Historic Fraternity House Reproduction Staircase Philadelphia

                                                  New stair with bullnose starting step

                             New balusters bolted into the new treads for maximum rigidity

                                                New handrail "over the posts"

                                                       Posts "dropped all the way through" 

                                                                  Upper stair

                                                                  Up to 3rd floor

                                                            Down to 2nd floor

                                                From top looking down to 1st floor

                                                       1st and 2nd floor hallways

Decorative stair bracket

                                                                    Removing the old

                                                                       Rail before

                                                             Existing stair horses

Here's an Historic Fraternity House that was in dire need of a makeover, so we gave them a brand new Reproduction Staircase in Philadelphia. I don't know how many frat houses you've been in, but some of them look like they've been....really, really well used, shall we say. This stair, like many old stairs, was pulling away from the wall, and many treads were moving significantly when you stepped on them. The handrail was very loose and was compromised severely by the rather small balusters that weren't attached very well originally, and. many of them were missing altogether. Most of the posts were broken as well making for a very scary, loose, handrail. There had been many repairs made to the stair over the years, and none done very well, and they finally decided to bite the bullet and do it right from top to bottom. And, they wanted to duplicate everything, as much as possible. So, I took some samples of the handrail, balusters and posts, and moldings, and took them to my wood turner, and he created new drawings from the existing pieces, and proceeded to make them exactly as they were originally, but we increased the size of the balusters and we used maple instead of poplar to make them much stronger than before, (and less likely to get "accidentally" broken), like so many of the originals. It took the turner a few weeks to reproduce everything, and for the local stair shop to duplicate the treads, risers, and handrail. We then removed everything but the existing stair horses, because they were really solid, and rebuilt the stairs in place with all new oak hardwood. It took about a week to rebuild all the stairs, and about 2 weeks to install the handrail, posts, balusters and moldings. It sounds like the Alumni are thrilled with the end result. They just had their 75th anniversary party, and I'm confident my stair will be still going strong for their 150th anniversary party in about 75 years or so. So, if you want to greatly increase the value of your property, and maintain the Historic significance of your Fraternity House, sorority house, your church, your townhouse, or your MainLine mansion, be sure to give Ron Hartman a call @ 215-694-5046 to schedule your FREE consultation ($250 value), and to learn all about the options you have for your Reproduction Staircase project in Philadelphia, MainLine, Ardmore, Radnor, and surrounding areas.....Ron's email is 45stairman@gmail.com.    

Hire Stair Rail Professionals Philadelphia South Jersey

         Stair tread totally out of routed stair stringer (supposed to be @3/8" to 1/2" inside stringer.)

                                                You can see riser just barely into stringer

From underneath, it's even more of a mess. Multiple wedges are barely in their stringer slot under their respective treads.

                                          Note the nails that aren't even driven in all the way.

Whoever did this; we'll call him "handyman", tried to support treads with little blocks he nailed to stringers. They didn't do much supporting, believe me.

  

                                         Some wedges had already fallen out completely.

Whenever you can see daylight between the tread and riser from underneath, you know the stair is in trouble. That indicates that the risers are starting to fall out of their slots in the stringer, leading to the movement in the staircase, signaled by all the squeaks and groans you hear as you ascend and descend the stair.

                                                    


This is going to be about  HOW TO HIRE STAIR AND RAIL PROFESSIONALS IN AND AROUND PHILADELPHIA AND SOUTH JERSEY.  Normally, I post after pics of the work I've done. Today, I wanted to show you what the other "guy" did.  Seeing this got me all jacked up. This is all too often the type of work folks get from unqualified contractors who say they can do Stair and Rail work. Ok, so as you can see, this is going to be a little different than my normal post. These are some photos from a recent stair and rail job I started in Exton PA. The contractor before me left the stair just as you see it. Except for the missing treads, (that was me disassembling what he did years before.) Note the wedges barely hanging in their grooves. Note the treads NOT EVEN IN THE STRINGERS AGAINST THE WALL. The homeowner called me out to see what was wrong with her stair that had increasingly loud squeaks and noises, and visible movement in the staircase as she and her family traversed the stairs each day. After removing the sheetrock off the backside of the stair, I was shocked by what you see. I was afraid to go up the stairs again after I saw this. SCARY!! You talk about nightmare in Exton. In the course of a year, I bid upwards of  one hundred jobs, and I don't win all of them. What's frustrating about seeing this, is knowing that some of the jobs I don't win may be done by jokers with work quality like this.  

