All posts tagged: stairs

Open plan landing and staircase

Banisters, balustrades and building regs

So where were we? That’s right, we were here. Awaiting new carpets, a banister and handrail. I did not want a banister or a handrail. But the building inspector does. And I guess it’s not that realistic to keep it like this forever. Even though is looks so purty. After mulling over several ideas (metal, glass, A.N. Other, you can check out all of my ideas here on Pinterest) we stuck with what we knew and also what we liked best. Timber. Not just any old timber though. Two 24mm sheets of birch ply laminated to form a 48mm depth board and then ripped into cross sections. These lengths would become our “spindles”. We fixed a timber baton to the ceiling to make sure the top of the spindle, once screwed in, aligned itself vertically so the bottom of the spindle attached perfectly to the side of the staircase stringer. The baton was filled and sanded back several times, then caulked and painted over in emulsion to make it appear part of the plastered ceiling. …

#stairporn

We’ve made a decision about our house. Finally. And it’s actually happening. It’s taken us nearly four years and three different extension ideas to get to this point….. we’re converting our loft. Builder found, architect on the case. It’s the exciting bit where we are all full of ideas, requesting samples and spending all of our imaginary money. Always the easiest money to spend isn’t it? We’ve got a traditional three bed semi. Two large double bedrooms, one family bathroom with separate loo and a teeny tiny box room which is now my small but perfectly formed home office. You can have a nosey parker snoop around our house here. It’s a great size for our family of three. But when it comes to having overnight guests, we’re screwed. We’ve been dragging a mattress down to the living room to make a guest bed for the night. I can attest that it is a) highly inconvenient, b) uncomfortable. Our loft room will become the much needed third double bedroom, give us a second bathroom AND a separate …