Child-proofing the staircase

Protective bars between high stair steps

Submitted by: Tobias, Oberurnen, Switzerland

Online since: 27/05/2014

Stairs as accident hazard

We have stairs with massive oak steps in our house. The gaps between the steps are so high that our little kids are inclined to crawl through them. As long that they are that little, we need protective bars between the steps. I didn't want to deform the stairs too much through drilling into the wood steps or steel sides. Then, I came up with the following solution:

In between each step we now have a wooden bar into which I screwed a GTN-32: Neodymium pot magnet Ø 32 mm with threaded stud on the left and right. The bar is placed between the steel sides and when in position, the magnets can be unscrewed a little bit and adjusted to sit flush with the steel sides. This way the bars are mounted mechanically and magnetically. Each magnet has an adhesive force of 39kg!

You can see in the video how well the bars are fastened - no child can move them.

Precise implementation

The detailed construction looks like this:

Drill into bars on both sides. Watch out! Both drill axes have to be EXACTLY parallel! (Consult carpenter!)

Screw right-handed threaded sleeves into the drill holes. In Switzerland, threaded sleeves are available at Jumbo or in the Hasler Proficenter.

Then, screw the pot magnets into the threaded sleeves.

The wood bar with the pot magnets on the left and right has to fit tightly between the steel sides. My experience (I had 26 steps!): The distance between the steel plates varies. Therefore, I sometimes had to shorten the wood bars up to 4 mm and unscrew the pot magnets about 1-2 mm.

Note regarding the customer project shown:
This magnet project is an application implemented by a customer. The specific parameters for this application – in particular the number, size, arrangement and adhesive force of the magnets, the material, nature and thickness of the mounting surface, dead loads and additional loads, lever actions, as well as environmental and operating conditions – may vary from project to project, and the exact conditions at the customer’s site are unknown to us. Consequently, the presentation of this project does not constitute technical guidance, an agreement on the legal and factual nature, a guarantee or an assurance that a comparable design would be suitable, sufficiently strong or safe under different conditions.

Before any adaptation to another project, it is the sole responsibility of the user to competently assess the specific local and technical conditions. Where necessary, appropriate safety measures must be put in place and professional advice must be sought. Anyone considering a similar application is responsible for verifying the conditions of use specific to their project and for selecting the necessary safety measures.

Our Customer Service will be happy to advise you on selecting suitable magnets, taking your project requirements into account.