Present Joys

Today Jordan got the pendant fit and installed. This required several hours, since its three sides needed to be square with each other (producing a tight rectangle), and also needed to closely fit onto two walls and the ceiling. The “inside” wall, visible when at the top of the stairs looking down, was was originally extremely lumpy due to a subpar drywall finishing job. I gouged out drywall and re-finished this area over the weekend to make the wall more plumb. It was an improvement, but even so, getting the pendant to fit cleanly required adding another strip of white oak to fill the gap. The turned detail at the top of this piece also proved a real challenge to fit since it came from Hiland pre-attached to the long flat board. When the board sat flush with the wall, the turning was still about 1/8″ proud. We were able to gently remove it and I’ll reattach it directly to the wall for a cleaner look.

Once the pendant was completely installed, Jordan was finally able to get the last two treads permanently installed on this long run of stairs. A real accomplishment!

In addition to the pendant, we also got one newel in place. The plinth of the newel is hollow, with walls about 1 inch thick, so Jordan built up a tall block of 2×4s on the step and glued everything together. Once the construction glue sets up, he’ll be able to get this run of handrail installed as well.

Today Jordan got almost all the treads and risers installed on the long main run of stairs, which also involved delicately fitting one more skirt board into a wonky wall. About halfway up the main run, the steps transition from being open (wall on one side) to being closed (between walls). I’m calling this area the “pendant”, although that’s not precisely the architecturally correct term. Anyway, the pendant involves some complex planning, so we didn’t finalize two treads right there. That’ll happen tomorrow.

As expected, we also received delivery of the newel posts:

• One large primary newel with a flat top, which will have a light fixture on top
• Two secondary newels with turned tops
• One half-newel which will be applied to the wall on the platform
• Two “pendant” boards with turned ends which will be used where the handrail dies into the wall and ceiling.

The newels look precisely like the Illustrator drawings I sent away for production. It’s really uncanny! They are also extremely solid. I’ve been planning to run electric through the center of the primary newel for a light fixture installed on the top, and since the design was completely square (no turnings), I naturally assumed they would be built hollow. But no; the maniacs up in Holmes county (and I mean that in the most complimentary way) built a solid 5.5” square block of quarter-sawn white oak and then carved out all the chamfers and surface decoration. It’s lovely, and incredibly sturdy, but unfortunately it means I’ll have to drill a hole myself through about 40 inches of white oak. Live and learn!