Extortion from Contractor- $11K-$14K for basic stair railing?
ejt24
6 years ago
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6 years agoRelated Discussions
Stairs - replace carpet with hardwood, etc.
Comments (6)Thanks for the replies! Here's another example of the before/after of what I'm trying to do - although my staircase is open on the entire side where the "kneewall" needs to be cut down (like the first link above) versus just 5 stairs. http://www.mitrecontracting.com/stairway-remodel.html. I did find out that they do plan to just cut down the kneewall and put the new treads over the "newly exposed stringer" (from estimate). The estimate is just about half of what the full replacement quotes. One of the other estimates says: "Remove existing stair & rail systems, stair back. Cut access hole to get under lower section if needed and cut down existing rake wall and install new [list of new stair info, including stringers, treads, risers, etc.]. Here is a link that might be useful: Before/After Example...See MoreIPE and Deck building basics
Comments (5)Dooer: I'll do my best to describe how the guy said he was gonna use 4 footers. Basically he said they would run parallel to the house, about two feet from the edge of the deck. the deck boards would hang two feet off the edge....decking boards perpendicular to the house. the four piers/footings would be in a row. on top of the footings he said, i think, there would be (and this is where it may get a bit fuzzy) 3 2x8 boards fastened together on their side. Not sure if that makes sense.... This is exactly why I asked the question....with so many different opinions on how to build a deck, how can I compare the quotes from different builders apples to apples?? especially when i don't know a damn thing about building one....... ugh.......See MoreIs this a job for multiple sub-contractors?
Comments (20)We've (husband and I) done a LOT of work on multiple homes now and I completely agree with greg_2015. You do not need a GC to rip out carpet, do some painting and put up a railing or half wall. I would take out the carpet, first, to see what you are dealing with underneath. I have never paid anyone to remove old carpet/padding. We load it up on our truck and take it to the dump, ourselves. It's a bit of physical work, but it's not complicated. It's always interesting (and that's putting it mildly) to see what's underneath the carpet. If you've never seen what's on the back of used carpet, on the pad, and underneath the pad, be prepared to be shocked. If you don't want to DIY carpet/pad removal, just find someone you think is trustworthy and who has a strong back and a truck. Make sure you are insured, in case anyone gets hurt working on your home. Hopefully, you will be pleasantly surprised at what you find underneath the carpet. But, be prepared to be disappointed. Seriously, be prepared to find some bad stuff under there. A seller isn't usually going to peel up a corner of carpet where they know the floor is bad underneath. They're going to peel up a corner where the floor looks good underneath. Be prepared for the worst, including hardwood that's totally ruined by pets. Whatever is underneath the carpet where the current railing is may help you to decide if you want to go with a half wall or another railing. I'd want the flooring people to come out, look at the job, give estimates, etc. after the carpet is gone. There are often surprises underneath carpeting. After the carpet is removed, your baseboards will probably then be sitting up too high (because the carpet was probably between them and the hardwood floors). So, I'd take off the baseboards. If they come off well, and are in good condition, you can reuse them (if you want). If not, you'll want to replace them. Whatever the case, don't put baseboards back on until the floors are fixed. We do our own baseboards and we've never hired anyone to do them. If you cannot or do not want to DIY, ask the flooring people if there's anyone they'd recommend. But, don't put baseboards back on until the floors are done. While I was waiting for the floor people to come do the floor, I'd start painting (this is when you could get the painter to come out, if you want to hire someone to paint). Like someone else mentioned, you may need to clean and prime the walls before painting. If you want a half wall, you can get someone to put up a half wall and texture it (or not, depending on what you want) at this point. Then, I'd paint that, myself, too, if it were going to be painted. Avoid getting a lot of paint on the hardwood floors if they're going to be refinished because that has the potential to cause gunked up sandpaper and make the floor people unhappy with you. I've painted in every house and apartment I've ever lived in and I do not think painting is complicated, especially in cases (like yours) where there are not vaulted ceilings. Then, the floor people can come and do whatever you want so far as the floors. If you want a railing, talk to the flooring people about when that can go in. If you want a stained railing, I would ask the flooring people if they feel comfortable doing the stain or if they could recommend someone to do it. After the floors were in, I'd put baseboards back and touch up paint (carefully, don't get it on the floors). If using painted baseboards, I paint them before putting them up, then carefully roll them a bit/do touch ups after they are installed. Coordinating this stuff just requires a bit of thought and patience, not a GC. I don't think homeowners should allow themselves to be so helpless that they need a GC to do flooring, painting and a railing. I'm sure that there are a fair amount of folks in construction that would benefit from homeowners allowing themselves to become so helpless, and who would like this to happen, but... Anyway, just start making calls and start talking to people you might like to hire. Find out what their schedules are like, when they could come, how much they would charge, etc. Take the carpet out first, so you can see what you're dealing with. You need to know, so you can decide if you can/want to refinish what's underneath or decide that you need new flooring. Be prepared to live on what's underneath the carpeting for a while, because the flooring people may have busy schedules....See MoreBasement stairs and storage access puzzle
Comments (44)We had the stair designer come by today, and it was a great meeting. I think the last time he was here we caught him on a bad day but this time he was really helpful, taking the time to answer all my questions and walk me through the design logic behind various aspects of his drawing. It helped that I came prepared with a better understanding of stair ergonomics and code thanks to those who have taken the time to share their thoughts with me on this thread. The end result is that we have made some minor tweaks and improvements to the plan, I'm getting what I want out of it, and I understand exactly why each of the various choices have been made. Key highlights: 1. We are doing away with the top 20" landing which @res2architect and @3onthetree objected to, and converting upper stairs to four equal 11.25" deep steps. The stairs will begin right when you open the door from the kitchen, but that door opens in to the kitchen (i.e. does not swing over the stairs) and in any case we plan to remove it in a few years once we're done the toddler phase and just have an open doorway there. I thought the point about the odd stride pattern from kitchen to backyard was an important one, especially as that's where we'll come in and out of the backyard, often carrying dishes and food to bbq and so on. The upper portion of the stairs are also the piece that guests will use the most so it will be good to minimize the quirks there. 2. We are going to have the stair railings built to be removable -- @Sandra Guistwhite sort of what you were suggesting (thanks, that was thoughtful). Not hinged or anything, just something that can be unbolted and taken off if we ever need to bring a sofa through or replace the washing machine, or if we really need much wider access to the under-stairs area for a project. 3. We are going to place the bottom newel post on the second step up from the lower landing and begin the handrail there to allow slightly better access to the under-stair area. This (and only this) part of the design is in fact a deviation from contemporary Ontario building code but since we don't have an inspector coming in we can get away with it, and I can see from some googling that it's a pretty common design that doesn't seem particularly risky. In fact, I only realized today this is how our other main staircase is designed, and my parent's staircase is the same, so I presume it was the norm in a previous era. At the end of it all, I think we'll have stairs which would alarm many Houzzers who are accustomed to a different type of housing stock and set of codes, but which will be relatively safe and work well for our needs and our quirky space. The stair designer told me today that he's done several sets of stairs in our immediate neighbourhood and designs like this are very often necessary. It turns out lots of people are putting in winder steps in high end contemporary renovations around here out of necessity. I do want to thank everyone who took the time to think about this and share their comments, even if the main thrust of many of them was "wow, you are/ your house is insane". I'll be sure to come back and post a photo when it's all done so you can see how it's turned out, even if it does end up horrifying some of you. I have a thick skin and can take it, and I do feel confident we're proceeding with the plan that's right for us and our house. I'm excited to see this come together!...See MoreGN Builders L.L.C
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