Making a Hand Rail

Or I should say
'Routers are Fricken Coooooool!!!!!!'

So, years ago I bought my wife this super fab dewalt combo router kit. It came with the plunge and fixed base and a set of really nice router bits....but has she seen fit to use them??? Noooooo.

I found a really good use for the router. We need an official 'graspable' handrail for our back stairs. A plain 2by6 on edge does not count. So, I thought, hey, I'll route us up one lickety split....course I've never used a real router before (just the dremel attachment)...

Super-Fab router with set of Freud bits.

Here are some test routes on a scrap 2by4...see the burning? The tear-outs? The uneven routing? Hey, that's what test boards are all about.

More test routes.

I was going to originally use the bit that's chucked into the router here... Cept its not a plunge bit and since the cut out for the hand rail has to start at least 1.25" in from the top of the rail there was no way I could use this bit.
Luckily, I live five minutes from a pretty interesting woodworking store called, 'Japan Wood Worker' I was worried that they were only going to sell pull saws and high end chisels but they had a huge selection of router bits with 1/2" shanks. I chose this profile as I thought it would give me a 'fancy' handrail.

Here's the set-up for the real deal run on the redwood 2by6. You can see the tester 2by6 on the right. The router combo pack also came with the edge guide you see installed here... Wow, was I glad it did. Routing in the direction I was (towards the camera) the router was forcing the guide against the wood (which was good cause I couldn't figure out any way to clamp it that wouldn't of gotten in the way of the router as it completely covered the surface.

Being very patient and taking only 1/8" passes I was able to route out a fancy looking hand rail with no tear out and no burning.

Look!! Its graspable!! It actually felt pretty comfortable in my hand...except the top edges...they were too sharp.

Out comes the 1/4" round over bit and after one pass it looked like this.

Here's the finished handrail.
Not too shabby yea?

Ummmmm, comfy! I'm going to have to knock down the top edge of the routed channel as it feels a bit sharp on the fingers. But this just means going over it a couple of times with a sanding block...it is redwood so its soft.

Here's an after shot of the shop after all this routing. Man, routing sure is a fun way to make wood chips....I'm glad our boiler and water heater are direct vent appliances or I might be in some trouble...I'm covered in redwood dust....lets see if any contact dermatitis sets in...probably not unfortunately....not enough tanins in this new growth redwood...

The Screw UP....
I always gotta do one...no I didn't lose any digits.... Because the hand rail starts 1.75" down from the top of the rail I have a lot less wood below the 'graspable' part to secure to the stair posts.....and since I'll have to be mounting it higher on the posts (so the posts don't interfere with the graspable part) Its going to be too high for code (over 38") So, I'm probably going to have to go back to my posts and cut ~2" off the top of every one!

Hurray!!!!

Next Task, Flash Rear Door and Install Siding

Ya I know, no super controversial posts about houses for sale....there just hasn't been anything worth reviewing in my book....well, I am thinking about reviewing the several houses on the market that have been on the market for like ages, and they haven't dropped their price....

Next Task- Siding.
Before we can finish the stairs of doom in the back of the house we have to side it. I love old houses where redo'ing the stairs necessitates 27 other barely related tasks...

This is a picture of the new siding on the east side of the house.
The plan is to buy more of this type of siding and install it on the bottom south elevation and use our stock of saved siding to reside the lower west side of the house which we never see. So, make the 2 elevations we look at the most the purty ones....
Problem is, we didn't install this siding and I have no idea how to install siding....

Here's a pic of what the siding looks like. Is this called ship-lap siding? I don't know the manf. but I do know that the local real lumber yard carries it. Its this crazy pre-primed pre-treated for rot and bug infestation stuff that is warrantied for like 20yrs. Its real wood not vinyl or the fiber cement stuff.

I believe its advantage wood by Kelleher.

