Unclear myself as to the label, but I would take your px to your local zoning officer and get his or her input directly.

It seems to me railings could just be installed by drilling holes into the front and back of each flanking "arm", and again at the base of the stairs, but I have no idea what Codes would say. That seems to be how most metal railings are installed.

The strength of the existing concrete and brick would also be an important factor.

Nicole Curtis just called them concrete caps.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/video/player/0,1000643,DIY_33170_15181_77582-126314,00.html

The only pic I can find..
Not too many of those type stairs have railings.

My old place had these and the railing was set just inside the walls on the steps in a couple cases. and on top of the walls in a couple cases. (It was a series of brick houses from the 19th century).

The railings were a simple metal hand rail on post on each end and one in the middle. No spindles between.

Thank forboystoo - great video. Interesting, my house was built in 1926. Must have been popular back then.

Thank you palimpset - I'd not thought of just a metal hand railing! Will check to see if that will pass code here.

Thanks eibren - not sure what a zoning officer is. We have a village building inspector and he said I need railings.

Apparently you are involved in a project which needs a building permit. If you are not, there's no reason why you would need to do anything to your older steps (even though, if they are similar to the photos, they do not meet current building code requirements).

If you do need to add code-compliant railings, probably the easiest solution is the one suggested by palimpsest, i.e., new posts, handrail and pickets, with the posts anchored to the stair treads, adjacent to the stair pilasters.

The stair railing itself could be made from a variety of materials--wood, steel, reinforced PVC, etc. Choose whatever matches the rest of the exterior details of your house.

Good luck with your project.

This post was edited by virgilcarter on Sat, Sep 27, 14 at 18:05

Yes, virgilcartner - definitely a permit was required, in addition to mutiple inspections by the village building inspector, insurance and mortgage company.

Even if I did not need inspections, I'd still get railings to increase the safety of stairs.

Falls are the #1 cause of trauma deaths in our region. Many of those falls are on stairs.

I have always called them abutments.
I built single-level abutments for my wooden front steps.
Perhaps they could be called coped parapets, too (if rendered in masonry, and capped as yours are). I tried to find an exact definition, but failed.
Casey

Thought they were called "cheek walls" - low walls protecting the flanks of a flight of steps.

/\ I like "cheek walls". Very accurate; the narrow blocks at the ends of a keyboard (piano or organ) are called cheek blocks, so it has a precedent. Very excellent!
Casey

I don't know their real name, but my mother's house has them, and I like them -- I think they were super-common around the 30s-40s.

I've always thought of them as a place for flower pots. My mom always had great seasonal flowers leading up both sides of the wide staircase.

Having grown up in a Chicago brick bungalow, had them throughout my childhood. Still like to sit outside on them. Nice place to sit in front of the house, when you don't have a front porch.

Will also be turning them into a place for flower pots, once railings are in front of them.