Limed Oak Stair - Finished.

[DaveL]

I think 3 shreaded wheat with a couple of wheetabix on top might be called for. Looks good, I was you luck, I hope you have the wiggle room required to get it in to place.

 

[Rod]

Hope all goes well on Monday?

Rod

 

[AndyP]

I expect to see photos by Monday lunchtime

Hope it goes well

 

[Robert]

Very nice. Fingers crossed for you getting it in OK.

 

[Pinch]

I think 3 shreaded wheat with a couple of wheetabix on top might be called for. Looks good, I was you luck, I hope you have the wiggle room required to get it in to place.

Cheers Dave. I might have to have a couple of sausage sarnies too with plenty of HP, and lots of cups of tea.

I can see this now... I shall be like Fred Dibnah, rocking to and fro on me feet, flat cap on me 'ed wiv a mug of tea in me 'and, saying, "hmmm by eck lad, let's get this bugger in then." :lol:

 

[Pinch]

Hope all goes well on Monday?

Rod

Cheers Rod. I've worked something out below...

 

[Pinch]

I expect to see photos by Monday lunchtime

Hope it goes well

Right you are Sir! Might not be this Monday though

Cheers Andy

 

[Pinch]

Very nice. Fingers crossed for you getting it in OK.

Cheers Robert. I've worked something out below. I don't know why I didn't do this before. Mind you, I would have still made the stair as I have.

 

[Pinch]

I've been playing around with Publisher and inserted one of the stair drawings onto a page. I've then lined around the stair using the 'freedom line' tool and I think I'm going to have to cut the top of the right hand top newel off down to just above the handrail to get this stair in from the mezzanine. Not ideal I know... gluing the newel back on will always expose the joint line - especially as it's going to be limed. The only way around this is to make a parting bead and glue around the newel. Hmmmm....

Here's the red outline of the stair with part newel removed.

And then the outline transferred up onto the mezzanine.

It just about fits, but, there are two purlins to contend with as well.

Another way might be to punch a hole through the roof so the newel can stay uncut.

Hmmmm... :eusa-violin:

 

[DaveL]

This it getting bit like the Bernard Cribbings song, Right said Fred.

 

[Pinch]

This it getting bit like the Bernard Cribbings song, Right said Fred.

...let's av a cuppa tea

There will be plenty of that going on

 

[Pinch]

Okay, I think I'm sorted with this potential problem. I shall cut the newel just above the handrail, but on a mitre facing back in to the landing newel and connect the two this way. Providing I get a good jointing connection into the floor with the landing newel, this will be just the job.

I also forgot to mention, just in case anyone has wondered why I made the bottom string the way I have... When the stair is fitted, I also have a bookcase to make which will completely cover the bottom wall and be integral to the stair.

 

[Pinch]

Cor blimey! What a week and still not finished yet :x

What I thought was going to be a three day installation (including the 190 mile round trip everyday) is turning into an eight day installation :lol: Laughing is better than crying

Here were the negatives;

Firstly, I assumed (they say one should never assume :| ) the joists were independently tied into the wall, but when the joists were exposed, I couldn't have been more wrong. The central and end joists were tied into the wall and the remainder of joists were tied into trimmer joists which were tied into the central and end joists. The load bearing wall was (or is) 120mm in from the wall's surface (which incidentally is 25mm out of plumb over 1.8M). The wall has been dry lined with rigid insulation (other side of wall is carport), 12mm plasterboard and 12mm ply. There were also 7 cables running through the proposed stair well. This was all a major problem for me. It meant lifting up the whole floor, removing the trimmer joists (would have done partly anyway), fitting new double trimmers and re routing all the cables. We then started to lift the flooring - what a swine! This flooring wasn't only glued in the joints, but also glued onto the joists :twisted: The temperature up on the mezz was above 30 and as you can imagine, the positions we had to get into in order to lift the flooring was painful. It took us just over a day to lift this floor and we must have lost a few pounds due to the constant sweating - 'orrible! :x Not to mention all the scratches and bruises - lots and lots of blasphemy indeed Sir!

To date:

By the end of day 2, we had temporarily supported the floor and cut open the stair well. By the end of day 3, the stair well was formed with new double trimmers installed and the stair was in although not fully secured. I had to make the stair well long enough to get the stair up into its resting place. It was too tight over the mezz and probably too heavy to get up there anyway.

