My Grandma has a 40 year old iron railing going up her front steps. It completely rusted out at the 2 connection points and came off. There was a connection point at the top and bottom into the top of the concrete stairs. I haven't measured yet, but I think it is a 6-8 foot railing (there are maybe 6-8 steps) and is a straight shot (no turns). My question is, is there any way to easily DYI replace this with an aluminum or vinyl railing rather than calling someone out? By easy I mean using the existing holes in the concrete and not drilling new holes on the top or side of the stairs, which also seems feasible.

Hi. I'm basically making a simple gate for the patio to replace the old one that was exactly the same but someone cut the angles of the joint slightly off so it never was completely square and the wood is a little rotted and old. I believe it's made from 4 basic 2x4's joined together at 45 degree angles and then the lattice forms the body of the gate for which instead of wood I'll be using some left over vinyl lattice that I have from making another gate over. I'm using a "simple square" (I think it's called) to make the 45 degree angles. Is it ok to use my new circular saw to make the 45 degree cuts? I was going to use long nails to hold the joint together, but is there a better method? After that I'll use some brackets to reinforce the joints. Should I use wood glue to hold the joints together?