A stair rod bracket — Dutch knoloog — is a screw with an eye through which a stair rod passes, fixing the rod to the tread or riser. The eye forms the bracket and the thread below it bites into the timber of the stair. Two are needed per step, one at each side, set exactly in the internal angle between tread and riser.
The rod in turn holds the stair runner in place. A runner protects the treads from wear, deadens footfall noise and makes the stair less slippery. Brackets come in brass, bronze, chrome, nickel and black finishes, usually in both matt and polished versions.
Where it is used
- Fitted stair runners on timber stairs, particularly on older and listed staircases
- Restoration work, where a historic runner with rods is part of the character of the house
- Situations where the runner must stay removable — for cleaning or to inspect the tread itself
Besides the round eye there is a triangular version that pulls the runner more firmly into the angle. If the runner is to be fixed permanently, runner pins can be used instead of rods.
Practical tips
- Drill a pilot hole — especially in hardwood treads; driven straight into solid timber the bracket splits the tread nose or snaps off
- Set out once, then use a jig — brackets that are not the same distance from each string leave the rods crooked, and over a full flight that shows immediately
- Choose the rod length from the clear distance between the two eyes and allow for the finials
- Pull the runner tight into the angle — a runner that does not sit properly in the internal angle creeps, and that is the main cause of falls on a carpeted stair
- Check the fixings periodically — rods sit exactly where the stair takes most wear
Related terms
- Stairs
- Tread
- Going
- Rise
- Walking line
- Stair string
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