The Staircase Railing Installation Failure. Another Renovation Setback!

Hi Everyone,

I know, I know, I know! And, many of you had a premonition. Well, you were right, and you are free to say “I told you so.”

Here’s how it unfolded.

Yesterday, in the early afternoon, I called Jerry, “the steel guy,” to confirm the staircase railing installation for today.

“Yes, Laurel, we’re all set. We have some things to do in the morning but we should be there in the early afternoon.”

I replied: “Oh, that’s fine; I guess it’ll take you a couple of days then.”

Jerry said, “No, the entire installation should only take two or three hours at the most. The guardrail will only take about 20 minutes. It just gets popped on. “

Oh, wow! That’s terrific, Jerry. Well, I can’t wait to see it. I’m sure I wasted more of his time with chitchat and then we said goodbye.

After the intense day on Tuesday, I had to take a short nap, so I did and then went to play Mahjong at my friend Cheryl’s lovely home on Marlborough Street. Yes, I play Mahjong about 2 or 3 times a month. And yes, this is Cheryl of the “You MUST borrow my car or else.” She’s a doll. After our set of four games, I left, and since it was another super gorgeous day and Marlborough Street was beckoning me, I decided to go for a walk.

I don’t know about you, but my best thinking occurs either in the shower or while walking. I’m sure a neuropsychologist could explain why that is. However, yesterday, as I was walking along, I couldn’t tell you what I was thinking about. Mostly, I was just enjoying the gorgeous houses and gardens when a clap of brain thunder came out of nowhere.

“It just gets popped on. “

The human brain is a fascinating thing, isn’t it?

All this time, it had held onto those five words to deal with after my nap and Mahjong game. But, now that my mind was ready to deal with it, it came on with a vengeance. And also a sense of foreboding I so badly wanted to go away. Alas, it refused.

What the hell did he mean by “It just gets popped on?” How is that possible?

And in only 20 minutes?  What the hay? Now I was full throttle into anxiety, I recalled that awful X-rail sample from last January.

Oh, I couldn’t stand that thing and realized after a few days that there was no way I could do the X design.

So, it was back to the drawing board for a code compliant, chic railing, but before I did, I told Jerry as tactfully as I could that the metal plate at the bottom was hideous.

Dear God, please tell me he’s not just popping it on because all he has to do is screw in an L-shaped 3′ x 9′ metal plate on TOP of my lovely hardwood floor.

The idea was so repulsive that I went back to my state of denial, had a bite to eat, and busied myself with other things, like mindlessly scrolling through Instagram.

However, I could only push the dread away for so long.

I looked at the clock; it was 7:30-ish, so I thought it would be better to put my mind at ease and text Jerry. Maybe he’ll respond.

Well, I wasn’t laughing.

Laurel, what was the holdup with the staircase railing installation in the first place?

Well, it wasn’t the railing itself. That was ready by the end of April. However, Jerry gets all his railings painted with epoxy and can’t do that in-house. Normally, the paint company turns it around in a week or two at the very most. This time, after five weeks and me pestering Jerry every few days, he went over to pick it up– still unpainted. I told him that regular paint was fine. It rarely rains inside my apartment. ;]

Then, part of our chitchat that I forgot about until now is that the paint people left my $10,000 custom rail outside, and the entire thing was covered with rust. What kind of lunacy is that? He said it took hours to get all the rust off, and then they sprayed it with Rustoleum.

Poor Jerry. He really is the nicest guy.

However, at least I was prepared for this one, giving me a golden opportunity to ruminate about the entry jib doors. haha

Thank you to many of you who tried to help and send suggestions.

However, almost all of you sent the (relatively) easy jib doors that either open in or don’t have moulding covering the hinge end or both.

Undercover Architecture – jib door open – hidden doorway

Opening a jib door is (relatively) EASY. Above, they used concealed hinges similar to what we used for the under-stairs doors and the little bathroom hidden doors.

However, we are not going to visit the jib doors just yet.

Oh, Laurel, you can’t leave us hanging. Please just tell us if they were able to install them or not.

I’m sorry, but I couldn’t fall asleep until 5:00 AM. I have to go eat a crust of bread and clean my oven.

Sunday morning.

Well, what about the railing?

Oh, thanks for asking. It’s stunning.

Sweet Dreams. Good night.

Okay, yes, it’s stunning, except for these awful plates on the steps, which make my gorgeous railing look like crowd control stanchions at Madison Square Garden.

The guardrail is equally stunning. However, it looks like it’s on skis. lol

Okay, here are all of the guys moving all the crap out of the way to do the(non) staircase railing installation. I am quite sure there have never been this many at one time before in my living room. Okay, once before, when the mantel was dragged in.

That’s Brendan and Jerry (in yellow) in the back.  In the middle and right are two young lads helping Jerry. And on the left is pensive Eugene, the guy who nearly lost his thumb, taking down the killer spiral staircase.

From last October, only days before the killer spiral met his maker.

Okay, here’s a small section of the staircase railing installation (that didn’t actually happen). See what I mean? But before you tell me, “Oh, Laurel, that’s not so bad.” One, it is that bad, and two, I’m okay with the plates as long as they are recessed and can’t be seen. However, they’re above the floor, and as I said, it cheapens this expensive custom railing. The handrail is not on, but I saw it, and it, too, is beautiful.

Brendan and Eugene can route out an area for the plate to sit in so it’s flush with the floor. There are eleven plates, but they will cut them down, so there will be much less routing.  Alas, the sawdust is here to stay for a little while longer.

But then there’s this plate, which is 3′ x 9′. That’s a lot of routing. So, they will turn this into small plates, one for each post. Then those small plates will get embedded into the floor. That will be fine, and I can even paint them to blend in if necessary.

I do have another image on Instagram of the staircase railing. Please check it out here and follow me, if you aren’t already!

Jerry said the staircase railing installation should happen in about two weeks.

Oh! After Jerry and crew left, I had to throw some garbage out, and as I was walking past the open gate to my garden, I saw this shockingly wonderful sight.

Omg!!! A miracle has happened!

Okay, I’m signing off for real, but there’s much more to share. I forgot in addition to these five guys, there were two painters downstairs.

xo,

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