Friday, December 18, 2015

Our New Back Steps

So, a little over a month ago I posted the intro to our back steps project. Short summary - they were falling apart and becoming really dangerous, so we decided to have someone replace them.

the old stairs are crumbly and uneven

Step 1 - Find a Contractor
Finding a contractor to do the work is always so much harder than it seems like it should be. We used Angie's List and Yelp to find a few well-reviewed companies that either were welding companies that would build metal steps or were general contractors that would build wooden steps. We probably called or emailed 20 companies. Of them, maybe 5 actually came see the steps and walk through the project. Of them, only 2 actually submitted quotes. We picked the cheaper one.

Step 2 - Pick a Design
None of the general contractors got back to us, so our only option was to build metal stairs, which were our preference anyway. Our original goal was to have cast iron steps, which are really common in older parts of DC and look really stately. We discovered quickly that we couldn't afford cast iron (roughly $10,000-$20,000),  but could do cheaper steel stairs. The company we picked could build a basic option which was pretty industrial, or a fancy option which was a little more ornamental and meant to look kind of like the cast iron steps we really wanted. We went back and forth on it - but ultimately decided that we needed the fancy option.

a random house in DC with nice cast-iron stairs

Step 3 - Demo the Old Stairs
One of the other things we debated was doing the demolition ourselves to save some money. Thankfully, we opted not to do this, and instead came home one day to find the entire cement and brick block removed. They also hauled away all the debris, which is really hard for us to do. I think we could've rented a jackhammer and sledge hammer and done this ourselves, but it would've been back breaking, and then we would've had to haul the debris to the landfill, probably in a couple of loads, which would've taken forever and destroyed our car. So, I'm ok with paying for them to do it.

huge chunks of cement that i didn't have to breakup

Step 4 - Install the Prebuilt Stairs
They built the steps in their workshop in advance, and then just plopped them in place after the demo was done.

new stairs are installed but not finished

Step 5 - Add Finishing Touches
Then, after some rainy weather (apparently you can't weld in the rain), they came back to finish up. It turned out that the cement block wasnt solid, but had a little brick wall under it, flush with the house. They originally left it for security reasons, but we decided to have it removed so that more light could get to the basement window. After demo, they added the new security bars for safety. Then they added the ornamental final touches to make the fancy stairs, and then gave them a quick paint job.

all done!

view from the top: a nice landing to step out onto

close up of the fancy bits

more fancy bits

new bars under the stairs- let lots of light into the basement window

view from the side: lots of new storage space for something

closeup of the cement under the steps: needs patching

I am so excited about these guys. I know that fancy back steps aren't really the top of anyone's dream list, but I am just so happy with this project. The old ones were getting so dangerous and hard to use, these are just infinitely easier to use and feel so much safer.  I'm glad we opted to fancy it up a bit - these aren't original cast iron stairs, but they don't look like an obviously modern and industrial add-on to the house. We still need to patch the cement under the steps, but that can wait until spring.

We have generally tried to balance house projects that are functional with house projects that are aesthetic, so I feel like now's the time for a pretty project to counter this entirely functional one.

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