Staircase Progress

Post by Mike and Catherine  

Nate and Darryn began the onsite restoration of the staircase and railing last week. We've been taking photos along the way and thought we'd share some images from the installation.

The first steps included disassembling the existing staircase to make way for the new. This included adding a third (middle) stringer to add stability to the staircase. Next, the new risers and treads were installed. The bottom riser and tread that define the volute were installed first, providing an enticing visual early in the process.

In the first photo above, you can see the profile of the old filigree in the old crusty paint below the treads. The filigree had to be removed from the side of the staircase to enable the installation. 

Mike used the silent paint remover to get rid of the crusty old (lead) paint left after the filigree was removed, which helped clear the slate for the new detail.

Here is Darryn putting back the filigree with new pieces that match the original. They had traced the profile before taking off the old, and recreated it in their workshop.

The profile matches the old exactly, as the fit within line of the old paint shows. 

The vertical notches shown above in the end of the treads are part of the mortise and tenon system used to secure the base of the balusters (the notches are the mortises). After the balusters are installed, these joints will be concealed by a nosing that is attached to the end of the tread, using the horizontal slots for joinery, and fitted to the mitre at the corner.

The composition started to materialize, with more enticing visuals each day.

Next, attention was turned to readying the landing for the balusters and railing. Here, Darryn has removed the old apron and is fitting the new apron that the balusters will land in.

Darryn and Nate working out the details of the corner after the newel was installed at the top of the stairs.

The new newels are much more slender, elegant and of course, historic. Here Nate and Darryn work out the transition of the top stair tread to the tapered original floor board on the landing. 

Many of the fine adjustments that are required can only be made with original tools that offer the control needed for the delicate work.

Much of the work is also accomplished with modern tools, but antiques such as these (not the chalkline of course) are in equal usage and are irreplaceable for the work.

The detail railing elements sat by patiently awaiting their turn to shine. Here is the finished railing turn for the volute.

Here is the joined gooseneck and upper railing turn, along with the newel that rests in the center of the volute.

At the end of the week, Nate and Darryn were ready to test how the railing elements would go together after the extended planning and milling of the system. Here, Nate is eyeing a mockup of the railing that will extend from the volute up to the gooseneck.

The pieces were fit in place just for a test. But here is a first glimpse of the installed volute, minus the balusters.

And here is a first visual of the gooseneck and the upper turn dry fit onto the upper newel. 

So beautiful. The gooseneck allows the railing to continue to travel over the top of the newels and balusters.

It was a satisfying end to the week when the mock up of the railing showed the that planning paid off, and everything was destined to fit together exactly as planned. Temporarily installed in place, the elegance and beauty of the gooseneck and upper turn was truly something to behold. Because there had been so much attention on the complexity of the volute, it was really only at this point that the upper end of the handrail shone on its own.

There are still a few steps to complete before the final installation of the railing, so these special handcrafted pieces wait patiently again.

Federal Staircase

All photographs in this post courtesy of Nate Clark and Darryn Petersen. 

Post below by Mike (Catherine's husband) 

Nate and Darryn are the craftsmen who have been helping us with many and varied historical restoration elements, and who have been providing much sage advice as we navigate the renovation. They sent some photographs from their workshop recently, where they are working on milling the pieces for our staircase restoration. The images are beautiful, and we thought we would share them.

The railing system that was in the house was in need of repair, was a wear element that was coated in multiple layers of lead paint, and also mismatched in style - between the elements that actually comprised the system, and also out of character with the house. It was clearly a replacement for the original system, possibly multiple times over. Its blocky, stout, robust lines were out of character with the elegance of the center hall, and the descending natural light that you experience as you climb.

For all of these reasons, though it is an investment, we decided to start over with the staircase, and restore it with a system typical of the Federal period. There are a few good examples in homes in the area that Nate and Darryn have worked on in the past, and after a site visit we saw the design and character that we'll love. 

Although the details are many and beautiful as you will see in the images to come, some of the key defining elements include a continuous handrail that runs over the top of all newels and balusters, a modest volute (ram's horn turn in the rail and tread) at the foot of the stairs, and a gooseneck at the top of the stairs which is used commonly in over-the-post railing systems.

