The Dirt Goes On…

Here we go again…I’m starting to think that there is no such thing as a little job when you have an old house that was owned by a moron for 25 years.  This week’s surprise surfaced when I removed the plaster from the stairway.  Apparently, Dr. Dough-Head figured that his ideas are much better than what the building code stipulates.  He built the stairway to the thrid floor and, as I showed you in the video, he has obviously never seen a proper stairway.  The steps are supposed to rest on top of supporting structures known as risers.  These risers are typically 2 x 10 lumber with the steps notched out, but under each cut out there is supposed to be a couple of inches of the board remaining for support.  Dr. Dough-Head on the other hand, used only 1 inch lumber and the cutouts went completely through the entire piece. This obviously offers no support and was the cause of the bouncy stairs.  Not the spring in my step I was looking for.   He also used the cheapest wood he could find for the steps themselves.  You have to love this guy, I have yet to find one thing that he has ‘fixed’ that was actually done properly!  From the roof (shingles…no tarpaper…no plywood) to the wiring of the hot water tank (used light gauge 10/2 wire which caused several power outages)  I’ve come to laugh at these little discoveries, it’s all you can do.  One positive from this adventure is that at least I’ll know that everything is done right, on one floor at least! Until next week….