Copper tube railings an offbeat way to cut construction costs

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When the 1991 Oakland, Calif., hills fire destroyed his home, lawyer James Molesky embarked on building a two-story Arts & Crafts-style replacement home. Along the way, he discovered offbeat ways to reduce costs.

With the help of designer Paul Discoe, who created a lavish compound in the style of a Japanese temple for Oracle founder Larry Ellison and recently designed Ippuku, a Japanese pub in Berkeley, Calif., Molesky found recycled timber beams and new, unsealed telephone poles to use as posts.

When the cost of a seamless, 26-foot custom bronze railing for a circular staircase at the center of the house proved prohibitive, Molesky chose Cerro Flow Products' 1-1/2-inch-diameter soft, flexible Type L copper tubing (typically used for underground water mains) for his handrail.

"It comes in a long coil," he said.

Although they can be ordered and cut to length, soft copper tube coils are often sold in standard lengths.

Seven solid brass supports for the railing are off-the-shelf Baldwin products made just for rounded wood or metal railings.

How did Molesky assemble it all? After the supports were lag-bolted to the stair wall, he curved the copper tubing to the proper radius by hand and laid it on the supports. He then marked and drilled screw holes to pop blind rivet nuts into the tubing, and finally connected the railing to each support with brass machine screws.

Molesky then soldered standard 90-degree copper elbows to each end of the long railing. The top end curves into the plaster wall; the lower end culminates in a railing post made from a telephone-pole remnant.

"I also used short lengths of 1-1/2-inch straight copper pipe to connect the elbows to the wall and to the post," Molesky said.

At a glance

Expert opinion: Type L flexible tubing is sold in various lengths up to 100 feet. It takes two to three people to work the soft coil comfortably. The terms "soft" and "flexible" are misnomers: the 99 percent copper tubing is annealed (not tempered) and is thus only slightly softer than rigid tempered copper pipe. But it can be bent by hand or with a tool. "In my experience, you can only bend it once," Molesky says.

(According to California building codes, all railings must have closed curved ends to prevent fire hoses from snagging in them.)

Pros: Copper tubes and pipes develop a natural patina and in time can look like more expensive bronze. Copper does not corrode and won't burn easily or give off toxic fumes.

Cons: 100-foot soft copper Type L 1-1/2-inch tubing weighs more than 100 pounds. Long tubing lengths are "too heavy to easily manage" without extra hands, Molesky says.

Prices: Cost varies according to dimensions; 1-1/2-inch-diameter soft copper Type L tubing coil costs about $25 per foot.

Resources: www.cerroflow.com; www.baldwinbrasshardware.com.

(E-mail Zahid Sardar at home(at)sfchronicle.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

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