Main
Stairs 1st Run
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Oh how far
these have come. Of things that are truly outstanding, the stairs are
right on the top of the list!! You can see the layers of blue and brown paint, the missing spindles or those that are not spaced correctly and the broken newel posts. What could not be seen was the worse shape these stairs were in under the risers Notice the radiator, nearly 6ft long and 4ft high by 18" deep!! That is lumber stacked on it. |
| After doing major work in the basement to fix the floor joists and replacing all the decking, I finally pulled the stairs and stripped each piece. A major undertaking as all my friends said I should just fix them in place!! The newels have no urethane on them yet, while the treads and risers (a none too pretty wood of some kind) have a coat of stain and multiple coats of urethane. |
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A view from
the top shows a little of the unique construction. The stair itself is
actually free floating between the newel post and the outer walls. The
two stringers I have the treads on were not originally in contact with the
stairs. They carried the weight of the landings between levels.
A fitted stringer between the newels provided structural support to the
stairs themselves.
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| The "show"
part of the stairs is all Cherry. Much deeper red than any picture can
show unfortunately. The casings were in three parts, two shown here
and a beaded board covering the center. The bead board below was scrap
pieces of wood originally destined for trim pieces as many were "finished"
on both sides. The second board in from the left is a full 24" tall by 22" wide!! |
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View of the
first run and first newel light.
The handrail to the lower newel is not installed.
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Of course it is not
ALL easy.
Originally, the bead board was just a pretty covering for the area under the first run but is that good enough for the Vockery's?? Noooo We needed another closet, a small, hidden closet where one had never been before!! Notice the discoloration of the wood caused by the radiator |
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To get the bead
board to lay flat, I screwed it to 3/4" Oak Plywood. Of course it can
not just swing open as it has to fit flush in the opening and not have a big
gap all around. My solution was to mount the door on slides so that it
can be pulled out a few inches before opening to allow clearance from the
trim on the wall and the floor (which is less than perfectly flat).
Will probably add two more slides in the middle to provide additional
support to the 100lb door.
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