    Now, I don't know who hired this person to do this job, but after close to 30 years of being in and around construction, I'd be willing to bet that this was the CHEAPEST GUY the former homeowner could find. And guess what? This is the fantastic end-product that he got. Proving once again, that you get what you pay for. If your life and the lives of your family aren't really that important to you, then be sure to hire THE CHEAPEST GUY you can find for every job around your house and  generally this is what you can expect. There's a reason that legitimate contractors charge the prices that they do. Mainly because doing a good job takes time, and expertise, and skill, that only comes from having been taught correctly how to do a certain job, and having many years experience doing that job always helps as well.    

  I'm calling this worker a "guy" because he certainly wasn't a stair professional. He was obviously a handyman who took on a job that was way out of his league. Unfortunaely, there are many guys out there who will tell a homeowner whatever he has to tell them just so he gets the job, because he really, really needs the money. It doesn't matter to him whether it turns out right or not, he just needs some work from somebody, because he has bills he has to pay and he's broke.

   So, here's my big suggestion for today. Be sure to check out the "guy" you're going to hire to do any work in and around your house. DO NOT TRUST WHAT THEY SAY. The best con men are fantastic liars. That's why they're able to keep ripping people off year after year. Be sure to speak with last 3 customers and ask to come see at least one of those jobs, (and try to take someone with you that knows something about construction.) Most homeowners are too gullible and naive. It's really not their fault, they don't deal with contractors for a living, they only deal with contractors because they have to. And, the only reason they have to deal with a contractor, is because they have to update, or fix what the builder screwed up in their house when he hired THE CHEAPEST GUY  to do work on your house as it was being built in the first place.

    Alright, I'm done ranting.

    I'll post pics of completed job once everything is done. I just had to post this right away.

  If your stair is creaking and groaning, that means your stair is moving. And if it's moving, that means that it's starting to come apart. Your stair should be as solid as your floor. If you need a highly trained, highly skilled, highly ethical stair and rail professional in Philadelphia, or South Jersey, to fix, repair, replace, remove, manufacture, or install your old or new stair or rail, give Ron Hartman a call at 215-694-5046, or send him an email at 45stairman@gmail.com.

Repair Wood Stairs Philadelphia PA

Repair Wood Stairs Philadelphia PA

First Floor

Glass panels with oak rail on top

Going up to 2nd Floor

2nd Floor with glass panel

2nd Floor

3rd Floor

4th Floor looking down

Very cool glass panels on each level to let more light in and enable you to see from 4th floor down to first

 Repair Wood Stairs Philadelphia PA. This was a fun stairway remodel project. We removed the main stair and went on to install a brand new staircase in it's place. The 2nd floor stair, and the 3rd floor stair were in decent shape, for the most part. We had to repair the 3rd floor stair about a third of the way up. The treads and risers needed to be replaced, so that they matched the rise and run measurement of the rest of the stairway. This was for an architect living on Pine St in downtown Philadelphia. Only an architect would come up with the idea for the glass panels in the floors. I really like the look. It takes a little getting used to, as you're walking around, because you're just not accustomed to seeing it everyday, and, it's a long way down from the 4th floor.

 She was great to work with. She knew exactly what she wanted, and it was my job to make it happen. I guess that's the way it's supposed to be. She wanted a clean, minimalist look. Round oak rail, round oak newel posts, and round, painted balusters. In the den, she wanted the glass panels with the round rail sitting right on top, overlooking the kitchen below, to keep the open, glass, modern look going throughout.  I think she did a good job. She hired the right stair and rail contractor I know that.

Speaking of the contractor, if you're in need of any wood stair railing repairs in the Philadelphia area,
don't hesitate to give  Ron  a call/text at  215-694-5046,  or email him at  45stairman@gmail.com  to schedule your FREE consultation with your local specialist and take advantage of his 25 years of experience with Repairing Wood Stairs in Philadelphia PA and surrounding towns.

 

New Stairs and Rails in Philadelphia

Here's a fine example of a New Stair and Rail replacement in Philadelphia. We completely removed old staircases and handrails, and re-framed new openings for the brand-new shiny, rock-solid oak stairs to fit right in place. Old stairs were very steep and had a very shallow step. Very dangerous. Now stairs and rails are up to code and very comfortable to walk up and down, and much safer for the children. This is on Race St near the Art Museum. Working in the city does pose some unique challenges, but it's definitely worth it when you're all done and the customer is loving their new stair and rail. And you know they'll be enjoying it for the next twenty to thirty years. Do you have an unsafe stair situation? Has anyone fallen down your stairs? I sure hope not. But, if they have, or you have, then you should get your stairs and rails checked out by a qualified Philadelphia area stair builder.

Call Ron now to schedule your appointment at 215-694-5046

Or, email him at ronstairs@verizon.net