Back at it, and not a minute too soon! Knowing that there was a lot of hobbitizing that needed to take place over the next two days, I was up before the rooster's first crow. What was on the agenda for the next couple of days was to build a set of stairs, concrete pad, and do all of the soffit work around the sunroom.
Having determined the location and the placement of the pad, and the run + rise of the staircase, I was set up, and ready to get busy by eight that morning.
The key to building any staircase is to make sure that you come perfectly level off of the floor system.
This will ensure that every tread is level. The last thing you want is to have a tread pitched forward or backward.
There are a bunch of numbers here and these are the only ones that are needed to build any staircase. I'll take a second to explain them.
*Rise-30", the vertical distance from where the stairs will land to the floor system of the structure.
*Run 44", the horizontal distance from the face of the building, to where the front edge of the staircase will land.
- 6 on 11 is simply the rise and the run that I calculated for this staircase. Every time you go from one step to the next, you'll be stepping up 6" and your foot will be landing on an 11 1/2" tread. The extra 1/2" will provide a nosing for each tread.
Calculating the correct run will dictate exactly where you want to place your landing pad.
The ideal situation is to have the staircase rest on the pad, leaving enough of the pad to step on before climbing the first step.
After setting the form for the pad, I added some gravel to the area.
Having everything pitched correctly around the concrete pad would make sure that any water would run away from the building.
This little hand roller is great for jobs like this.
Compacting the gravel will help to keep it in place.
With the landing pad for the staircase completed, it was time to call in the expert for the big concrete pour. Having done such a swell job on some of the other cement work I had used her for, I didn't hesitate to call in @farm-mom. She's the best mason for miles around and her prices are great.
#ladiesofhive, if you ever need a mason she'd be the one I'd call.
Now that's what I'm talken about!
The following day the concrete was cured, and I was able to land the staircase on the pad.
You can see in this picture how the bottom of the staircase stringer is seated level on the pad.
Correct placement of the landing has also given me a nice piece pipe of the pad in front of the stairs.
Thanks, @farm-mom for proofreading.👍
Since there will be no siding installed between the stair stringers, I installed flashing to protect that area from the elements.
By having the flashing extent past the sides of the stringers, and below the sheathing, everything will be watertight.
Since the beginning of this project, I have mentioned the exorbitant price of lumber.
When picking up the pressure-treated lumber for the staircase, Lowes only had 2"x12"x16'boards.
They were getting $80.00 for a 2"x12"X16'board. I purchased one and was able to get two stingers and two treads for the staircase. For the two remaining treads I needed only six feet, so I decided I would temporarily use a piece of rough sawn lumber for the two missing treads. When some eight-foot boards were in stock I'd pick one up and save close to $50.00.
With the stairs in place, it was time to frame out and soffit the eves.
A simple scaffolding setup put all of the soffit work right in my wheelhouse!😁😁
The dog ears at the gable end tied in nicely with the fascia board and the nailer fastened to the house. I had installed one window and decided that it would be best to wait until @ryan313 showed up before installing the other windows.
For the gable end of the sunroom, I worked off of a couple of ladders. It took a few trips up and down the ladders, but exercise is never a bad thing.
It was about 5:00 PM and the soffit work was done.
@farm-mom and I went back and forth with what color we wanted for the soffit. Once all of the soffits were installed, we were happy we chose the brown over the white.
By the end of the second day, we were ready for our son to return.
During his next stay, I hoped to install the other three windows, hang the door, and side the sunroom.
Now, if the weather cooperates while he's here, a couple of long days of hobbitizing should put me where I want to be.