Collecting Staircase Parts

We’re going up! In preparation for working on the fifth container, we have been collecting staircase parts. Our plan going forward is to get the guest room container clad and livable. This will give Kevin and myself somewhere to stay until we find the time to complete our east container. Our container is going to take some time still, and it’s quicker and easier for us to get the guest section done; very little electricity is required and no plumbing.

As you might probably recall, we put a fifth container on top of the north container. The main reason we did this was so that our roof would have an excellent slope to one side in order to catch rain water. The other reason was so that we could have stay-over guests, especially as we live a bit out of town and it might make it easier for friends and family who want to visit. None of us will have space for stay-over guests in our private areas, so this was a good solution.

Of course, this means that we need to get the rest of the concrete poured in the central area, and install a staircase so we can get up to the top container easily. At the moment, we are using this container for storage and is accessed using a ladder. Kevin has built the landing, so all we need is the staircase parts and some banisters. (Here’s an interesting diagram of all the parts that make up a staircase)

Staircase Parts In Progress

A few years ago, SSE had a job to construct a staircase up to a mezzanine level in a factory. The client cancelled the job just after work began, so we have the very first pieces of the staircase already. We’ve been storing it for months and finally, it’s getting to the point where we can soon install it. It’s very unfinished, but it’s an excellent start.

After much deliberation on what to do for the actual treads, Kevin and Louis decided on hardwood. Due to the pandemic and various other reasons, steel has been in short supply over the last few months, so we decided to cut the amount of steel required for the staircase as we did not know what the future would hold. We purchased some pink beech and blackwood from ITM and came up with a two-tone design.

Here’s the sample tread that Kevin whipped together a few weeks ago.

I’m keen to see how this turns out. Kevin has lots of plans and he’s not sharing them with us. It’ll be as much a surprise for you as it will be for me, when the staircase is completed!