Drilling into wood with/against grain

9 years ago

I asked this in the Home Repair forum and double posting here.

I am planning a glass railing for my stairs, the base of the railing is straight so we need to build a sort of "ramp" to fill the gaps between the steps, which the base will sit on. My contractor cut triangle blocks to fill the gaps, as shown in the photos below.

My handyman saw this and was concerned that if I drill bolts into the wood parallel to the wood grain the blocks could weaken and split. He said the wood blocks should have been cut in the other direction so that the bolts go in perpendicular to the wood grain.

Is my handyman right? Does it make a difference? I know that cutting those wood blocks was not easy and my contractor will not be happy about having to start from scratch. But if he did it wrong then he'll have to do it again because the worst thing would be for my glass rail to fail on account of his mistake.

Keep in mind that the blocks will first have to be attached to the stairs and then the base will be bolted to the blocks. Am I OK or does this need to be redone?

Featured Answer

User

9 years ago

A hardwood like maple or oak could be used, at probably quadruple the cost of the framing lumber in use now. However, wood is made of fibers aligned in order---and every wood is susceptible to splitting. If a hard wood were to be used in this situation, the probability of splitting is only slightly less possible.

The positioning and the types of screws I recommended are done because I have a fair amount of experience using screws and framing lumber, as well as screws and hardwoods. That means I experienced a lot of splitting and developed methods to minimize that splitting.

Due to the physical properties of wood, preventing splitting is impossible. It can be minimized using the proper placement, techniques, and materials.

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Comments (9)

Sammy
9 years ago
This seems rather jury rigged and therefore unsafe. Who designed the railing system? Can you post pics of the plans?
uscpsycho
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I'm not sure what you mean by who designed the railing system. It's a basic glass rail shoe; the shoe bolts to the floor and the glass is inserted into the shoe. I have no plans for this. The company installing the glass railing instructed us to create a flat plane for the glass "shoe" to be mounted to.

In these pictures, the wood blocks are not bolted down yet, if that's what you meant by looking jury-rigged.

I just noticed my second photo was not attached, here is a side view.
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User
9 years ago
I understand the handyman's concern, but using framing lumber for that purpose will be prone to splitting regardless of grain orientation.

The biggest probability for splitting will be when the blocks are screwed to the treads/risers. Predrilling and countersinking each screw hole for that attachment will lessen the possibility of a split. Using 3" screws located so an inch of the threads are embedded in the tread/riser will also minimize splitting. Also, angling the screw as close to 90° from the flat surface of the blocks and being very careful when cinching the screws tight will lessen splitting.

The screws mounting the glass shoe should not be a problem, but predrilling is a good idea. Predrilling in hardwood is recommended to use a drill bit the size of the shank(solid part minus threads). Predrilling in soft wood(framing lumber) needs a smaller size bit, since the threads have less solid material in which to fasten. A 1/8" bit is good for a 3" number 8 deck screw in soft wood.
Fori
9 years ago
I'd be concerned that your contractor thought this was hard to do!

(If he has to redo it, at least he can use the existing blocks for templates.)
uscpsycho
Original Author
9 years ago
@handymac Everything you said references minimizing the "possibility" of splitting. I want to eliminate the possibility of splitting. Do you have any suggestions? When you said "using framing lumber for that purpose will be prone to splitting regardless of grain orientation" are you implying that there is another alternative that will not be prone to splitting?

@fori - I think it was just time consuming to cut all the blocks so that the plane was perfectly flat. Also, this was cut out of a much thicker piece of lumber so each piece also had to be "sliced" in addition to the form being cut out. I'm not explaining that right but hopefully you get what I'm saying.
uscpsycho
Original Author
9 years ago
So you are saying A) The current orientation used for the blocks (with/against grain) isn't an issue and B) Starting over with hard wood isn't going to offer much of a benefit. C) The most important thing at this point is to properly secure everything together. Correct?

Two questions...

Is the risk of splitting only while everything is being screwed together? So if I get everything secured am I good to go? Or is there always a risk of splitting down the road?

If you were creating a base for the glass rail shoe, would you go about it a different way or do you think these wood triangle blocks are the best way?
User
9 years ago
I have never installed a glass rail. The base is designed to secure the bottom of the glass, that means as long as the base is secure, the glass railing is secure.

Your contractor did a great job cutting the blocks to fit and provide a straight and even surface to which the base can be installed.As long as the long triangle mounting screws do not split the triangles and each triangle is firmly secured to each tread and riser, I think that is sufficient.

If the base mounting screws will be located with two screws in the middle of each triangle(about 3" apart), I see no reason the installation would not be secure enough for average use.

Many small pieces can be assembled together to make a large stable surface.
toxcrusadr
9 years ago
Agree...and I don't actually see how you could make these blocks with the grain going the other way, in the first place. If you were to get a beam large enough to slice those triangles out of with the grain going horizontally, it would be a very large piece of stock, first of all. And then you have triangles prone to splitting in the other direction - horizontally. As a result I like this design better.