Joe Bemier wrote:
Hello Ken,
Yes, I recall that staieway although I believe the shot was from a
different perspective - facing the stairs IIRC.
Anyway, all stairways are unique and there can never be any absolute
right or wrong. However, having said that, there is a standard process
that falls into play for many jobs. The sequence I will detail below
is for stairs of your style and configuration - other types might
vary.
1) Set Newel Posts
2) Lay on Stringers/Skirts (join these into the Newels) Your stairs
have a first section of "Open Riser" on the right side and closed
riser on the left side. Typically, the right side would use 45' angle
cuts between riser and Skirt, while the left side would use a closed
"Insert Riser/Skirt. The second section after the landing has a
cantilevered wall on the right that would require some thinking I
guess. If you take a pic I would be happy to help.
3) Set the Risers
4) Lay the Treads
5) Add molding under Tread overhang
6) Attach railings
7) Add Balusters/Spindles.
Each step above has many small rules and guidelines that are too
lengthy and involved to detail here. As I recall, your stairs have the
Framing Stringer laid in w/o cutouts and this will be a probelm to
trim. However, not impossible. The fact that you have put up the
railings before trimming some critical parts does not mean you cannot
go forward it just means you will be handicapped in doing the work. As
I mentioend earlier, if you want more advice, please post more pics -
different angels.
Here are more pictures, although they don't show much detail of the
construction:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~kmuldrew/woo...g/railing.html
The stairs were factory made (that saved us a lot of time but denied
us the opportunity of building stairs). It would have been nice to put
down the maple on the treads and trim the risers and insides/caps of
the stringers before putting up the railing but with small children
about we decided that the extra difficulty of putting up the railing
first was the better tradeoff. A built-in bookshelf is going into the
recess on the wall behind the stairs (both below and above the joist
pocket that breaks up the wall, although above will be a stepped
bookshelf so that we don't need a ladder to use it). The front walls
will have drywall patches put in to the level of the stringers with a
maple cap put on top. The drywall will cover the open triangles where
the newel posts are attached.
The way I did the stair railing was the following. I first attached
and plumbed the newel posts at both top and bottom. Then I clamped the
three rails to the posts in the proper positions and marked out the
cuts. The rails were made of 5/4 maple and I left 1" long tenons that
were 3/4" x 3". The spindles (from 4/4" maple) were put in with 2
dowels per joint. Then the rail complex was clamped against the newel
posts and the mortices marked. I then took the posts down and chopped
out the mortices, glued the rails into the posts, and then bolted the
posts back in place with the rails intact.
This was the naive sequence of an amateur (and novice) furniture
maker. Using screws to attach both the spindles and the rails could
have made things go much easier, but that didn't really seem like a
good option at the time (but now looking at how close the bottom rail
is to the stringer I think some plugs would have been almost
unnoticeable down there).
Our current plan is to trim the risers and insides of the stringers
and put down wood on the stairs. Then we'll patch up the drywall on
the outer walls and then cap the stringers. Any advice will be greatly
appreciated.
Ken Muldrew
(remove all letters after y in the alphabet)