Home Improvement Today?

If you’re getting replacement windows the best thing you can do if your home is older is get full tear outs. In my old house we had the original windows from 1960. Extremely drafty. Got all new interior, exterior trim, and they spray foamed all gaps in the framing and around the window. Then they tape sealed everything in from the outside. Ended up going with Pella fiberglass windows. Which were very nice. Quote for everything wasn’t much more than other company’s wanted for just replacements. And for my larger living room window they just wanted to put 2-3 windows together instead a big 3 lite slider. So glad I went the route I did. Ended up selling the house and just moved into a home with some nice Anderson windows. If you’re going with reputable company, I think what is more important will be choosing full tear outs vs replacement using existing sashes. That and the crew installing them.

 

Looking for a stair person. I am trying to set Newel posts on this rake to a landing. Looks like my stairs aren’t square to the landing, so the newels will need to be angled. Is this a common problem?


I imagine I just need to turn one of them inward and then deal with the reveal from the nosing not being 100% even on that newel?

 

Another good day with this kitchen remodel. Got a few more cabinets installed. 1 more upper and the pantry and base cabinets to the left of the lazy susan. Was able to get the gap along that wall down to 5/8" by forcing the cabinet next to the lazy susan back to the wall a little. It's not square to the lazy susan, but it's such a short run, it won't be noticeable once the countertops are installed. The pantry cabinet when plumb was about 1/2" off the wall, so I just installed it snug to the wall a little bit out of plumb (side of the cabinet is flush with back, so nothing to scribe). It worked out nicely with the attached 12" base cabinet as that ended up level (and a little out of plumb) with the others. Go figure. That section of the wall kicked out some and sits nearly on the same plane as the lazy susan. I've never seen floors and walls so bad that required so much complicated shimming/adjusting. When the stove/range is installed, it'll look just fine. Obviously going to need custom trim along some of the cabinet sides and custom toe kicks. Wrapped things up by putting all the drawers, shelves and doors back on the cabinets.

 

Nice. I've seen floors and walls out further then your dealing with. You start to learn all the little tricks and also learn that it's never gonna be perfect. Make the compromises that make the finished product look as good as possible under the circumstances. When dealing with tough installs I step back and look at the work a lot. If it looks good to my eye there's no way a home owner is gonna notice all the little cheats I had to make. lol

 

Thanks. Just got a text from my customer and he said "everything looks awesome!". So that's nice to hear.

 

Happy homeowners are what it's all about. Getting that verbally is always awesome.

 

are you referring to the newel needing to rotate in order for the railing side face to present itself square to the railing ?

 

I’m referring to the stairs themselves not being square to the landing there. So when you square the newel to the nosing of the first step and square the newel to the nosing of the landing, they will be offset. So one newel needs to be rotated in order for the railing to land in the center of the next newel. Does that make sense?

A little exaggerated:


There will be a half newel on the landing as well, so everything kind of has to line up.

 

electrical code is 2' start, 4' between, with one required on the end of the peninsula. i see roughly 6 outlets minimum for the counter in that layout.

honestly, i really like the layout as it is. i've been in a few houses where the eat-in area is the pantry/mud room because it's off the garage and a convenient place to dump everything while walking in-- but that great big window messes with that. but then the existing pantry needs to become a walk-through bar area. otherwise, the supporting wall part of the double-living room thing messes up any alteration to the rest of the layout.

 

I would just go ahead and rotate it , nobody will ever sight the base of the newel to the tread but your eye (or at least mine would be ) will be drawn to the faces of the newels and railing

 

Sounds good. I have the first newel set and left to right it’s plumb. In and out (in line with the handrail) the bubble is touching the line. I imagine that’s okay because we can bring it in with the rail?

 

Very long couple of days. I got my rake newels cut to length and the mortises cut for this stupid blind fastening system.




Big fail when I brought home the screws though. It essentially tightened the whole landing down and I cracked a finish riser. I think I can just sand it, drydex, sand, and paint… but man what a pain


Then I set the newels. It took a couple of back cuts to get them plumb to each other. One is still slightly bowed outward, but I doubt you’ll ever tell. Finally I got the handrail installed and mocked up the rake line for my balustrade. I set the bottom baluster 1” off the bottom and a 6” ball JUST touches inbetween the baluster and the nosing… so I think I’ll keep it there. Anyway, got a sneak peak at what this thing will look like.



Tomorrow I’ll install the landing half newel and hand rail. Then hopefully get to breaking the edges over on the newels and do some finish sanding. If I’m lucky maybe I’ll get the story pole for the balustrade made up and ready for Sunday.

 

Thanks for the referrals. This is for a rental, I'm looking more for value.
I've received a few quotes, seems nobody wants to sell single hung windows anymore; one of the companies charged more for the single hung.

 

I recognize some of those as words. You did use all letters, though.

 

I just realized how much jargon was in that post. It gets even more intense…

 

So half newel post and half post mean the same thing?

 

Appears that way.

 

Looks great!

Used 5/8 rebar painted with Rust-Oleum hammered finish paint verticals on a client build in Alaska.

 

how do the newels key into that hidden fastening plate and what retains them in position once there ?

 

newel post usually is a post that accepts the sloping part of the railing , regular post is only accepting the level railing