By the end of today (day 5 and by myself since yesterday), the stair was firmly fitted (solid as a rock) and the new floor was also fitted.

Piccy time

Monday morning... Stopped in Salisbury so my mate Malcolm could buy his lunch, giving me the opportunity to take some piccies of the bus fully loaded - bursting at the seems

Took the grand children here a few weeks ago - ee ee ee oo oo oo ah ah ah

Then arrived on site around 11am... Here's Malc looking content - little did we know at this point.

Got the stair round the side of the barn and now in the living room. You can see the study door opposite with the mezz above.

Here's the mezz.

And then today's pictures. I didn't take any during the week due to the work load and not much time.

And looking out...

I shall report back when it's finished next week.

Cheers,

 

[Rod]

Is this on a fixed price?

Looking good

Rod

 

[Phil]

Looking good Paul.

Hope they are not going to paint it!

A nice natural oil finish to match the other timber?

Cheers
Phil

 

[Rod]

Limed Oak as per title!

Rod

 

[Pinch]

Is this on a fixed price?

Looking good

Rod

Cheers Rod, yes the work is on a fixed price, but the flooring, electrical and other works are extras.

 

[Pinch]

Looking good Paul.

Hope they are not going to paint it!

A nice natural oil finish to match the other timber?

Cheers
Phil

Cheers Phil. The oak is going to be limed and probably quite pale now my clients have seen a couple of samples, which I shall be doing.

In fact, here you go.

This one is the normal finish.

But my clients are more drawn to this one.

I think somewhere in between will be good, but the theme of the study is going to be white and any woodwork in the room must be quite pale.

 

[Pinch]

Limed Oak as per title!

Rod

Indeed...

I'm still in recovery here :lol:

It's going to be a chilled out weekend for me - a quick visit to the shop later today to drop off and collect a few things, some paperwork and not much else. :|

My knees are in pain and my whole body feels like it's run a 100 mile marathon :shock: :lol:

 

[AndyP]

Paul, why was it not limed before construction and installation? Would it not have been easier?

 

[Phil]

Limed Oak as per title!

Rod

Ok, so its not something that I am familiar with. Went and surfed it, now better undestanding.

I still prefer the medium to darker shades on oak.

Cheers
Phil

 

[Rod]

It goes well with modern decor - I've used a few times.

Rod

 

[kirkpoore1]

I saw this picture:

And thought for sure that the stair wouldn't fit into the spot it needed to go to be installed. It looks great. But seems pretty narrow (says the guy from the land of fat people). How wide are the steps?

Kirk

 

[Pinch]

Paul, why was it not limed before construction and installation? Would it not have been easier?

Cheers Andy. I did think about liming before construction but I didn't do it because of wiping surplus glue from the joints during construction and although it would have been easier, I think the end result will look better when everything is finished.

 

[Pinch]

Limed Oak as per title!

Rod

Ok, so its not something that I am familiar with. Went and surfed it, now better undestanding.

I still prefer the medium to darker shades on oak.

Cheers
Phil

Cheers Phil. I do too, but the finish is my client's choice. Liming was quite popular during the 90's and although I'm not adverse to it, I do prefer wood in its natural colour.

 

[Pinch]

It goes well with modern decor - I've used a few times.

Rod

Yes, this is the plan... The interior of the barn is fairly modern with white walls and the limed oak should blend in very well. Although I still prefer the oak in its natural state.

The last time I used a liming paste was a 'paste' and it must have been back in the 90's. Here, I'm using Briwax's Liming Wax which is much easier to apply with less hassle - although still time consuming. :|

 

[Pinch]

I saw this picture:

And thought for sure that the stair wouldn't fit into the spot it needed to go to be installed. It looks great. But seems pretty narrow (says the guy from the land of fat people). How wide are the steps?

Kirk

Cheers Kirk. It was an absolute swine to get in and although it would have been very tight over the mezz, the sheer weight of the stair would have made this task near impossible. Once we got the stair into the room which was the most challenging part of the installation, getting the stair into its resting place was easy. The stair is 600mm wide and I think the UK is fast becoming a land of rather large people too :shock: There are far too many fast food chains on the high streets, motorways etc... And with the world changing to a 'do everything on-the-go' type of existence, I fear people are getting bigger and bigger and definitely less healthier too. I don't like this society that much, I think the majority of people are becoming (or have become) robots and lost the touch of human beings - this world is going backwards me thinks and it's accelerating. :|

 

[Pinch]

I have finally finished the stair job on the 9th day of installation. :shock:

My clients are very pleased with the work and commented on it as 'a stunning piece of work'.