Here's how the new stuff compares to the original (new stuff on top). Dang I didn't realize that its not exactly the same size...I'll have to check that in the morning maybe this is an optical illusion. The new stuff is also slightly less thick than the original which changes the shadow lines I think....Well I can't tell if its me being overly anal but I swear I can notice the difference in shadow lines.

Here's our supply of old siding...a lot of it gets damaged beyond usability when you remove it....I hope that we have enough to reside the west elevation of the house when we get around to it. This is the best of what we had and if you look close its not all that great...

So, here's the back of the house that I need to reside. You can see the old tar paper that's seen better days.

One question is, I have enough tar paper to go over this section again or I have enough house wrap left over from when the east side was done.

Here's a close up of the Simpson door that I paid a pro to install.
How do I flash this? Without taking the door out. The tar paper wraps around the rough opening. on both long sides.

For some reason I'm having a mental block on the best way to flash this? Any suggestions? I'll be adding exterior trim to this similar to what was done around the windows. I do have enough Dupont flexwrap left over to be useful here I think.
Since the door is on concrete does pan flashing make sense here?

The two main questions are:
1.How does one install siding in general and more specifically siding that is 20' long by oneself.
2. What's the best way to flash the door before I install siding?

Any useful advice would be greatly appreciated.

One Step Forward 23 Steps Back- Stair Building Part 4

Okay, so had time this week to get a little bit more work done on the back stairs....man did I screw up a lot......
Sit back and enjoy a pictorial tour through how not to build stairs.

Having learned when drilling the 4by4 ledger that free handing the drilling is a bad idea I set up this fancy 'jig' with the drill press to get nice straight holes. Worked out pretty well except I could only do the bottom hole on each post....had to rotate the set-up 90 deg to be able to drill both holes.....and then the drill press didn't have enough travel so I had to finish all the holes with the hand drill anyways....

I didn't take a bunch of pics of setting the stringers (only 2 cause I can't set the last one till I reside the back of the house...) I didn't think to level the 2by4 kicker or the ledger before I tried to set the stringers...I notched the ledger a bunch and it turns out I didn't need to...so, lots of shims where hurt and destroyed in this production. The Simpson angles that I used here really firmed up the stringers. I plan to use two on each to help tie them to the ledgers.

Also, see that big bolt in the left hand corner...that's one of the two bolts that hold on the posts for the guard rails...The bolts I bought where too short by 1/2" so I rummaged around and found some bolts that where 1/2" too long! So I used some extra washers and was able to get the posts up nice and tight.

Here's a shot of one of those posts...look at all those shims! It is plumb in both directions though... This also shows that that stringer was not set plumb...well...parts of it are and parts are not...it kinda twisted in the sun and heat...

After attaching the posts I REALLY didn't like how easily they twisted the stringer. I used the off cuts from the stringer as blocking between the posts to tie the one stringer into the other. When I set the final stringer I will continue the blocking on to it I think....

After doing this the posts firmed up dramatically.

Here's a shot of the guard rails installed....They are a bit more uh, visually imposing than the standard way of doing 2by2's between the guard rails. In this shot you'll see that the spacing is not even, there is slightly more space between the top guardrail and the next one...this is a design feature and not at all a f-up cause I couldn't get my little brain around how to properly divide up the 21.5" space between the top of the bottom rail and the bottom of the top rail. The rails do all line up nicely with the bottom riser though.

This shot shows the guard rails from the other side. You can also see the two stringers attached to the dropped rim joist here. The little triangle cut offs worked well and the stringers where able to sit completely in the hanger...

Not I gotta talk about another f-up. I didn't realize that the deck slopes at 1/4" per foot for drainage...that means that the level line I struck to set the stringers to varied in distance from the deck surface by an inch!! So the riser height went from the correct 7 3/8" to 8 3/8"!! That 8"+ height is two far by code... I was stumped...this HAS to happen every time a level stair intersects with a non-level deck right? You are supposed to make the stairs level across them...

I sought out the consul of some pros and they said to basically split the difference so that measured in the middle of the riser I would get the correct 7 3/8" and one side would be a little more and the other a little less but as long as I didn't exceed the code restrictions I should be okay.

