[TonyM]

Been helping out my wife's nephew get the rental unit he owns ready to sell. Installed new stairs and railings and did some other trim work to get him out of the jam his "buddy" left him in. Still have to make custom nosings to go from the laminate. They laid it over ceramic tile so stock nosings are not thick enough.

Here's a before of the upper stairs ripped out ready for new risers and treads.

Here's the finished product.

 

[TonyM]

Excellent work.

Thanks. They turned out pretty good. But to be honest I have to admit I've done better work. There are a couple joints I'm not 100% happy with but they are probably still better than a lot of new construction I expect.

 

[TonyM]

Attention to detail and a very fine job IMHO

Thanks. My father could practically do stuff like this in his sleep and was a real craftsman! So I always compare any work I do and how fast I do it to what he did.

 

[TonyM]

Yes looks great, how are you at mudding and painting, counter tops? 😀

I've done all that, especially mudding and painting but also installed a few counter tops too over the years.
Based on that cottage/camp you built you won't have any problem at all. And just think of the brownie points you're earning with the Mrs!! 😊

 

[TonyM]

some talented people on this site.

TonyM - does the newell post go below floor level or is there a base plate?

No, no base plate. The newell sets on the stair tread and floor and is notched out to fit up against the riser. I put two blocks of 2x6 about 6 inches deep up against the stair stringer and fastened to the sub floor. Lots of PL Premium and a couple screws. Then, the newell has PL Premium on the base and against the riser and 4 heavy screws about 4 inches long that go through the post and riser and into the blocking. Solid as a rock.
The stair place sold him a double ended lag screw for the newell but I've seen that arrangement loosen up so went for a beefier option.

 

[TonyM]

some talented people on this site.

TonyM - does the newell post go below floor level or is there a base plate?

And I agree. There are some very talented people on here, and I'm not including myself in that list.

 

[TonyM]

If your someone that cannot carry out repairs these days it won't take long to break the bank. All joking aside its where I have saved to be able to play the gun game for years. Cars, building, electrical, plumbing etc. If you can't do this stuff it will be hard keeping things maintained going forward for many.

That's for sure! We did our kitchen, bathrooms and all flooring and stairs a few years ago. Spend a fortune but the bill would have been about double if we hadn't done almost all of the work ourselves.
For the average person even minor stuff is getting to be cost prohibitive.

 

[TonyM]

I am the same need nothing or to borrow anything from any one but been collecting since I was 16 also and when working in the dealership figured I would be turning wrenches for my life so spent a lot of money on the weekly tool truck in those early years and always followed these old rules and have that sign still I have never loaned my tools SORRY but will use them myself to help some people that need them
View attachment 99983

My BIL stored his mechanics toils in my garage years ago when he was between jobs. He said go ahead and use them if you want. I said Thanks, but no way! They're too valuable to you!

 

[TonyM]

Good practice and safety reasons also by turning off all your branch circuits there will be no load across the incoming phases hooked to your main breaker when its opened or closed.

I've never heard of doing this but it makes sense when you think about it. Less load should equal less chance of arcing when tripping the main.
I'll be doing it this way from now on.

 

[TonyM]

Sorry got more info they pop the meter first and don't care about the seal Does that do it ?? says by the time they get a notice at NS power they are done and all is back to normal I have no idea but leave it to a caper and please not recommending this for anyone
Do it the proper way and call for a disconnect

A hell of a lot safer that way I'm sure!!!

 

[TonyM]

Re done our Kitchen tile floor ripping up first tiles I put in , damm things cracked , not from lack of motar or proper install , they simply chipped like crazy just vacuuming , wife wanted a thicker more resilient tile , used the air chisel taking them up , dust went everywhere 😂😂😂 what a day that was washing everything down

If you haven't put down new floors yet, consider LVT - Luxury vinyl tile. They don't need the same stable base as ceramic, can be grouted with an acrylic grout if you wish and are much warmer than ceramic. But they look like ceramic tile. Very simple to install too. We put them in our kitchen in 2014 and they still look great. Oura are 12" x 24".

 

[TonyM]

Well that was fun. Got my new counter top in. Never knew you have to cut the counter top to fit the wall (belt sander) . As I am typing I am eating dust, good god its every where.

Yup. Had that happen to me. Kent made rhe counter 1/4 inch too long and in addition to that I had to trim the inside corner because if the mud making the corner a bit out if square. Royal pain in the a$$!

 

[TonyM]

Try down cutting jig saw blades

I just planed it down if I recall as it was about 13 years ago, but that is a good idea! Would have been faster.