All aside though, the past 9 working days have been the toughest for me in many years.

The following pictures are a mixture of natural oak and lime finished. I've applied the liming wax with no clear wax secondary coat as my clients wanted an overall paler appearance and not just the grain distinction.

Here's a shot from outside the study looking in. You can just see over the top of the mezz.

Now on the threshold of the door to the study.

Here you can see where part of the ceiling has been re plastered and made good.

Various angles...

Here's another feature as the result of an issue; If the ground floor wall and first floor wall were the same wall, it would have been a simple application of plasterboard and plaster finish to the raw blockwork where the floor joists would have been tied. But this wasn't the case at all. So, I made a box section and filled the cavity. I had to also create an over hang because the finished wall surfaces were too far out of sink with each other.

Here's what I did with the newel post issue. I mitred the stair newel, made a new landing newel and connected the two together. The result is a very firm newel and pleasing to the eye.

That's all folks!

Any comments are welcome.

Hope you like and thanks for looking.

Cheers,

 

[AndyP]

The thanks should go to you for sharing, not us for looking as it is a pleasure.

I hope the customer will be able to paint over those marks on the wall without getting spots on the stairs.

 

[Pinch]

Cheers Andy! They're getting decorators in.

Easy day for me today... Raise an invoice and then down to the shop to sort everything out including cutting up all the old flooring etc ready for the winter's fuel in the Rayburn. I might even have a few cups of tea as well. Looking forward to catching up with my working neighbours too - I haven't seen them for two weeks.

 

[Rod]

Stunning work - you must be very proud?
Hope the decorators don't splash the paint around? [emoji47]

Rod

 

[Robert]

Beautiful result but what a lot of hard work!

I've enjoyed watching the progress. Makes me want to get making something out of wood but all I can see in my immediate future is a long list of redecoration to do at home and my daughters place...

 

[9fingers]

Great result Paul. looks really good. I just hope their enthusiasm for your quality staircase extends to footing what must turn out to be a far bigger bill that they (or you) were expecting and that you get all you and your fitter mate deserve for this job.
I could say the bill might be a step too far but that would be toooo bad a joke eh?

Bob

 

[TrimTheKing]

Lovely Paul, really top quality job, well done mate. :eusa-clap:

Cheers
Mark

 

[Pinch]

Stunning work - you must be very proud?
Hope the decorators don't splash the paint around? [emoji47]

Rod

Cheers Rod. Yes, I'm very pleased with the end result and I always mark my work as if I was an outsider - in this case, I've given it 96%

I hope the decorators take care - I'm sure they will.

 

[Pinch]

Beautiful result but what a lot of hard work!

I've enjoyed watching the progress. Makes me want to get making something out of wood but all I can see in my immediate future is a long list of redecoration to do at home and my daughters place...

Cheers Robert. Cor yeah, hard work indeed. I'm sure I've aged in the last couple of weeks Still, beer night tonight

I haven't seen any of your threads for a while - you must start a woody project soon

 

[Pinch]

Great result Paul. looks really good. I just hope their enthusiasm for your quality staircase extends to footing what must turn out to be a far bigger bill that they (or you) were expecting and that you get all you and your fitter mate deserve for this job.
I could say the bill might be a step too far but that would be toooo bad a joke eh?

Bob

Cheers Bob. I emailed my invoice this morning to the lady of the house (tis who I was dealing with and she's a professor with an OBE quite humbling) and she writes that when she returned home last night after being away for a couple of days, she was absolutely delighted with the end result and will pay me tonight via BACS.

I shall be on the beers tonight

Yes, the bill was a bit of a 'riser' from the original quote but I thought if I 'tread' carefully (metaphorically writing), my clients won't 'string' me along with a late payment (which would 'floor' me), but instead, pay me rather quickly. So, receiving an email from the professor is a result for me which means I can now take Mrs P out tomorrow which is a good 'step' forward to gaining more brownie points. :lol:

 

[Pinch]

Lovely Paul, really top quality job, well done mate. :eusa-clap:

Cheers
Mark

Cheers Mark - nice one!

 

[9fingers]

Good 'pun'ishing humour there Paul!

Bob