My current huge project

i have an open riser staircase and i have not yet seen a kid get his big head stuck. what does happen is kids like to hang from the backside of the staircase like a monkey with their feet on one set of treads while hanging from another. needless to say if their hands slipped off they liklely would land on their backs,i guess if you have carpeting it would be somewhat of a softlanding,i dont and it would hurt or worse, injure the little peckerheads.

The carpeting will be on the stair treads, the floor under the stairs will be slate over concrete.. happy landing !!

Greg L

LsFarm wrote:The carpeting will be on the stair treads, the floor under the stairs will be slate over concrete.. happy landing !!

Greg L

I finally got home from my 5-day flight. Got in the door around 2:30pm. The trim and stair carpenter has been making progress on the stairs. It looks very nice. The trim is maple and birch, they should both stain well and take the stain about identically. At least the samples did.

I took some photos to add to the thread:

Another photo, taken from the old portion of the house.. where I have my temporary 'kitchen' I turned around this morning with my first cup of coffee and this is the view I had, I thought it looked good, so I took a pic:



Obviously there is more trim to be installed, but so far he's doing an awsome job.. I hope it looks nice with stain and finish on it.

I'm hoping to get started on laying out the slate on the floor, to see if the design I have in my mind will work, fit and look the way I think it will.

Greg L

I like the stairs! Looks to be about a 6 3/4" rise and 11" tread? They'll be comfy to go up. The "no center stringer" is a cool look.

Thanks Freddie, currently those are correct measurements. I'll add a piece of 1/2" plywood on the top of the tread, then padded carpet.. I should get to the mandated 4" opening or just close enough. I'm pretty sure my Building inspector is just going to look at them and say they are OK,, he's pretty cool. If I have to, I may screw on sheets of clear lucite on the back of each tread to cover the opening, then remove them once the inspector is gone. I certainly won't leave lucite on the backs of the treads for very long.. I need to check out the price of lucite.

I cut some slate yesterday afternoon, and started to lay out a pattern for the floor.. It will look very nice if it works out right..
So far, the issues are the transition around the base of the stairs, where the wood floor in the family room will end and the tile and the base of the stairs start. This so far is an awkward corner.. I need to do more experimenting.
And, the centering of the tile in the foyer determines the centering of the tile in the 'U' shaped kitchen floor.. so this needs to be laid out and a bit of head-scratching done.. so far the measurements say it will work out.

Here are some preliminary photos of the layout. I will narrow the border pieces by 1" so that the large pieces will fit without trimming the corners. Or, I may have to adjust the border by an inch or so to get the pieces to center up on the kitchen correctly. Don't know yet.. I have a lot more trial and error mockups to go.




BUT, the look I want is there, I like what I laid out on the floor, it looks very close to what I had in my mind..

That's going to look outstanding,I really like the border 6"?? A lot more bang for the buck w/ those 12X12's What color grout are you going with?

The boarder will define the space and visually make it smaller - more "cozy"

While if you allow the angles to flow into the walls and that awkward transition -- well you may then have just that - a transition to that other area. A border will stop your eye.

Its all about your taste and how you will use the area and the furniture placement - no one way is "right".

I found a happy middle ground where I like the layout.. I'd take a photo or two, but I had to disassemble it so we weren't walking all over the loose slate. i will try later to take a pic or two.

I put down a section of the wood flooring for the family room, in the 'awkward' corner at the end of the stairs.. and I think it will be OK. I'm trying out a few different stains to see what wood stain color looks best.

Greg L

I have one application of stain on the woodwork,, it's not dark enough yet, so I will apply another coat.. I like the color and shade, but it needs to be darker to bring out more of the grain in the wood, and to go with the other natural wood in the kitchen and the doors.
I got very lucky with the Maple I bought for the stair tread ends.. it has a LOT of 'curl' in the grain.. I really like curly maple, or some people call it 'tiger maple'.. it has the 'stripes' in the grain that show up very well with stain and finish. I have a fair amount of antique furniture made from curly maple.. one of my favorites.

The slate floor design is laid out with both tile and cardboard patterns. I used the 8" border pieces to custom fit the diamond pattern to 'fit' with the island and corner cabinets.. I think it will look really nice.. now I need to choose a grout color/shade..

Tomorrow [Sunday] my steel fab buddy will come by with some mock up pieces for the stair/balcony railing. With the various steel pieces to look at we should be able to make the design final, and get the fabrication started.

The 'end' of the project is still a long long way away, but getting the main part of the house livable, and the kitchen funtional is not too far off now, maybe a month or so. If I didn't have to work, I could have it done and moved into in about two or three weeks. Darned jobs get in the way all the time!

Greg L

Yeah, but when your not working you sleep till noon & get nothing done just the same ...

Greg,so the edge of the stairs are going to be natural wood??that will look outatanding w/ double doors & trim work are you keeping your floor trim natural??

Well the dog get me up around dawn, so I don't get to sleep in very much. I don't get off the 'puter for awhile, so that is non-productive time, but I do get a fair amount done if the aches and pains don't slow me down too much. Lately I've had to take a Motrin or two each morning to get loosened up.. this getting old stuff isn't for sissies !

When I started this project I had a two week period off in both September and October,, by November the place was closed in and heated, and I had guys working on the interior stuff.

Lately our flight-pairings at work have become so low in productivity [ hours of pay per day flown] that I've had to commute in and fly four weeks per month, which I haven't had to do for 4-5 years.. this is taking a serious toll on my mind, body and progress on the 'project'..

I'd thought last fall that having the family together for Easter in the 'new house' was a no-brainer.. but so much for that.. unless they want to stand around on concrete floors with no furniture, and eat off of paper plates..

Greg L

Hi Fred, the stair treads will be wrapped in carpet, the ends natural wood, the stairs will be ending on the slate floor. The only wood floor will be the 'family room', that is on the opposite side of the wall the stairs run alongside of. The main level will be 75% slate floored, only the family room will have wood flooring. I wanted as indestructible a floor as possible, and I'm already worried about dirt/abrasion on the small amount of wood flooring that I will have.
I've not had a lot of 'nice' houses over the years, some pretty 'nice' but this will be the best, with the best trim, flooring, heat, window and doors.. and I want to keep it that way.. I'm such a slob normally, I will really have to be extra-tough on myself about taking shoes off EVERY TIME I enter the house.. On a farm that is a tough rule to adhere to, you can spend 30-50 minutes a day just taking off and putting on shoes as you run around the place..
But with all the $$$$$$$ spent I will just have to change my ways.. or suffer the consequences of making a mess of my new wood floors.

I'll try to lay out the slate, wood and stairway interface at the corner of the family room and take a pic or two.. but it will be later today..

Greg L