Stair Project Weeks 2 & 3

The new goal to finish the stair project is April 22nd. Hold me to it!

Here's the latest progress.

The last three spindles were trimmed and installed. All except this last one were screwed in through the bottom. I decided to use my Kreg pocket hole jig to screw this one in through the side. Using their self-tapping screws, no pilot holes are needed. I didn't have enough clearance for the drill, so I found that you can even use a regular screwdriver to drive the screws.

The last spindles are in, and now it's time to work on the custom cabinetry.
First a base is created out of 2x4's.
Using the Kreg jig, I screw these 2x4's into the floorbeams for extra strength since they'll be supporting the pull out pantry.
Plywood finishes off the base for the pantry.
I'm getting a lot of use out of the Kreg jig, but the first shelf I built with it was definitely a learning process. I'm not going to wing-it as much with the next cabinet. I give myself a B- on this shelf - not bad for a first try. Wood putty and white paint will cover up all the oopses.
Wood veneer is used to cover the exposed face of the plywood. All you need to install the veneer is an iron, some foil to protect the iron, and rolling pin. The heat from the iron melts the glue and the rolling pin is used to ensure a good bond to the wood.
The veneer is real wood, and will give a nice finish to the edge after it's painted. Without it, the layers of plywood would probably show through the paint.
The next cabinet will go under the stair stringers and will house four drawers. Here's the setup for drilling the pocket holes.
I drew the drawer cabinet in CAD, and the process went much smoother this time. Here are all of the pieces cut with their pocket holes drilled.
The trick is the clamp the heck out of the pieces that you are screwing to prevent movement. The joints are glued for extra strength.
The drawer cabinet is finished. There will be two large drawers and two smaller drawers. Next I need to create the face frame for this cabinet, and also the drawers themselves.
Here's the current status with the shelf installed.

Stair Project Day 4, 5, 6...

If the DIY Network has taught me one thing, it's that house projects always take longer than anticipated. This one is especially challenging because it's very unique and it's really a combination of numerous mini-projects. There's a learning curve for each step, and I'm always second guessing myself. But nonetheless, there is progress.

To re-attach this switch to the stud to the left, I need to rotate the box 180 degrees so the nailing flange is on the left side. I had to undo the switch wiring to rotate the box, but it really wasn't too complicated.
Next some 2x4 spacers are nailed to the stair stringer. A second stringer will be nailed to the spacers so that the railing assembly can be attached on top.
The new stringer was cut to match the existing one.

With the new stringer in place, I can test fit the rail assembly. Much appreciation to my boss Jay for the free rail assembly. He got it 10 years ago from the Contractor that was building the houses in his neighborhood. It was an extra that had a broken picket, so he got it for free with intentions of using for his finished basement. He never needed it, and I was happy to take it off his hands. The rail and newel match our floors almost perfectly.
If I was smart, I would've set our stairs at the exact angle that the rail assembly was built. Turns out our stairs are a few degrees off, so I had to loosen the pickets to make them plumb. I also had to detach the newel and rail to make adjustments.
The rail is trimmed, and the newel post is attached to the floor. The test fit looks pretty good.
Using a 1/4" roundover bit and a router, and I created a trim piece for the ceiling that mimics the bottom trim on the rail assembly. This will be painted white to match.
The rail is screwed to the ceiling and the new post. The pickets have all been adjusted, and now I just need to add the missing ones and cut the shims. But now we have a usable hand rail!

Stair Project Day 3

Day 3 included re-attaching the stairs and framing the pantry closet.

After cutting off the front 'toe' of the stair assembly to make room for the newel post, I slide the stairs back in place. Ten screws later, it's now much more secure than it was before.

To make room for the 2x6 header beams, the Romex running through the existing landing 2x6 had to be relocated. I cut a slot through the beam so the wire could run up out of the way.
A pair of new 2x6's are nailed to the side of the landing.
A notch is cut out of one of the headers so that the switch can be moved away from the pantry.
The new 2x4 posts for the landing are in, so the temporary bracing can come out. The temporary bracing from the stairs is also removed. I added some posts under the stairs for 'belt & suspenders', but then realized the front post conflicts with the planned drawers...
...so the front post is replaced by a strut that connects to the double 2x4 post that frames the pantry. The rear stair post and strut will help prevent the stair assembly from sagging over time.
You can see how much the stairs had settled by looking at the old paint that is exposed near the bottom steps.

As usual, progress is slow, but steady! Tomorrow I plan to attach the stair rail, newel post and pickets.

Stair Project Day 2

Day 2 started with removing the flooring from underneath the stairs and adding temporary bracing underneath the landing and stairs.

