Quote Originally Posted by andrew whicker View Post
John,

Do you ever have the stand alone post go thru the floor and attach it directly to the joists below?
Andrew, in hindsight I could have done it that way on this job had I built the newel with a large tenon on the bottom. And w/o a doubt that gives the strongest connection possible. I've seen some old houses where the newel has a big round tenon on the bottom that goes through the floor and blocking below it that spans between two joists, and is held in place by a big tapered wedge through the tenon. That allows the joint to be tightened, if needed. No matter how it's done, you need a really solid connection on those unsupported newels.

John