15 weeks and 5 days after the original staircase was removed, we have finally replaced it with a custom-made, solid oak staircase and full-galleried landing and it looks great!! Trevor and Noel managed to get the carcass and the quarter-landing in yesterday and made a start on the gallery by getting the newel posts in place – they actually hold up the original (and new) cross beam that runs from the front to the back of the old house, so pretty important structurally speaking! Today Bob helped Trevor finish off the gallery. The newels and spindles are stop-chamfered so a nice, simple design. We managed to get all the different parts treated with 2 coats each prior to fitting, and we worked out that altogether, it took around 35 man-hours to complete, so ages in other words LOL. It is good to know it’s all protected though. They are also now a much gentler incline of around 42 degrees as opposed to the original stairs which were more like 45 degrees and felt like you were falling backwards when you went up them 
Unfortunately it turns out that the manufacturers had done their measurements wrong (which could have been a total disaster but fortunately is relatively easy to rectify) and so we have some bits ‘missing’ which they will need to make for us. Then once we’ve moved in we’ll get the last few bits finished off, but at least the stairs are usable and the ladder has gone for ever … I kind of miss it a little! I am now totally paranoid about all the dirt and dust and them getting scratched and ruined before we even move in, but I think I need to relax because a) they are hardwood so shouldn’t scratch that easily and b) we have treated them so they should be stain resistant so any marks should (in theory) just wipe away. We will also (eventually!) insulate and board the underside of them with sound-poof insulation to keep the noise down when people use them (although they are not actually as ‘noisy’ as I thought they might be). See the progress on the gallery below:
Tags: Farmhouse Renovation, Galleried Landing, Newel Post, Oak Staircase
Categories: Farmhouse Renovation, Home Improvements, Living the Country Life, Posts with Photos