Easiest way to demolish an enclosed staircase?
Dave N
replace it with a staircase going in the opposite direction, to allow
separate access to the third bedroom in a "2+1" bedroom Victorian
terrace. I'm taking the opportunity to install a winder staircase
going up from the rear reception room, so the new staircase will be
less steep and will conform to modern building regulations.
The existing staircase is in the usual narrow Victorian terrace
stairwall running across the house, enclosed on three sides, so both
sides of the staircase are fixed to walls. Any suggestions as to the
easiest way to demolish it?
Bob Minchin
Bob
harry
Yes. Exactly.
However, it may be of value if in good nick. Ring one of these
architectural recyclers, they may come and take it away for you.
It went in in large pieces & hence will come out.
John Rumm
> On Apr 23, 9:21 am, Bob Minchin
> <bob.minchinREM...@YOURHATntlworld.com> wrote:
>> Dave N wrote:
>>> I need to demolish a staircase in the next few days - the plan is to
>>> replace it with a staircase going in the opposite direction, to allow
>>> separate access to the third bedroom in a "2+1" bedroom Victorian
>>> terrace. I'm taking the opportunity to install a winder staircase
>>> going up from the rear reception room, so the new staircase will be
>>> less steep and will conform to modern building regulations.
>>
>>> The existing staircase is in the usual narrow Victorian terrace
>>> stairwall running across the house, enclosed on three sides, so both
>>> sides of the staircase are fixed to walls. Any suggestions as to the
>>> easiest way to demolish it?
>>
>>
>> Bob
>
> Yes. Exactly.
>
> However, it may be of value if in good nick. Ring one of these
> architectural recyclers, they may come and take it away for you.
> It went in in large pieces& hence will come out.
If its closed string, and they installed it before the place was
plastered, the strings will now be impossible to shift with the treads
and risers in place, unless you hack a load of plaster off.
You might be able to deconstruct a bit more elegantly if you chainsaw
out the top step or two, and from then on can get at the wedges to free
the treads and risers.
--
Cheers,
John.
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Lobster
> Dave N wrote:
>> The existing staircase is in the usual narrow Victorian terrace
>> stairwall running across the house, enclosed on three sides, so both
>> sides of the staircase are fixed to walls. Any suggestions as to the
>> easiest way to demolish it?
> Chainsaw down the middle of each tread & riser (start at the top!)
Would a chainsaw really be a good idea though, with all the likelihood
of hidden nails and screws?
David
Dave N
Hidden nails are a concern of mine too (I've [laboriously] started to
hack away at the second from top riser to see what's there and there
are nails in it in random places from the tread above). I guess the
only other options are a large enough crowbar or a sledgehammer,
unless I'm prepared to spend ages trying to saw through the staircase
manually. I haven't hacked at the top riser since it looks like the
joists supporting the landing have been held up for the last 130 years
by a flimsy looking batten on the back of the top riser!
Looking at the underside of the staircase, it seems that there are no
wedges, it's been nailed together, and yes it's all been plastered
in. Looks like a tough one to shift, so any personal experiences or
further ideas appreciated!
David.
ARWadsworth
Cold winter, Jack Nicholson and an axe?:-)
--
Adam
dennis@home
"Dave N" <dnea...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2d7990a8-0351-4bd3...@a21g2000prj.googlegroups.com...
> Looking at the underside of the staircase, it seems that there are no
> wedges, it's been nailed together, and yes it's all been plastered
> in. Looks like a tough one to shift, so any personal experiences or
> further ideas appreciated!
A sabre saw with a demolition blade will cope with nails and screws.
John Rumm
> On Apr 23, 4:23 pm, Lobster<davidlobsterpot...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> On 23/04/2011 09:21, Bob Minchin wrote:
>>
>>> Dave N wrote:
>>>> The existing staircase is in the usual narrow Victorian terrace
>>>> stairwall running across the house, enclosed on three sides, so both
>>>> sides of the staircase are fixed to walls. Any suggestions as to the
>>>> easiest way to demolish it?
>>
>> Would a chainsaw really be a good idea though, with all the likelihood
>> of hidden nails and screws?
>>
>> David
>
> Hidden nails are a concern of mine too (I've [laboriously] started to
> hack away at the second from top riser to see what's there and there
> are nails in it in random places from the tread above). I guess the
> only other options are a large enough crowbar or a sledgehammer,
> unless I'm prepared to spend ages trying to saw through the staircase
> manually. I haven't hacked at the top riser since it looks like the
> joists supporting the landing have been held up for the last 130 years
> by a flimsy looking batten on the back of the top riser!
>
> Looking at the underside of the staircase, it seems that there are no
> wedges, it's been nailed together, and yes it's all been plastered
> in. Looks like a tough one to shift, so any personal experiences or
> further ideas appreciated!
Reciprocating saw then - blades not easily damaged by nails and cheap
enough to replace anyway.
Without wedges, there is probably not going to be an easy disassembly
method.
Dave N
> Reciprocating saw then - blades not easily damaged by nails and cheap
> enough to replace anyway.
>
> Without wedges, there is probably not going to be an easy disassembly
> method.
>
> --
> Cheers,
>
> John.
>
Looked more closely at the stairs today. Fortunately the nails can
just be seen if you look carefully and scrape the paint away.
Anyway, tried cutting across the tread then across the riser with my
humble jigsaw and finished off the last inch or so on the inside of
the tread with a hand saw. It wasn't too laborious and I managed to
cut both sides and knock out the central area of an entire step in
about 5 minutes. Didn't go any further as I need to use the stairs a
few more times before demolishing them, but at the rate I was going I
should have all the steps out in little over an hour. Then I guess
there will be the fun part with the crowbar...
I have to be a bit cautious when removing the landing since the joists
project into next door's understair cupblard (it's only a 4 1/2" party
wall) - before anyone asks, his house is higher so the joists aren't
supporting anything else, and in fact they're rather loose already!
My neighbour has already covered up the things in his cupboard, and
there'll be some making good to do there too.
Will let you know how I get on (should be doing the job on Tuesday).
David.
Dave N
Dismantled the landing then used the jigsaw to cut through both sides
of each step (working downwards, of course!). The strings came off
quite easily, although I needed to phone a friend with a large crowbar
to get the left hand string off the wall. In the end it took about 2
hours including dismantling the landing, plus another 2 hours to clear
up the mess!
Here are a few pictures...
Landing dismantled: http://tinyurl.com/4x2yyv3
Stairs cut through: http://tinyurl.com/63yqs64
And finally it's all gone: http://tinyurl.com/3oejbhz
Thanks to everyone for the advice!
David.