The stairway to heaven has turned into the highway to hell.
No one anticipated building the stairwell to be this difficult. We've been working on the stairs for five days and only have the steps going downstairs and a landing in. The root of the problem is the window is in the way of the steps going upstairs. The reason the window is in the way, in my estimation, it was cut out too long. The original window was not as long as it is now. If we'd kept the window the same size, or within a few inches, there would be no problem. The walls of the main cabin floor are about 9' tall and the window is 37" x 68". The window comes up 17" from the floor and the stairwell openings going upstairs are about 7' 8" and the opening going down about 8', the best I can tell. (I'm sure it obvious I'm not building the stairs). The difficulty has been keeping the bottom stairs out of the window and meeting the Virginia code of a 7-8" riser height and 9 1/4" tread and maintaining a landing clearance for head room at 80 inches. Head room going up is not a problem, but going down is. To add to the woes of meeting Virginia building code, I'll have to put bars on the long window to pass inspection.
No one anticipated building the stairwell to be this difficult. We've been working on the stairs for five days and only have the steps going downstairs and a landing in. The root of the problem is the window is in the way of the steps going upstairs. The reason the window is in the way, in my estimation, it was cut out too long. The original window was not as long as it is now. If we'd kept the window the same size, or within a few inches, there would be no problem. The walls of the main cabin floor are about 9' tall and the window is 37" x 68". The window comes up 17" from the floor and the stairwell openings going upstairs are about 7' 8" and the opening going down about 8', the best I can tell. (I'm sure it obvious I'm not building the stairs). The difficulty has been keeping the bottom stairs out of the window and meeting the Virginia code of a 7-8" riser height and 9 1/4" tread and maintaining a landing clearance for head room at 80 inches. Head room going up is not a problem, but going down is. To add to the woes of meeting Virginia building code, I'll have to put bars on the long window to pass inspection.
Doug, Lee and Jason worked together this morning to figure out how to make the stairs fit and between the three of them, they came up with a solution. I don't think the guys are too happy with me, carpenters are a funny lot. They don't like it much when someone else is playing in their sandbox. But, the point is, we had a window that was too big and we were struggling to make the stairs fit. The end result, three heads are better than one. I feel much better about moving forward. Yesterday I was having serious doubts about getting the stairs in at all.
Jason and his crew are coming in tomorrow to chink the inside part of the cabin where the staircase goes. Once this is done and cured, Doug and Lee and can finish the stairs going up. I will be a happy gal with these dad-gum (I'm watching my language) stairs are complete! I know Doug, Lee and Jason will be too. We are finishing out the gable ends the rest of the week. The big hurdle now is getting scaffolding level on the side of the hill. That will be another story
More on the stairs as we make progress.
Talk to you soon
Take Care
Nora Belle
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