--=-=-=

Measuring southward from the bullnose along my stairs to near the
center of one of the two laminate beam components:

   2.0 in   Bullnose to surface of sheetrock
    .5 in   Thickness of sheetrock
    .75 in  Into the laminate beam
  ---------
   3.25 in  From bullnose to centers of newel bolts

Measuring east to west along the edge of the stairs:

 173.0 in   East wall to floor bullnose at top of stair
   3.25 in  From bullnose to center of newel bolt, per above arithmetic
   2.5 in   From center of five-inch newel to its edge
-----------
 178.75 in  Width of entire banister system

In my plans of the banister system (diagram attached), each stanza of
five spindles has the width:

   7.5 in   = 1.5 in * 5 square spindles
   5.0 in   = 1.25 in * 4 gaps between spindles
   6.47 in  = 3.235 in * 2 gaps between an outside spindle and the stanza edge
  ---------
  18.97 in  Width of a stanza, not including the balister or newel adjacent

So the whole system is of length:

  15.0 in   = 5 in * 3 newels
  12.0 in   = 2 in * 6 balisters
 151.76 in  = 18.97 * 8 stanzas
-----------
 178.76 in  Width of entire system

These dimensions therefore produce a banister system whose width varys
by only a hundredth from the width we need to cover.  An image of the
system, showing its attractive proportions, is attached.  (Its heights
are: 6-inch stanza base; 3-inch stanza top; 1.5-inch rail height; top
of rail at 37 inches from floor; top of newel box at 38 inches from
floor; and newel cap being a one-inch-high box atop which is a
one-inch high pyramid.)