This, that, and the other

[wroughtn_harv]

Believe it or not this puppy is heavy. In fact it was so heavy that neither of us felt comfortable raising it in place without at least one other strong body helping.

Client called a friend, the perfect friend for the day. Young and strong with enthusiasm and appreciation for my chili I'd brought for lunch. Eddie would've probably passed on a taste test of the chili. Steph would have fought us for seconds.

Then it was a matter of a trial fit and then fabricating a method for sliding it sideways for access to the wall side for working.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

The wall side had a hiccup. The kind of hiccup that makes or breaks an installation. The cedar runner needed to cut in and fitted to the wall.

This wasn't easy. In fact it was difficult.

The circular saw is a Makita beam saw, 16 inches. For ripping I picked up a forty eight tooth carbide tipped blade. After the big rip it was a combination of hand and power tools to remove the excess cedar.

The rest of the photos are rather rosey because I didn't realize the lense was contaminated with cedar dust.

Once the wall side was done it just came together.

 

[GaryBDavis]

Nice work Harv. One of the things I like about projects like this is near the end, you look at each other and discuss who gets to be the first one to walk up it. Tell MS I'll have to stop by and check your work next time I'm in town.

 

[weldingisfun]

What kind of finish are you going to use? If you plan on covering that as you progress, I'll be patient and wait. That really looks great!

 

[jinman]

Once the wall side was done it just came together.

Harvey, that's a nice job with the cedar (big understatements are my specialty ). Won't it have to dry some before final finishing?

Of course, you know I like big ol' thick steps like the ones going up to my deck. And since I'm approaching retirement age, I also like a handrail. Any plans for one? Do I see a long thin roughcut cedar handrail in the stairway's future?

 

[Bird]

It's beautiful! Of course I can tell you how good I am at visualizing things like that in advance. If it hadn't been for the pictures, I'd have no idea what you were talking about. But I, too, wondered about the wood drying or curing and whether it will shrink.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

The handrail is still up in the air because of two considerations. The first is time, we need something that fits and isn't too time consuming to fabricate and install. The other consideration is cost. This whole house has been built without borrowed money. In fact the reason the client/friend can afford me is we're trading labor, he's an artist and what I'm doing is an investment as important for me as my creativity is for him.

The top rail will be cedar. The posts will be cedar. And right now we're considering half inch hammered iron bar from King Metals for pickets or ballusters. They'll be painted the same color we used on the steel plate skeleton on the stairs. There's eighty feet of railing btw.

According to a friend who is very knowledgeable about the different woods Eastern Red Cedar has one of the lowest shrinking rates and is one of the more stable. It is absolutely stunning when just laquered, see photos. But we do understand that we need a finish more durable for the treads because it is soft.

 

[Knotbored]

The handrail is still up in the air because of two considerations. The first is time, we need something that fits and isn't too time consuming to fabricate and install. The other consideration is cost. This whole house has been built without borrowed money. In fact the reason the client/friend can afford me is we're trading labor, he's an artist and what I'm doing is an investment as important for me as my creativity is for him.

Harve- I made these loft railings from the turnings left from making plywood layers. They were just over 8' long and 4" round. They cost me less then $2 each (here in WA state.) The style looks like it would fit right in with your rustic style of home. Making the end tapers is tricky and time consuming-but they sure get a lot of compliments.
I am just now making a similar stair rail for that stairway, but the intersections will be notched instead of that tendon style I did on the loft (pictures next week or two.)

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Those look neat and clean. I'm sure if we had access to those turnings it would be a consideration because I have access to a router kit that does the turning of the ends of the rails and the boring of the posts. We're in clay and don't have access to much pine because it prefers sandy soil. Plus most of the sawmills have migrated deeper into the woody areas as our population has grown.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I've been busy with other things and haven't updated this thread for awhile.

What's happened is the client and myself both have other irons in the fire. Actually the way it's worked is I came up with a concept and an idea how to create it. The client has done the bulk of the work. There is a ton of detail in it and he's to be congratulated for being to attentive to the details.

Here are some photos of the bottom stairs and landing prior to installing the upper stairs.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Jim, you asked about the handrail. The client got one heckuva deal at King supply on some half inch hammered tubing pickets.

We'd laid out some hammered three quarter inch and half inch pickets with railing material on the floor. We agreed the thinner pickets looked better with the largeness of the cedar material. He went down to King supply and made out like a bandit. (a little over a buck a picket is stealing steel)

Attached is a picture of the finished and painted steel with the mortises for the runners of the upper stairs.

