Home improvement... part 24601

[oloriel]

Long time no building stories!
Which is mostly due to the fact that, well, I don't really get a chance to do any build-y stuff at the moment, and the project that kept Jörg & the MIL busy through winter is, while necessary, fairly unspectacular. And unfinished as yet.

However, there has been a BIG change this month and I feel I should celebrate that a little.
Sooo...

You may remember that, about a year ago, we renovated the downstairs hallway/stairwell. Due to a sorry lack of vacation time and money and cooperation on the side of our carpenter, the stairs to the attic remained as steep and decayed and untrustworthy as they were before.

A lot of things happened. Then, in February, the carpenter finally signalled that he was ready to tackle the second staircase now. So Jörg went to his workshop and, in an astonishingly short time (astonishing for me), they basically had all the parts for the stairs ready. Two more days were needed for smoothing and oiling everything - and then... and then... the new stairs could be installed.

Of course, this did not go without complications. The separate parts first had to be transported from the workshop to our attic (up the old rotted stairs, of course), where it would be assembled and then carefully lowered into position. Already sounds terrifying? Yep, it was. To be honest, I wouldn't have thought it possible. Of course, I'm not a carpenter. ;)

It took four attempts until the stairs were fully assembled, however - there had been some mistakes while fitting the parts, and moreover everyone had mistakenly assumed that the walls would be even, which in our old house they just aren't. Oh well. As I had to take care of Felix and prepare the birthday dinner for my mom, I didn't have to participate in the tedious process - I just heard the curses...

So everything took much longer than planned (Jörg had assumed that they'd be done by afternoon; instead, by the time we'd meant to leave for my parents', they had finally assembled the whole thing and could only just start putting it into place and fixing everything). But in the end, all went well, and now we have a beautiful new staircase and can finally use the attic normally again. It was a weird feeling at first - the old stairwell was very narrow and, as I said, steep, so when you went up the lower stairs you basically had a lot of air above you. The new stairwell is almost parallel to the lower stairs, so while there still is plenty of space for your head, you now have a constriction. Because it was new and strange at first, I constantly tucked my head in. XD But I got used to it quickly.

That was a lot of wordiness! Because pictures speak more than words, of course this post comes with an illustrative picspam. Marvel in the horror of the old stairs and the beauty and reliability of the new. Massive oak, baby!


BEFORE


AFTER


(From behind; from below; from across the gallery; from above.)


Of course, a bannister for the gallery and the attic is as yet missing. But that can be easily installed now that the stairwell's in place...
Also, now that we have such a beautiful new stairwell, the cheap old doors our #%&§!% predecessors put in look shabbier than ever. We really need new doors. So many projects, so little money... :P

Comments

[allamistako.livejournal.com]

Looks so much better :)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

And not just that - it's so much safer to use, too ;)

[satismagic.livejournal.com]

Excellent. I love the halftimbered look of the walls. So pretty!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Your comment makes me particularly happy because the walls are my work. ^^ (Well, the clay rendering. The timbers are left from Time Immemorial, and fortunately, our predecessors mostly just covered them but didn't remove them...)

[fuchs.livejournal.com]

UUuuuh, prettiful!

Also, I meant to mail (but suck at that, so): Would you have any time to come over during Easter? My sister's here and E has to work Saturday, but apart from that, we're free, all three of us, and would love to meet up with you!

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Hmm, we have a family meet-up on Sunday, but other than that, we should be able to find something! :)

[fuchs.livejournal.com]

Oster-Brunch am Montag? ***_***

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Jörg will da unbedingt schuften, aber Felix und ich kommen gern!
Allerdings unter der Voraussetzung, dass die Grippe, die Jörg letzte Woche lahmgelegt hat, uns nicht als nächste erwischt. Felix hat schon Husten, aber wir hoffen, dass es nicht mehr wird!

[fuchs.livejournal.com]

*ganz feste Daumen drück*

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Bisher sieht's gut aus ^^

Saaag mal, was mir klugerweise erst gestern NACH dem Einkaufen eingefallen ist: Soll ich denn was mitbringen? Muffins oder Salat könnte ich aus Restvorräten zusammenschustern, zum Beispiel...

[fuchs.livejournal.com]

Da ich immer abwechselnd nicht online konnte (weil netcologne suxx) oder es vergessen habe, erst jetzt die Antwort (fettes Sorry!!) mit Hennis WLAN:
Nein, mitbringen musst du nichts. :D Wann würdest du denn kommen wollen? Wir würden entweder direkt mit dir frühstücken (also zwischen 9 und 10) oder was Kleines frühstücken und mit dir brunchen (also gegen 11). Machen wir's doch so: Wenn du dich bis 9 nicht per Mail oder SMS meldest, planen wir erstmal mit 11 Uhr. :D
FREU mich drauf!!

[cowboy-r.livejournal.com]

Your home is so beautiful. I am jealous.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Let's rather say, it's going to be beautiful when we're done with it. ATM, it's more like a pain in the rear end. So best keep the jealousy until the work is done ;)

[samtyr.livejournal.com]

Oh very pretty. :)

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

Isn't it? Now if only the rest of the house were already done... >_>