This meant setting the stringers at slightly different heights than they were designed for which caused some extra shimming on the other end.

This shot is meant to show another f-up...See how the lag screws aren't in a nice-pretty line...I'm sure a pro would of thought ahead and had them all lined up nice and pretty...Also, I again bought the wrong size lag screw...the ones I got where too short by an inch...so had to buy a box more...

I do have to say that the 3/8" lag screws and the washers seem to make for a really strong attachment.

This shows the 1" spacers I had to cut outta the PT scraps from the treads. I ran a single lag screw through these and into the existing deck rail...I'm going to have to reinforce the existing deck rail here as its not really connected to the deck at the bottom.

This pic shows multiple screw-ups...First, I cut the 2by6 guard rails cause I thought they were going to have to change direction at that vertical 2by4...nope they don't...the deck having that weird little nook is causing me some issues...

But, the two long rails that are lagged to the existing deck guard rail there feel really firm.

Second, if you extend out the top guard rail and have it intersect with the last post in the same way it does the other two...you learn that that post is several inches too short!!! hurray!

I was planning on the top guard rail being the hand rail also and its set at a comfortable 37" above the treads. Which BTW, was a measurement I KEPT screwing up as you have to make sure you're measuring it at the correct point... With the setup I have here the guard-handrail will be 37" until it crosses the last riser, which is the deck....past that its going to go above 37" until it lands on the post....I don't know if this is okay or if I'm going to have to cut the guard rails even with the last riser and make them go horizontal until they end on the post....If I do that I won't have to buy another post but it will be a much bigger PITA to finish the guard rails....

Annnd finally, I don't now think that PT is a wise idea for the hand rail...After I route an officially graspable handrail out of it its still going to be splintery, and poisonous......So, I'm probably going to replace it with a redwood rail that will be much easier on the hands...

Here's a pic that shows how short that last post is if I don't make the rails turn horizontal. This also shows why I couldn't move this last post any closer to the last riser. Its all wood in the way. I could of put the post where the original one was, on the inside of the stringers but that would of cut down on the width of my stairs significantly...to where it would of been very hard to get the required 36" minimum clear tread length.
This also brings up another question...these framing members here are only 6" deep...I don't know if that's deep enough to support this post correctly...I do happen to have several 9" long 1/2" lag screws (why I own these I don't know) that would be long enough to go through the post, both 2by6's and into the 6by6 but I don't know if that's going to be enough... I think that I'll have to figure out an additional bolting-strengthening strategy...
Oh yea, the bottom of this also shows that I used the Simpson screws that where too long for the hanger...

Well that's it for now...anybody want to hire me to build them some stairs??? I'm slow, but sloppy and expensive!

This project is basically on hold until I can figure out the final post issue and then go buy supplies...but even then, that's all I can do until we reside the house...then I set the last stringer and screw in the treads and I'm done!!!

Oh wait, I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do about the risers...they have to pass the 4"sphere rule...

How Not To Build Stairs...Stair Building Part 3

Or maybe I should say, 'The stairs that PL Premium built.'

This is the last stringer I was cutting. I was almost done with it. Just finishing the cuts with a jigsaw and this happened... A previously unknown check-split caused this section to just fall out!

Holy Moly was I pissed off....so close...I thought I would have to go buy another 2by12 and start all over again.....But a pro told me no, just glue it back together with PL Premium glue and the repair will be stronger than the original wood..

So I went a little glue crazy as you can see from this picture. I glued the original f-up and wow it does appear to be stronger...but then, but then, I noticed a ton more cracks in the stringer? WTF!?!?!? I swear they where not there before. So I went through the stringer and glued those also...Then I dropped the other stringer and caused a crack in one end so I glued that too.

Lets just say I glued the heck outta that stringer...

I also glued on little triangular tabs so that the joist hangers would bear fully on the wood.

