The stair project

We bought this house to be a project. We went in with eyes wide open ready and willing to do the work. We used to have a big hole in the backyard. heck, the back yard was almost all hole. (dig out from the basement additon that was never backfilled. We got that filled in. We put grass in the back yard.

But that was outside. On the inside, we still had a lot to do. everything always involved the phrase "but first we need to move the stairs." yes, move. A whole three feet to the north. The old stairs were put in with no regard to how it would affect the basement layout. It ended up cutting a 10ft section into three pieces so no section was big enough for anything. And they had a 5'5" clearance at one section, and there were three stairs that were different heights than the rest. everybody tripped on the last one. In short, they needed redone.

They are almost done. It took Steve several weekends to get them in. Its' been a lot of work, but man is it worth it. The placement even feels more logical upstairs, not to mention the new storage/utility room we've gained in the basement. We went from one of those half wall things as a railing (a leaning half wall. it's never been plumb or very secure. Like the tower in Pisa, it just kept leaning more as the years went by) to a beautiful oak railing. It's lovely. Man it was a lot of work. 18 hours worth of work. It's stained now, but doesnt have a polyurathane coat yet. we'll be doing that tomorrow.

Here's the new railing: