If it makes you feel any better, I think the lower height of the guardrail is more of a safety issue for average to tall adults who could possibly fall over it, as opposed to children being able to climb over it. If you do want to raise it, however, while preserving what's there, a really good carpenter is the person to call. Check with historic preservation societies in your area; they may be able to recommend someone!

The height of a Bannister is not arbitrary! It is regulated by construction and local codes. Although this isn't a new home that you are building, it would be good to follow as a minimum what is in your local jurisdiction code. I can tell you that in commercial and other types of facilities projects the railing on a stair landing is set usually at 44". It may be different in residential.

Now as far as "half wall" versus "woodwork" I would advise a half wall capped with a 1" thick piece of wood, the exact thickness of the new wall and a 1/2"x 1/2" reveal. The cap should be same material and finish of the existing railing. You would have to find the proper transition between the wood post at the top and your new wood cap.

Or, if you find a good carpenter who knows what they are doing, investigate the possibility in the attached photo. I did not show it, but the post at the top must be made higher as well.

Do not do a half wall behind it!! If you want to save the look of your home as you are in a Victorian home, look for a carpenter in your area to help out. This could be done to raise the height and keep the look.

Ken

In my previous post I was referring to a half wall instead of and not behind the existing banister.

^^genius^^

First, I have to point out that the child safety gate (behind the railing) is tested by a CPSC-accepted, third party laboratory for compliance with all applicable children's product safety rules, and is still shorter than the current railing.

Second, the International Building Code's requirements for commercial buildings is 42", and residential is only 36". That does not mean your local code could not have been amended to 42" for NEW construction, but unlikely. Furthermore, that does not apply to existing houses unless you dismantle the railing and rebuild it.

http://legacycodes.iccsafe.org/app/book/content/2015-I-Codes/2015%20IBC%20HTML/Chapter%2010.html

Ya, I know its probably fine from a code standpoint but I'm 6' tall, my wife is 5'10" and my twins are starting to be burgeoning rock climbers. We'd feel safer if we went to essentially commercial code which i think is 42". I think we'll find a carpenter to add on to the top and maintain what we got. thanks for the help.

your children can climb over anything, eventually. but to make your family feel more secure from unintended falling over the top, you could have the whole balustrade removed and add material below, and then reinstall the original on top. i recall they did exactly this for the same reason, on This Old House a couple years ago on a house in Arlington MA. (not this past season, also Arlington MA).

our house is 147 years old, and our railing is also very low. i'm short, and i feel how crazy it is. for folks who havent lived in a truly 'low rail' house, you have no idea how disconcerting it can be.

Yes, there are stair experts in Illinois (where are you?) and plenty of places to purchase period appropriate salvage materials. However, to do this without the alterations being noticeable to almost everyone, will be expensive.

I really like the plexiglass and zip ties idea - relatively cheap, unobstrusive and completely reversible.

Childproofing a house is difficult because a true little rascal has much more ingenuity than you can ever imagine. For example, adding on to the top rail means that you have a horizontal ladder step at 29 inches just to help them get over the railing. And, why work to climb over the railing when just a couple feet away is a lovely banister to slide down? or, steps to fall down? You might want to consider a temporary railing that goes all the way across the top of the stairs with a walk through gate, self closing hinges, and childproof latch mechanism