Another one of those stepping stones to completion.
The stairs are in. Not without a little struggle, but there they are.
If you are not a nerd for the grizzly detail, quit reading now.
The staircase itself was assembled by the Finns Kimmo and Matti on Sunday 12th March,
when snow was forecast and this was an inside job.
Tony called up the cavalry, as he called them, Nick and Tahir from the farm over the A1.
The four of them lifted the staircase into the stairwell ...
... higher than it needed to finally be ...
... (and the bottom posts attached), so that the ...
... upper stair spindles can be fixed.
Then it was lowered down further than it would finally be, supported on a prop
so that the lower spindles could be fixed.
The staircase was raised up beyond its final position and the lower landing constructed.
Then the whole staircase was lifted and lowered into position.
Margie was the first to use it.
But there was a problem, it was not level. It had been designed to fit in the wood house,
and that did not include the plasterboard. So we lifted and propped the staircase up,
and Tony removed two bits of plasterboard. The staircase was lowered back and then was level.
The staircase is not fixed to the timber frame house at the top or bottom,
it just stays in place by its own weight.
That was all yesterday, Monday 4th September 2006.
Today they fixed all 6 door frames upstairs and hung the doors.
Tomorrow they do the wood trim around the door frames, and maybe the skirting board.
But we are coming near the end of the carpenter's phase.
Monday 11th September the electricians return to do their second fix.
I am still trying to get hold of the plumber.
And as for a bricklayer to rebuild the entrance, they don't seem to want to do the job!