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Posts tagged “steel”

The steel inside

Posted on 2 May 2017

Overkill is our strong suite, but in the case of the newel posts on an outside stair, I think our approach is pretty justifiable.  The connection between the post and the stair stringer is often the first point of failure on a deck.  Typically a 4×4 gets bolted (or, mercy!, nailed) to the side of the stair stringer, and as people pull on the post going up or down the stair, the short grain of the stringer starts to fail and the post gets wobbly.

 

We’ve developed a system where we fabricate a steel sub-post on a thick plate, and then we bolt the plate to the concrete pad at the bottom of the stair.  The finished newel box gets installed over the steel with big-assed tek screws.  On a recent job, the geometry of the steel post was a little more complicated because we were using 3½” thick engineered beams for the outside stringers, but the general idea is the same.  We also had intermediate newel posts on this stair because of the long run.

Rubin deck stair-8154

 

Rubin deck stair-8158

 

Rubin deck stair-8132

 

Rubin deck stair-8134

 

And some images of the finished newel posts:

Rubin deck newels-8550

 

Rubin deck newels-8551

 

Rubin deck newels-8553

 

Rubin deck newels-8558
Categories: Details, Structural work, trade secrets

Tagged: deck, engineered beam, newel post, Stair, steel, stringer, welding

2 Comments

The walnut saga

Posted on 18 November 2010

We recently finished a renovation in Brookline, MA, in a generally worker-friendly building:  there was air conditioning and heat at the appropriate times, and, since we were working in a penthouse unit, an excellent view.  The building had only one dammit feature, which will become relevant later in the story. The architect we worked with, Carol Marsh of Helios Design Group, did her job perfectly:  she designed a beautiful space, and left the details of execution to us.  Perhaps the most challenging detail of the kitchen was a ten-foot-long walnut counter, supported at one end by cabinets and at the other end by a single leg. The fun started early, as it turned out that stock of sufficient length was not common.  Highland Hardwoods…

Categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Brookline, screw-ups, stairs, steel, table, walnut

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