I had a number of issues crop up for my client so my morning was dedicated to IT work.

In the afternoon I cut out last two stringers for the undercroft stair runs.

Tuesday

This was the job I was dreading - drilling 12 mm holes through 6mm of steel above my head.

I improvised a crude upwards drill press using a vertical stud and levered arm.

This relieved most of the stress on my body.

Also, to avoid any trauma - I progressed through 6 drill sizes as I worked on each hole.

After this I was able to install the top plate, cut studs to length and place them between the top and bottom plates.(not fixed off at this stage)

Wednesday

I already have the materials for the treads - all thicknessed to 40 mm but width and depth still rough.

Some are in excellent condition, others are marginal.

We want to use the best treads on the stair well from street level to the non existent loft.

I spread all the treads through the house and sorted them in to two qualities.

After this I started reassembling the repaired saw table.

Thursday

A late start - I never miss and invitation to have coffee with the boys.

Once out on site I fixed the studs off at bottom plate.

It wasn't worth taking a compressor and nail gun - I just predrilled and used a hammer and a driver bar.

This also included framing up the doorway which took most of the day.

Friday

Today I completed reassembly of the saw table.

I then dug out the poorest raw tread and ripped it down to 270 mm.

I excavated my old school radial arm saw from under a pile of tools.

I had to change it from a dado blade to a standard blade and then docked the tread to 2008 mm.

Also, I started setting up the router for bull nosing, almost done but lost interest and went inside for dinner and "Father Brown" streamed.

Saturday

I visited Bunning and picked up some 2700 x 45 x 90 H3 pine.

Also some thin tin plates suitable for making brackets

Sunday

First off I met Linda on site to discuss the layout of space under the stair runs.

I had hoped to place a fridge there but realised that there was not enough room.

Instead I will line both sides of the new stud wall and keep it as an open storage space.

I fettled the last two stringers in to place. This took quite a lot of time.

Also I cut and placed a kick board for the first run.

This is made of 12 mm ply which I will eventually stain to match the jarrah treads.