The pros that saw this original set up with just the two Simpson brackets holding up the dropped rim joist where very suspicious that it would be strong enough. So, I took several of the triangular off cuts and used them as braces.

I admit that with just the Simpson brackets that there was some deflection in the joist when I shoved it hard....Now, wow, absolutely no movement. When I shove it hard with my shoulder the entire deck shakes...I think we're good with this set up.

Another major issue the pros' found with my set up was how the left hand side of the stringer was unsupported. That all the force from the stairs are carried in that corner and leaving it unsupported the stringers were guaranteed to crack.

If I was smart I would of jiggered the rise/run so that the heal would of landed on the concrete wall...now I'll have to add additional support here.

Enter the concrete anchors...It was suggested that I use 1/2 lag bolts to support a ledger that would take the stair load. I had an extra piece of PT 4by4 lying around so I decided to use that. To use the lags you need to drill a hole in the concrete 3/4" in this case deep enough to set the lag shields in. Then, when you insert the lag bolts the shield expands and locks everything in place.

WOW, drilling these holes was a huge painful PITA... It took me about a half hour per hole...luckily I have a heavy duty drill but geez, I surely coulda used an impact drill....I kept the bit cool by spraying it with water but there was nobody to keep me cool as I worked in the oven that is our sunken living room.

Turns out, using a 4by4 probably not the smartest way to go... Keeping the holes your drilling on the right path is pretty tough with that much wood to chew thru. As one pro suggested, 'I shoulda used 2 2by6's'...I had to adjust one of the holes in the wood but the other two where spot on. Man, I hope 3 bolts is enough...I tightened it up with my impact driver and WOW does this seem sturdy. Hopefully it will be sturdy enough...

I completely aggravated the two bulged discs in my back doing this...If I have to drill another couple of holes I'm going to cry like a little girl...

Here's a shot looking down the concrete wall. I'll have to shave off a bit of the new ledger probably but I'll do that as I need to when I set the stringers.

Next up is to take it easy for a day at least...it's just ice and Advil for me for a while.

Then I want to cut the treads, coat all the cut ends, I'll set the outside stringer. I'll probably install the posts and the railings-guards on the outside stringer...and install the middle stringer, but I'll have to wait to install the final stringer and to screw the treads down until after I finish residing the back of the house...

Ouch my back hurts...

It's Curtains For You!

Okay, this post is going to be a little bit different....its all about curtains, drapes, window treatments what have you....


In a desperate attempt to get our daughter to sleep past 5:30am we surmised that maybe its the morning sunlight streaming into her room that is waking her up? Her room used to be a sun porch ya know. What if we could get 'blackout' curtains for her room? If it was dark would she stay asleep?

Off I head to our local Bed Bath& Beyond store.....now, I've never really ever in my life thought about curtains and it turns out I had A LOT to learn....luckily a kindly store employee took pity on me and helped me figure things out. Did you know that a curtain needs to be at least twice as wide as the window?



One thing I gotta say......'Holy Friggen Mackerel Curtains Are Expensive!!!' I guess that's why the standard window treatment in the ghetto is the ole 'tumb tacked bed sheet to the window trim'.

After what seemed like 30hrs staring at the clearance section this is what I came home with. Curtains for Tasha's room and for our room. The box of candy wasn't on sale but it was necessary none the less...as was the large mocha I was sipping in the store...without that caffeine I think I woulda strangled somebody...

This was an interesting find I thought. Curtain rods that are hinged to swing away from the window. I thought it would be the perfect thing to replace the curtain that we are using as the door to the nursery.

Here's the curtain that we're replacing.

And the new double layer curtain-door thingy.

Here's a shot of the 'door' open. One side blocks the light from the window on the door and that's not ideal...But we like how the other side blocks the view of all the ugly crap on the open shelf.

Here's what the old doorway looked like on a bright sunny day.

Here's what it looks like now! Success I'd say...

Here's what the original curtains looked like.

Here are the blackout curtains I bought to replace them. I should have another panel here as these are kinda stretched thin.

