LastOfTheVee8s Posted October 28, 2015 Report Posted October 28, 2015 I own a townhouse and belong to a homeowners association that I pay dues to. They take care of everything on the outside of my house. My front porch was in need of being replaced so I called and they sent someone out. At this point in the job I noticed that the railings were not aligned properly. As a matter of fact I overheard one of the crew saying that it didn't look right. The railing on the stairs ends up being almost a foot higher than the railing on the landing. I came out and asked the main guy about the railings. He started giving me some nonsense about how it was technically all to code and some other bull. I'm sure he didn't like it but I told him how it should be done. He just continued to deny anything was wrong and said if I wanted it changed I'd have to call the property manager. Unfortunately even though it's my property he was hired by the property management. Well I called and had the property manager look into it and fortunately he agreed with me and it will be fixed. My question is, does anyone find this work acceptable? I've never seen it done like that before. It looks like he was trying to get away with something since he would have to get a little more material to do it right. Am I wrong or is this guy a bum?
torontotoolman Posted October 28, 2015 Report Posted October 28, 2015 Thats really bad funny thing is he had a guide for where to place the railing there is a mark from where the old railings hit the post but anyway he fucked up and tryed to talk his way out of it but it didnt work good for you for not letting him get away with it hes a shoe maker forsureSent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
Poisonfangs85 Posted October 28, 2015 Report Posted October 28, 2015 I'm with Toronto, it was already laid out for him and he missed the mark. That is a pretty simple straight forward job.
PaulE Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 another issue is the top step. the first step heading down off the landing should be approx 7" down. They made the first step flush with the landing. look at the stairs in the distance to see the difference. He moved the railings up to keep the proper height above the tread.
DR99 Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 That is really freaking bad!!! I would like to think I could have done a better job that that
LastOfTheVee8s Posted October 29, 2015 Author Report Posted October 29, 2015 Exactly right about the first step heading down. It was not flush on the old stairs.
HiltiWpg Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 1x6 treads?Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Bigmikez Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 Not cool at all especially if this guys is contracted threw ur hoa as a professional kinda scary to imagine what other things he's messed up on in other house.
LastOfTheVee8s Posted October 29, 2015 Author Report Posted October 29, 2015 Yeah, 1X6 treads. The old ones were 2X12 I believe
jbw55 Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 I guess the one to the left wasn't to his liking
comp56 Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 hmm crown are not consistent, some stairs have bark facing out and some facing in.....why front posts so tall and the only wood treated?.....stair treat far to tall..... other stairs in back ground does have top tread leading out ( flush with landing) unless elevation is different your stairs have 6 risers were as next to you have 8 reason being riser is to tall......shotty work at best!
BMack37 Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 I'm not a carpenter and even I could do better than that. WhereTF did they find this guy? That looks terrible on multiple levels. Are the posts as tall as your neighbor's? It looks like they're almost as tall...but their carpenter didn't put the hand rail on TOP of the post!
NERemodeling Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 PaulE is right but its not another issue, it's THE issue.... the stringers are cut completely wrong, you have one to many treads in there.. in order for him to make them meet the concrete where they do he should have eliminated the one tread and lengthened the run (horizontal tread depth) of each tread. As the railing is now, he actually has it in the correct location for that framing (albeit wrong) if he were to just drop the top down to the correct location the railing wouldn't run parallel to the stairs and if he cuts down the lower post and drops the top then the railing will be to short... Notice how the lower post is fixed to the front edge of a tread and the top post is set way back.. that might help explain the problem. By eliminating that top step, the deck becomes the top step and now the post is in the correct location. The only way to fix it is for him to remove the railings and stairs and start over (he should be able to reuse most of the materials.. Probably not the stringers though If you need more explanation let me know and I'll try to help more(If you want shorter step heights for each step he could also recut them with the same number of steps and the same horizontal tread depth but just shorter vertical step height. Just another option incase you find those steps to tall each step)
NERemodeling Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 Ooh and after that I forgot to say... the guy is definitely a hack and that is not at all acceptable!!! Hahaha
LastOfTheVee8s Posted October 29, 2015 Author Report Posted October 29, 2015 Thanks for the feedback guys. He should be back tomorrow or Friday to fix and finish up. Unfortunately I will not be able to be home to supervise. I'll update you with more fresh meat,...I mean pictures.
NERemodeling Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 You might want to give the property manager a heads up of what you know now and that you wanto the entire staircase replaced and built the correct way instead of him trying to pass off another hack patch job on you..
regopit Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 PaulE is right but its not another issue, it's THE issue.... the stringers are cut completely wrong, you have one to many treads in there.. in order for him to make them meet the concrete where they do he should have eliminated the one tread and lengthened the run (horizontal tread depth) of each tread.As the railing is now, he actually has it in the correct location for that framing (albeit wrong) if he were to just drop the top down to the correct location the railing wouldn't run parallel to the stairs and if he cuts down the lower post and drops the top then the railing will be to short...Notice how the lower post is fixed to the front edge of a tread and the top post is set way back.. that might help explain the problem. By eliminating that top step, the deck becomes the top step and now the post is in the correct location.The only way to fix it is for him to remove the railings and stairs and start over (he should be able to reuse most of the materials.. Probably not the stringers thoughIf you need more explanation let me know and I'll try to help more(If you want shorter step heights for each step he could also recut them with the same number of steps and the same horizontal tread depth but just shorter vertical step height. Just another option incase you find those steps to tall each step)Good call John you beat me to it also if this guy is talking about code he missed this one Open risers are permitted by code with a catch because they may not be large enough to permit the passage of a 4” sphere and from what I see a 4" ball would pass through with on problem. You would think that he would have just traced the old stringer. 1
Nordraw Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 People in those kinds of jobs just want to get it done and get out most of the time. Every so often you find someone that cares but not often. Sad but true. To all the good ones out there, you are much appreciated. 1
99_XC600 Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 It looks like the old railing were framed with the top and bottom rails nailed to the posts on the flat. When he put the new ones on he attached the top and bottom rails on edge. He can they attach the spindles to the railings on the outside of the rails just like many decks are constructed. Not sure why he was so adamant about not putting spindles in.
Logan Posted October 29, 2015 Report Posted October 29, 2015 It should really never be done like that
LastOfTheVee8s Posted October 30, 2015 Author Report Posted October 30, 2015 Well, he returned while I was at work to finish up and fix the project. Not the ideal design but at least the railings match up now. Still can't believe I had to complain to get him to do it. What do you guys think?
NERemodeling Posted October 30, 2015 Report Posted October 30, 2015 Haha. Creative. I'll give him that. That technically works! And look on the bright side, your top landing is bigger now!! If your good with it then roll with it, otherwise give the property manager some hell
torontotoolman Posted October 30, 2015 Report Posted October 30, 2015 Did he use half P.T lumber have regular?Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
comp56 Posted October 30, 2015 Report Posted October 30, 2015 Did he use half P.T lumber have regular?Sent from my SGH-I337M using TapatalkI'm assuming 2 different PT there I've seen both at local stores green and brown
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