stairs

It's been a bit too long since I've written a post on the actual building happening around these parts.

One of the most exciting projects underway are the cantilevered stairs taking us from the main floor to the upper floor of the house.

For months now, we've been getting to the upper levels like this:

Those of us at the job site every day have become pretty accustomed to this method, but newcomers clearly get a little nervous heading up and down this way.

:: The first step of replacing that ladder with stairs was to order and pick up the steel. This was no small feat and for some inexplicable reason required 3 or 4 trips to the steel suppliers.

:: Then, the steel was fabricated on site

:: We ended up with finished result like this ...

... and by-product like this

:: The large and densely heavy 1/2 inch by 12 inch plates were then attached to the walls with large screws and the finished result was this gorgeous sort of modernist mountain skyline that my non-wide angle lens only barely captures. These plates will carry the cantilevered load of the stairs on the structure of the walls.

:: Next the welders arrived and attached the stair support to the plates.

:: The result was like this

... and like this

:: I proceeded to carefully measure and cut all the infill pieces of 1-1/8" plywood that serve as the "skin" for the stairs.

:: And the pieces were glued and screwed into place.

:: After a few minor issues were resolved ...

:: Excess glue was removed with sanders, chisels, and other tools.

:: And now we can move between the main floor and the upper floor on stairs!

Very, very exciting!!!