New stairs, day 3
Today there was even less working time than usual because Jordan got caught in traffic on the way here. It’s just one of those unfortunate liabilities of working with a contractor who lives two hours away. Today he attached the long apron piece, which the exposed treads will lip over, installed the long skirt board, with notches carefully placed for each riser, and put in four treads and five risers. It still doesn’t look like a whole lot, but it’s nice to finally have some of the white oak pieces in place.
I spent Saturday putting an initial coat of varnish on each of the treads. That part was easy; they don’t get any color added at this point, though I anticipate needing to touch up with a gel stain after everything is installed. I put an initial dye stain and wash coat of varnish on some skirt boards, but left exposed risers and lower open skirt board (what I’m calling the apron) unfinished since they still will be installed with delicate miters. Right now the patchwork of raw and partially finished wood looks pretty messy, but it’s getting there. As always, I am hoping for a lot of progress tomorrow. I’m also looking forward to receiving my newel posts, which are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.