Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Stairs renovation

Cat, the guys that are removing the stairs and doing all of the prep work (my friend) are very competent contractors. They've done a lot of work for me, including relocating my elevator, which isn't a small job on its own. When I contacted Neil and told him I wanted to do my stairs, he said that he would bring over a gentleman from the company that they use to build stairs when doing renovations. Neil is an amazing guy (extremely nice), and would do them himself if he could, but he won't touch them, and he feels bad for me.

There are so many things that are wrong with the current design of the stairs (the main thing being that they are extremely short and steep), which is why it's so expensive. Basically, here is what the end result will look like (minus the slate, unfortunately, which is the way I wanted to go originally but can't due to cost now).



In order for the stairs to meet code, they have to include the gradual turn at the top, which costs an extra $400. My stairwell looks identical to that, and the only difference is that there will be a continuous railing along the left side (looking at the picture), starting right at the door and continuing around the corner and down the side wall ($400).

I went to take a picture with my Canon G3, and the damn thing is broken! My mom then went to take a picture with my Samsung Galaxy, and the freaking battery was dead! It's been charging for a while so I'll get my caregiver to snap a couple when she comes in.

One shouldn't assume that because one calls themselves a "professional" that they'll necessarily do a better job than anyone else. I'm presently converting my 3 bedroom home back to a four bedroom(originally) and it's amazing how "professional" the builders were. 2x4 studs with a 1" bend and 3/4" twist in it and others cut almost through and nailed together in 3 places to take out a huge bend...here's a novel thought: USE ANOTHER F'N 2X4!!! rooms out of square by 2-3", no shut offs on faucets to save $5, floors flat?? don't get me started....

:::...count to 10 slowly...that's it.....relax....:::

Yeah. It pays to get "a lot" of references and to check them all out before hiring someone you don't know well.

But, it looks like Cam's already got it worked out. I thought he was in the process of finding someone, but he's working with people he already has experience with in the past.

Yup, you're spot on there, Adrian. Unless it's not possible, I always use contractors etc. that I know, or family members/friends have had good experiences with.

A month ago I had my furnace cleaned by a certified Trane technician. He was an extremely nice guy, had all kinds of bad things to say about Direct Energy and their incompetent technicians, but when my mom went down today to see if I needed to change the filter on my furnace, there was no filter in my furnace; he never put it back in and it's been running for a month like that.

IDIOTS!

Yeah, bud, I know you're looking out for my best interest and appreciate your input.

Sometimes I wonder why I want to buy a house. Good luck, Cam.

Just look at your avatar Ken you have some very good reasons

It's probably a good time to jump into the housing market in the US right now...depressed prices, low interest rates...whatcha wait'n for bwaaahh!!

Thanks, Ken and everyone else.

I say if you have an elevator, just use put a firman pole in! Its fun and cheap for everyone!