Stair spindles

[Roxie]

Help/advice required.
I have been approached to replace/repair a broken stair spindle, second one up in 'photo. My problem, never having tackled stairs before, is how do I get the offending spindle out? I would imagine that the owner would like to have the least amount of disruption as possible, but eggs and omelettes come to mind.
Any ideas gratefully received.

John

 

[carlb40]

Do you need to save it to match it?

No - cut it in the centre, and carefully cut around the spindle and the spacer/ filler strip between the 1st/2nd spindle. Pop a thin piece of ply behind it and gently push down towards the 3rd spindle. That should release both the spindle and filler strip. Hopefully they are just nailed not nailed and glued.
Then do the same for the top half.

If you need to save it then you need to cut the paint as above. Then using a thin scraper try to prise the spacers/filler strips out. Then with a block of wood on the bottom of the spindle, gently tap it with a hammer towards the 1st spindle.

 

[Spindle]

Hi

It's difficult to see from the photo how the spindles are secured - my advice would be to cut through the centre of the damaged one and remove it, doing this should reveal how it was retained - mine are retained by mitred infill blocks. If this is the case it looks like you could get away with just removing one from the lower side of the bottom of the spindle.

Regards Mick