Here's a shot of the curtain rod I installed and the curtains open to prove what a lovely day it was.

Here's a shot with the curtains closed. The room really is, a lot darker now. But will it be darker enough?

Here's a shot of the original curtains in our bedroom. This is in the later afternoon so there's direct sunlight shinning through them. I didn't buy fancy curtain rods for in here...we're going to try to make due with just the tension rods.

Here's what it looks like with a double layer of 'light reducing' curtains....Its markedly better for sure but there is still a lot of light streaming in around the edges.

Wow, I spent almost an entire Saturday dealing with curtains!...

Will it work? Will the rooms be dark enough to keep the baby asleep for longer?

Update:
It appears to of worked!! The baby woke up at 5:30am and put herself back to sleep until the friggen cat woke her up. Irene scooped her up and brought her back to bed and fed her. Our newly darkened room appears to be dark enough as the baby went back to sleep and slept until....8:30am!!! Wooooooo-Hooooooooooooooo!!! Could this be the answer? Have we missed out on countless hours of sleep for the lack of correct window treatments?

Update to the Update:
Dang, Monday morning and the baby was up for good at 6:30am......maybe yesterday we just got lucky? I guess time will tell...

I'm Not Stringing Ya Along...Stair Building Pt. 2

Or maybe I should of titled this post, 'Your Carriage is Here.' (Framing Humor)

Okay, so, after the deconstruction now I have to turn this pile of wood into a set of stairs...

I double checked my measurements after the area was clear and got the same measurements (whew). I set the stair buttons on my framing square to 10" and 7 3/8" and started drawing some lines...then I noticed something...the edges of lumber are pretty rounded..which means I had to kinda guess at the intersection between the previous line and the square...I found that my estimating was not so good...I was getting a systematic error... I needed to figure out a better way...

Enter my rule from one of my machine squares. I could line this up on the previous line and extend it down so that I had the square intersecting with the correct extension of my rise/run lines. I guess pros just 'eyeball' it?

Skipping a bunch of steps...I used my sidewinder to cut the treads then my jigsaw to finish the edges...and look what we have, a sorta finished stringer.

I was trying to figure out how to attach this stringer to the dropped rim joist and came upon this conundrum. The stringer, being at an angle doesn't fit into the fracking joist hanger? All the books I have show the stringers being attached with joist hangers and since the stringers are always on an angle this has to ALWAYS be a problem right? This can't be good can it with the stinger not bearing on the hanger correctly?

I decided that what I am going to do is cut a little wedge from the bottom of these offcuts and glue it to the stringer with some super-fab Elmer's nano-glue. That way the stringer will be in contact 100% with the hanger. Should work right?

In mucking about with the joist hangers I got to collecting all our Simpson hardware.....dang, we have a lot of it...

Even more hardware....look at that bin of bolts....that's left over from when we did the deck at our last house! Why did I think I needed 8" lag bolts?

Here's what I decided to do about the dropped rim joist. I used two Simpson brackets and their structural screws to attach it to the 6by6 joist. I also sunk 3 screws into the joist on the edge that you can just see the bottom of here. It feels pretty solid but maybe the left side has a bit more flexion than I'd like. Once I decide where the joist hangers are going to go exactly I might add another bracket on the left hand side.

Watch that first step! Here's a shot of the 2by4 kicker bolted in place.

And voila the stringer fits!!!!

Some how I F'd up the notch for the kicker...I mean I really got it wrong....I'll have to add some wood back in on the left hand side to stabilize the stringer. I plan on attaching the stringers to the kicker with Simpson brackets also.

Buuuuuuut, check this out. The fricken stringer is basically perfectly level!! Woo-Hooooooo!!!

Next up is to trace this one good stringer onto the other two (not including the messed up notch for the kicker) and hopefully be able to replicate it pretty closely. Then glue my little wedges into the top edges of all three. While the glue is drying I'll cut all the treads@ 44" wide.

I still haven't exactly figured out where the posts are going to go but I'm working on it....