With the temporary bracing in, I can remove the wall studs. These three studs will be replaced by a 2x6 header and new studs to make room for the pantry doors.
This is a view looking up at the connection between the landing (top of picture) and the stair assembly (bottom). Note the gap between them, and the exposed screws. When we had the house inspected before purchase, the inspector pointed out to us that there should be a filler piece in that gap so that the screws wouldn't be exposed. Also, the couple lag screws were the only connection of the stairs to the landing, and it has sagged over time. We'll make this connection more stout when we put everything back together.
Another challenge is these two outlets that are located under the landing. According to code, they cannot be 'buried'. They should be accessible in case there's a problem with an outlet down the road. I'll design the pantry to be easily removable so that we can access the outlets for maintenance later, if needed.
After cutting a few screws, and pulling out about 1,000 carpet tacks, the stairs can be removed.
Here's the landing, sans stairs, with the wood filler pieces installed. The temporary bracing is holding!
With the stairs out of the way, the rest of the flooring underneath is removed. The stairs will be moved back tomorrow and re-attached to the landing.

Next Project - Stair Handrail and Storage

So the next project for the house is to install a handrail and storage underneath the steps. The previous owners installed a master suite over the garage, with steps taking part of the dining room. But they didn't really finish the job, so here's what it looks like now.

I took a week off a work, with hopes that it'll look like this by the end of the week.

I drew it in 3D using Google Sketchup (a free download!) As you can see, we'll be adding a handrail with pickets and a newel post, with storage drawers and a pair of doors containing a pantry and shelves.

The funnest part of house project is demolition. I get things going with a hammer.
I admit it - I learned 95% of my martial arts skills from Frank Dux. Back kick!
HI-YA!!!
AAAHHHHH!!!
WAH-ZZZYYYY!!!
KARATE CHOP!!!!
DOUBLE-PUNCH!
CRANE KICK!!!
ANOTHER BACK-KICK! (almost fell after this one).
Farley is not impressed.
Demo done. Stay tuned!

Taste Test

It's been about 3 weeks in the bottle, so the beer should be done carbonating by now. I've had a few bottles over the past week, and I can say that it tastes pretty good.

Some bottles tend to have a hint of a bitter aftertaste, and I think that may be from not cooling the wort fast enough on brew day. The last hops to go in are the bittering hops, which are only in the boil for 5 minutes. I think the excess bitterness stems from prolonging the cooling process after the boil...maybe those bittering hopes soaked too long.

Some bottles tend to have too much head, where some have very little - but they all taste great!

Billy Beer Update

The batch of Billy Beer English Brown Ale has been fermenting for three weeks - about 2 weeks longer than the instructions say, but everything I've read elsewhere recommended longer.

How do you tell when it's done fermenting? The true test is to take hydrometer readings on consecutive days. If the reading is the same, then the beer has finished fermenting.

The hydrometer reads the specific gravity. The beer begins at a higher specific gravity at the beginning, and gradually decreases as the yeast ferments the beer. Also, the higher the initial specific gravity, the more alcohol content...i.e., "High Gravity" Steel Reserve malt liquor.

The hydrometer read 1.012 on consecutive days. This is the FG, or final gravity. Using the original gravity, OG, of 1.045 we can calculate the Alcohol By Volume, ABV%.

(OG-FG) x 131.25 = ABV%

Running the numbers, we get 4.40%. By the way, the beer sample tasted fantastic! It was flat, of course, but not for long...

To carbonate the beer, we add sugar for the yeast to munch on and create CO2. After boiling the 5 oz of corn sugar in 2 cups of water, it is left to cool before dumping into our bottling bucket.

The top bucket is the fermenting bucket, and a siphon is used to transfer into the bottling bucket (with sugar water) below.

After the transfer, all that's left is the "yeast cake" at the bottom of the fermenter...

Next, I put the bottling bucket on the counter and attach the bottling wand to the spigot. The wand is a handy device that has a valve on the end which opens when pressed. When the bottle is lowered, the flow stops.

Another handy trick I learned on homebrewtalk.com was to conduct this operation over the open dishwasher door to catch all the little drips. It's also handy for dumping the small amount of sanitizer solution that gets left in the bottles before it gets filled. Everything that touches beer gets sanitized beforehand to avoid bacteria infection.

After I fill about six bottles (these are 22oz), I apply the bottle caps with this handy red device.

Twenty-three 22oz bottles and one almost-filled 12oz bottle later, we are finished. The final yield was about a half gallon less than I anticipated, but that was because of the slight spill mishap during the brewing process.

As the yeast create CO2, some pressure builds in the bottle. Apparently, bottles have been known to spontaneously explode from over-carbonation.

Paranoid about this, I decided that the bottles would be best left in this new garbage can bought for my brewing activities. In two weeks, the beer should be ready!