed only at the surface can't do that for long.
So on a new stair railing the post goes in first and goes in properly, tied to the structure below the floor. Fixing a loose rail on an existing stair has its own page under this one. This page covers new railings and the whole staircase.
A handrail is the cheapest safety improvement on most stairs, and a lot of stairs around here either don't have one or have one nobody can grip. Handrail installation is often a half-day job, and it changes how safe a flight is more than anything else short of a rebuild.
What makes a handrail work is simple. It has to be something you can close a hand around, it has to run the full length of the flight, and it has to be fixed into studs or blocking rather than drywall or siding. Where someone in the house is unsteady on their feet, a second rail on the other side is worth adding.
What's involved
A porch railing or deck railing does the same job as a stair guard, just with a longer drop and more weather. The posts carry the load, so they have to be bolted into the framing of the porch or deck rather than nailed to the outside of it.
Baluster spacing matters as much outside as in. The working rule is that a four-inch sphere shouldn't pass between them, which keeps a small child from getting through. Top rails get a slight slope or a cap so water runs off instead of sitting on the end grain.
This page covers the railing. Where the deck or porch under it needs building or rebuilding, that's deck and porch work, which we also do and cover on their own pages.
Older stairs were built to whatever was normal at the time, often steeper and narrower than anything built today. We won't tell you to rebuild a serviceable staircase to modern dimensions, and often there isn't room to.
But a few things are worth bringing up to standard whenever a railing or a flight is being done anyway, particularly in a house with small children or anyone unsteady on their feet.
What's involved
The rule that governs stair building is consistency. Every riser in a flight should be the same height and every tread the same depth. Your body learns the rhythm in the first two steps and then stops paying attention, which is exactly why an odd step catches people out.
Older stairs here often fail this, sometimes because they were built by eye and sometimes because new flooring went down at one end and left the bottom or top step shorter than the rest.
Fixing it means recalculating the whole flight from the total rise, not adjusting one step. That's more work than it sounds, and it's the difference between stairs that feel right and stairs you have to think about.
Outside stairs live a harder life than inside ones. They take rain and snow directly, they're often built over ground that moves, and the bottom step sits where water collects.
The failures follow a pattern. Stringers rot from the bottom up where they meet the ground or a pad. Treads soften in the middle where water sits. And the whole flight starts to lean when whatever it's bearing on settles, which around here is often a patio block on soil rather than a proper footing.
When we rebuild exterior stairs we get the stringers up off the ground on a proper bearing, pitch the treads very slightly so water runs off, and use material rated for the exposure it's actually getting. Railing posts get tied into the stringers.
The answer is in the structure. Stringers are the sawtooth boards carrying the whole flight. If they're sound, stair repair means replacing treads and risers, which is a straightforward job at a fraction of the cost of a rebuild.
If the stringers have split at the notches, rotted at the base, or the flight has racked out of square, new treads on top of that are cosmetic work over a structural problem. We'll show you which one you're looking at before quoting either.
Interior stairs are usually built with a softwood carriage and finished with hardwood treads if they're on show, or painted pine and carpet if they're not. Oak is the standard tread material and takes wear well. For exterior stairs, pressure-treated lumber rated for ground contact is the default. Cedar looks better and costs more.
A staircase remodel doesn't always mean a new staircase. On a sound flight, new treads and risers, new balusters, and a different handrail profile change a room more than most things costing the same. Newels and balusters can be matched to existing woodwork, and in an older house that's worth doing.
Decide early whether the stairs are painted or clear-finished, because it changes what material makes sense.
A railing is priced on the run and the number of posts. A staircase is priced on the flight rather than the step, because most of the work is in the layout and the stringers rather than the treads.
What's involved
The stairs people put up with longest are the ones nobody sees. Basement flights in older houses here are often steep, open-backed, and built with whatever was to hand. Adding closed risers, a proper graspable handrail, and better lighting is a cheap job that changes how safe the flight is. Where the treads have gone soft from damp, find the moisture source before rebuilding.
Attic access is a different question. A pull-down stair has a rated load capacity, and the older ones are often well below what people carry up them. If yours flexes, replace it.
When a staircase is being moved or built new, total run and headroom decide what's possible, and in a low-ceilinged older house the opening above often has to be enlarged. We check both before quoting.
We're based in Williamson, covering Mingo and Logan counties within about an hour's drive: Chattaroy, Matewan, Delbarton, Lenore, Kermit, Logan, Holden, Chapmanville, Man, and the communities between. West Virginia only.
Looking for a stair builder usually turns up either general handymen or specialist stair companies hours away. We're local, and railings and stairs are work we do regularly rather than occasionally. A few details help before the visit.
What's involved
Tell us what you're building or repairing and get a clear, no-pressure quote. Free quotes, honest answers, and craftsmanship built to last.