What I did was make a jig for cutting the mortises. Just a piece of four inch by quarter with a hole that enabled the plasma tip to cut the perfect hole. It was welded to another piece of plate at the right angle for the holes.

The thing to remember when attempting to space things evenly is that center to is exactly the same measurement as inside to inside or outside or outside. I knew I wanted a seven and a half inch rise so all I had to do was lay out lines on the steel for the runner and put the top of the jig on that line. At that point it was point and shoot.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

The other day we installed the upper stairs.

It started with attaching one of the runners top and bottom with the bottom tread and the other runner together with a couple of screws. Then we worked our way to the top one tread at a time. After we had the second tread in we tightened up the screws on the bottom tread. We had to do this to have enough movement in the unattached runner to allow for the tenons on the treads to fit in the mortises.

Once we had the stairs up we had to cut off the excess tenon material.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

It's amazing what a shot from a different angle gives you.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Then we installed the cedar runners. This is definately where the rubber meets the pavement. We're talking a bunch of cuts, itty bitty bites, some of them with a belt sander to get the fit we wanted.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

The second one went in easier of course, no fewer itty bitty bites, but we were used to chewing by then.

 

[rtdiggr]

The stairs are beautiful. The house looks pretty nice too.
Shane

 

[Maxfli]

Very nice work. We built a house in 2003, Hardwood oak floors. My wife breeds dogs and we have a boat load. We sealed the floors with Bona-Kiem Traffic. It is a 2 part (sealer with hardener) Polyurethane (I think) finish. I think it is the most indestructible floor finish out there. I sure it would give a very nice durable finish. Comes in satin or Gloss.

 

[jinman]

Jim, you asked about the handrail. The client got one heckuva deal at King supply on some half inch hammered tubing pickets.

We'd laid out some hammered three quarter inch and half inch pickets with railing material on the floor. We agreed the thinner pickets looked better with the largeness of the cedar material. He went down to King supply and made out like a bandit. (a little over a buck a picket is stealing steel)

Attached is a picture of the finished and painted steel with the mortises for the runners of the upper stairs.

Harvey, when I look at that house, I see lots of things I think I would not like. The style seems mixed and "disjointed" to me. However, I don't see anything you've done that I don't like. The steps are really coming together and I know that handrail is gonna be a winner. So, I'll have to hold my "verdict" on the house until I see it finished, but I can tell you that those steps are both unique and beautiful even if it will be a challenge to maintain them. Over the life of the house, I bet they get as many comments and compliments as any other feature...but what do I know?

I hope I don't offend anyone with my comments about the house. Because it's not my style doesn't make it bad, it just makes it different and unique.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Morning Jim,

I think what you're seeing Jim is so much of the house is in the unfinished stages. In the rooms they have finished it's nice and there is a flow.

One of the really interesting things about the house is they decided to build it themselves as they could with available funds. The house and property as I understand it is free and clear. This was initiated when a loan broker told them they were crazy to want to build such a singular house. It would be tough to resell.

They didn't want to build to resell. They wanted to build their home for their family and they have. It is singular but it is well thought out. They are spending a disproportionate amount of time and effort on the staircase according to most standards. However, when you consider their wishes to have something spectacular to surprise visitors and the first thing they see when they enter through the garage it makes a lot of sense.

The client is a picky sob. But he's just as picky with his work as he has been with the subs. I like picky customers. They appreciate good work and you know you're not putting a ruby in a sandbox when you do work for them. Everything except for my stairs is approved by engineers. He took a chance on me and I took a chance on a steel skeleton.

A side note is this house is about family. The kids picked and painted their own rooms for instance. Twenty years from now when they bring their kids home every room and every feature will be a story because they were not only there while it was being built, they were there building it.

 

[Bird]

I'm afraid I'd agree with jinman, although you've explained that they aren't building to resell. But how many of us have built or bought homes with the intention of staying there the rest of our lives, only to have circumstances, and our plans, change.

It's interesting to me to watch trends change, and maybe I even see trends where none exist. It seems when I was a youngster, two story homes were very popular, then in the '50s and '60s, very few two story homes were being built, and now we're going back to seeing many of them being built.

I can understand about more square footage of home on smaller lots, differences in HVAC systems, etc., but I wonder how many people who think they are buying or building for a lifetime consider how they'll like those stairs when they get older. I know my in-laws built a two story house in 1943 and stayed in it until he died and she could no longer live alone. However, she never saw the second floor of that house the last 10 years she lived in it; couldnt climb stairs.

In other words, I think jinman's place is beautiful, but I wouldn't consider buying either it or your client's place; just for different reasons.