My Current Huge Project With Radiant In Floor Heating

I finally got back home friday at 6pm.. what a week.. I need to retire..

While I was gone, the support wall for the island and bar got drywalled; And the stair-stringers and balcony beams got trimmed out:
Tomorrow I'll fasten the island cabinetes down and to the wall.
On Monday the granite folks will be here to measure and make templates.

I'm also hoping to get started on laying out the slate-floor pattern.

Greg L

don't retire until they walk you out

You need a goal every day in life -- every stinkin day

Ready for the granite measuring crew tomorrow. Well almost,, they are due at 10AM, I'll get started early to finish up the last details.

I had to finish fastening the island cabinets to the bar-support wall. The wall is very rigid, a 220# guy sat on the steel plate, and the wall and plate didn't budge.

Thankfully almost everything was plumb, square and level.. but the 'salami-wood' cabinets are not very impressive.. I hate particle board.

But once the granite is setting on the cabinets, it won't matter..

Greg L

LsFarm wrote:I finally got back home friday at 6pm.. what a week.. I need to retire..

Greg L

I love the lights on the wall. Got any close up of them?

They were from Home Depot, a discontinued item on the for-sale rack.. they had only six, and that is what I needed.

Greg L

thats a good find! They look great.

The Granite templates were made this morning, so I have about a two week wait for the big chunks of very flat rock to show up. It's about 140 sqft.

I also decided on the stair tread appearance and trim design.. So the final treads have been cut from 2x12 yellow pine, there will be an addtional piece of 1/2" 7-ply plywood added to the top and bottom of each tread. [glued and screwed] This extra lamination will greatly stiffen the stair tread.. the treads have a 36" gap between stringers.. with no risers, each tread is independant. So flexing of the tread is a concern of mine.

Another reason for the additional layers of plywood is to reduce the opening between the stair treads.. unbelievably, this opening must be 4" or less, just like the gap between the spindles on the stair and balcony railing. Personally I think this is a ridiculous rule/code.

The treads will be wrapped with carpet in the middle 36", but the ends of the treads will be capped with stained and finished wood. The tread caps will have a slightly traditional trim appearance.. it will be next week before I will see the finished product and be able to post photos.. But here are photos of the foyer with the untrimed stair treads in place.

Greg L

Looks good Greg, what kind of banister are you going to use?

It's rather hard to describe the railing/banister design, and I don't have any photos or links for the design.. but it will be a steel grid made from different size square steel tube, welded in a sort of grid, with decorative cast iron finials and stained-glass inserts.. steel posts and a wood top handrail.

When I have a way to upload a sketch, link or photo, I wlll.. but it probably will have to wait till I have the actual railings installed.

Greg

yellow pine is one of the prettiest grained wood around--carpet,hmmmmm looking fwd to see how the granite comes out--should look outstanding --old people & little kids have a tenancy to toe catch in that space between stair treads

LsFarm wrote:So the final treads have been cut from 2x12 yellow pine, there will be an addtional piece of 1/2" 7-ply plywood added to the top and bottom of each tread. [glued and screwed] This extra lamination will greatly stiffen the stair tread.. the treads have a 36" gap between stringers.. with no risers, each tread is independant.

Be sure the open risers meet code. The house I grew up in had an open riser cellar step. When I sold it I had to enclose the open space with chicken wire. According to the building code inspector, who just happened to be my high school drafting instructor, the requirement is to prevent an small child from climbing on the steps and falling through. The same was true with the iron pipe used as a hand rail on the side of the stair that was open to the room. I just wrapped it with chicken wire and nailed the bottom end to the step treads/risers. Looked awful, but it passed code.

Yanche wrote:

LsFarm wrote:So the final treads have been cut from 2x12 yellow pine, there will be an addtional piece of 1/2" 7-ply plywood added to the top and bottom of each tread. [glued and screwed] This extra lamination will greatly stiffen the stair tread.. the treads have a 36" gap between stringers.. with no risers, each tread is independant.

Be sure the open risers meet code. The house I grew up in had an open riser cellar step. When I sold it I had to enclose the open space with chicken wire. According to the building code inspector, who just happened to be my high school drafting instructor, the requirement is to prevent an small child from climbing on the steps and falling through. The same was true with the iron pipe used as a hand rail on the side of the stair that was open to the room. I just wrapped it with chicken wire and nailed the bottom end to the step treads/risers. Looked awful, but it passed code.

Yes, this code is what I think is absolutely ridiculous.. we all grew up in homes with 6" gaps in stair spindles, cars with steel bumpers, stairs with irregular treads, open stair treads etc etc.. We have bred several generations that think the world should have padded corners. soft floors, unbreakable windows. spillproof containers, hot food that is not 'too hot' etc etc..

The reality of life is that solving a problem makes us stronger.. solving issues makes us wiser. You have to learn from your or others mistakes.. if you grow up in a padded cell, eating partially digested bland, lukewarm food, with no problems, issues, situations to surmount, you end up being a vegetable. A worthless, spineless blob.
Now, give a person some adversity, some challenge, something to overcome, and they are stronger for surviving it. and if they don't survive, then the gene pool is better for it..
I'm sick to death of rules and codes.. I live my life adhereing to FAA rules and regs, but for the most part, they make a lot of sense, and have valid arguments supporting the rule/regulation/ limitation. But so many of the building codes are just BS.. I'll never pull a permit again..

The rule for the open stair treads is the same as the rule for stair or railing spindles.. a maximum 4" gap. So some undisiplined rugrat whose parents should be watching not ignoring, cannot stick their head in the gap and get stuck.. What BS.. I grew up with open stair treads, a full 6.5"-7" gap,, and I never heard of anyone getting their head or body trapped.. More Big Brother 'looking out for you'..turning you into a spineless blob.

OK, rant over,, I'm in NewYuk, flying to the west coast.. gone for 5 days.. then when I get home, I should be able to post more photos of the stairs.

Greg L..[aka, fed up homebuilder]

By God,I feel better for you just listenin to that little rant About 5th grade,I got my head stuck in a bike rack on a bet I couldn't do it--my father showed up on tractor,not real happy,& slapped some grease on my ears & wa-la---never did it again---I don't know about code guys where you are but over here too many of them are wannebee carpenters that wouldn't last a day on the job site & it seriously goes to thier heads--our current code guy is a retired State Trooper & his feelings are that we are a Town of 1000,it ain't Syracuse & he has the discression to give a bit of leeway---was that you that went over us earlier Have a safe trip--you know it'll all still be there when you get home.

Thanks Fred,, when I went over that part of New York state, I was at 34,000', so I don't think you saw me..

I'm just an old grump, I really believe that nobody would ever learn to swim if they were constantly tossed a life preserver when you start to struggle..

Adversity makes us stronger.

Greg L

Damn,musta been one of them flashback things from the 60's