stair tread alignment jig
This is a jig that I made to align the stair treads during the assembly process. The steel frame intentionally has a lot of room for adjustment to allow for irregularities in the floor and the walls and any variation in all the parts involved. These treads are screwed into the steel plate from below. See the steel plates here and to see the steel frame going in go here.
Stairs fill the stairwell
the stairwell
The entrance looked large without the stairs. Now its filled up. I didn’t skimp on the scale of the stairs. I didn’t want to compromise on the ease of getting up and down. These stairs will get a lot of use.
Something like a spiral staircase just wouldn’t be useful for frequent trips up and down. A “fireman’s pole” might be helpful for trips down though.
There is still plenty of work involved in attaching the hand rail posts and fabricating a new hand rail for the stairs but, for now, I rather like it just like this.
verb2 
Hello. I am search of some help. I am building a new home and was looking for material for my stair treads, until I stumbled upon the use of Parallam PSL beams for them. I am already in the process of getting a frame ready, yet have a few questions about how to finish the Parallam. I found your stairs on google images and see that you have a whole blog.
A few questions for you sir. The Parallam comes with irregularities in the surface, did you fill them or are they so small that they do not have an effect on the final product? Also, how did you finish these stair treads?
Thank you for any information,
Pawel
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Hi Pawel,
I’m glad that you found my blog.
Yes, I did fill some of the larger voids in the parallam. I was looking for a clear finish that has “high solids” that would also fill some of the voids but I couldn’t find it. I ended up using a regular floor finish on it. I intentionally left some of the smaller voids because I like the organic irregularities in the material. Also, it’s probably impossible to find a filler color that isn’t somewhat noticeable. After I finished all of the treds I then oriented them to their best side when I installed them. So, the whole process was a bit organic in itself. I am very happy with results. My main advice is to allow for a few thick coats of clear coat. Whether you add some filler or not is up to you.
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