Yet Another Update in the Thrilling Saga of the Stairs

The stairs. The stairs! My life will be a better place once that staircase is finished, if for no other reason than the fact that I'll no longer need to remember that I really ought to be working on them right now. A fact that I'm reminded of every time I come home and see that big gaping hole.



What's happening with them? They're all stained, all sanded, all polyurethaned up. The walls up are. The electricity has been wired. All that's left is to




Cut and nail up the ceiling
Put in the risers
Put in the treads
Finish nailing the door frame
Poly the door frame
Put in the door
Put in the railing
Put in the light
Put in the light switches


Once that's all done, we still need to finish last year's project: scrape, sand and stain the two small sides of our garage. It sounds like a lot of work, but the end really IS in sight. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.




Has it been worth the time, trouble and expense? Well, hard to say at this point. I mean, the stairs aren't even finished yet. Even once they're done, they go . . . nowhere. The site of my future home office, my house's second bathroom, a walk-in closet, master bedroom, and loft. (Note: those are not all the same thing.) When I keep that goal in mind, then yes, it feels very good. Progress is being made.


Of course, that's like a 10 year goal. So . . . only nine years to go?




Here's some pictures to satisfy your curiosity in the mean time. First, what it looked like before we touched anything:




First hole sawed out:





Hole totally sawed out:




The risers:





The walls up, the treads in temporarily: