Ideas for a temporary stair railing?

First, Pipe with bent pieces/joints (they look like elbows) and flanges to attach to the wood would be very sturdy. You can get pipe cut at most hardware stores, and they can sometimes thread it for you too so that all of the pieces will screw together. Then you could take it all apart and use it for something else, like a tool rack in the garage or a plant frame/trellis outside later...

Go for galvanized metal pipe - I don't recommend pvc plastic pipehere if your mom really needs something to hold onto, whether hauling herself up or leaning on them to go down. Things like stairs and older people almost need to be OVERBUILT for safety (I have an older mom who needs balance help) .It's fine for most lightweight use, but can't take any kind of heavy bending/pulling and the attachment would be easy to pull the screws out of the wood with a few good hauls or leaning stress..

I'd recommend also something on both sides even if the user is strictly right or left handed since going up AND down will use both sides. Also, having both sides "enclosed" with a railing can turn a potentially bad fall completely off the sides of the steps into a potential ability to have the 2nd bar hold her up and on the steps (does that make sense?:)). If the hands aren't full, sometimes it IS nice to be able to have hands on both railings at the same time, esp if balance is an issue... That right hand side looks like a slope so that's the side I'd worry about most for a loss of balance/fall situation.

Secondly, it looks like there's only wood on the soil level, so maybe something like a very tall, upside-down narrow U shape screwed into the wood is the best idea here. It can be hard to attach to cement and you don't want to damage your brick, I'm guessing? Make the U tall enough that she can grab it from the top step without having to lean forward to grab it (leaning on steps=no-no! :)). Choose a pipe diameter that she can really grip with her full hand, like 2-3" of galvanized pipe. Not pretty, but it's temporary...

3rd idea, depending on your skills would be to cover the steps with a plywood and 2x4 ramp and attach railings (wood or pipe) into some of the thicker wood. Ramps can be nice for people who have trouble lifting their feet high or having all their weight on one foot. It also makes coming home with a wheelie shopping bag or construction dolly MUCH easier, since it looks like you're having some more work done?

Good Luck! Moms are worth taking care of!

Thank you for your caring and informative response. I've been wanting to add a rail for my mother-in-law to my porch as well. You've given me some great ideas!

I was going to suggest using the galvanized pipe also. Just used it to make the leg assembly for my kitchen table and matching bench and very sturdy. Both Lowes and Home Depot carry a pretty good selection of sizes and some have the equipment to cut to size. Let me just add that it comes with a greasy coating that should be cleaned off with Simple Green or similar cleaner. I spray painted mine with Rustoleum spray paint in "Hammered" but turned out to be more of a gun metal gray instead of black but loved it. Good luck!

Go to a "RE-STORE" if you have one. Or .look for some used ones in Goodwill. Go on line and see if anybody has a used one for sale. What you would have to purchase to do something else would cost about as much as finding a used one. Give it a try. Maybe a railing store has some taken off of a previous job. You need something substantial.

If you need more than the pipe to keep kids from falling off (it is difficult to tell from the picture) I bought lattice at H.D. or Lowes and tied it too the railings that I didn't want my granddaughter to fall through.