Luckily, in the late 1800s there appears to have been a movement to document the architectural details of the past (at that time), resulting in a few resource books that restorationists like Nate and Darryn return to again and again for patterns to recreate the elements of the day. 

Three-dimensional elements such as the volute, the gooseneck, and the rail turn at the top of the stairs are not defined by any simple math, thus the ability to transfer the old patterns in scale to guide the milling of the new pieces is an essential element of restoration work such as this.  

The image above shows such an exercise, where the geometry of the volute has been meticulously transferred to a template to guide its construction.

Here are templates that define the bottom stair tread with attached volute, and the geometry of the handrail.

One of the first assembled elements - this is the volute portion of the bottom stair riser (turned on its side). Due to the varying angles and curves, over 30 pieces of individually milled wood were joined together to comprise the feature.

In the background is a full-scale drawing of elements of the railing system, while in the foreground a small piece of falsework defines the shape of the lower portion of the railing. The three-dimensional nature of the volute really shows here.

First cuts on the mahogany blocks that were used to shape the complex elements of the railing system. Most of these individual pieces started as solid 3-inch by 7-inch blocks of wood.

At the right of this image you can start to see the first signs of the rounded handrail profile emerging from the solid block.

The profile for the new handrail (at right) is modeled after a piece of historic handrail (at left) from the Federal period. The historic handrail comes with a story of course. Years ago, Nate was among a group of carpenters that the state historical society commissioned to dis-assemble and document elements of a group of homes in an abandoned 18th century island settlement. 

Here are some of the more complex elements of the railing system continuing to evolve.

Because of the compound angles and curves, only a portion of the initial shaping of the railing can actually be machined. The rest is hand-shaped in precise detail. In it we will truly see the 'hands' of the artisans that have built the staircase system for us.

Here is a detail on the handrail return at the top of the stairs. The gooseneck will lead from below to the left portion of this piece, while the handrail that runs along the upper landing will join with the right side of this piece. Only two newels are actually used in the system, which greatly enhances its elegance. One will be located directly below the left corner of this piece, and the other will be located in the center of the volute.

Elements of the handrail nearing completion.

The newels were hand-turned on a lathe, with an elegant balance of strength and beauty.

Other detailed elements that are being milled include face mouldings that will be installed on the exposed sides of the stair risers. Their pattern was transferred from an original detail on the side of the staircase in our house, and was one of the few hints of the original. The curved lines emulate those of the gooseneck and volute.

The stair treads have been hand-planed to provide a more aged character and color even though they are milled from new wood.

Between the renovation of our home in Oregon and our ongoing renovation of the Federal we have talked with and worked with many, many trades people, who have all been wonderful. However, our experience working with Nate and Darryn has been special because they are so uniquely talented, and are true artisans. 

Additionally, the breadth of their knowledge of historical architecture is vast, and they have helped us learn much about the fine details of our home. As we have broken into several walls during their work, they have helped us 'forensically' sort out how the home was pieced together over its 200-year existence.

Slowly but surely the home is being put back together. The installation of this beautiful railing and restoration of the staircase will mark a major milestone for us. We can't wait.

Mike 

The Stair Railing

Post by Mike 

Nate and Darryn finished the installation of the railing this past week. It was incredibly exciting to watch the vision and historic Federal design materialize. Here are a few images of the details from the final installation.

Because the design de-emphasizes reliance on bulky newel posts at each corner, it was necessary to supplement the wood components with a little steel to aid stability. At five key locations, steel balusters were installed to stiffen the railing system. Their dimensions match the dimensions of the wood balusters exactly, and once painted will blend right in.

One of those key locations was next to the upper newel and gooseneck where the railing turns 180 degrees to run along the landing.

Here Nate is fine-tuning the location for another of the steel balusters, near the lower joint in the hand rail.

Before the railing was actually joined, the system was dry fit to check the alignment and interaction with the steel balusters.

Here is a glimpse at the sweep of the gooseneck leading down the stairs, just before the railing was joined.

After the alignment checked out, it was time to piece it together one last time, and this time for good. Nate and Darryn used elaborate arrangements of these antique clamps to secure the joints.

Here is a glimpse of the clamping of the upper joint, just below the gooseneck.

Once the joints were set to cure, it was time to install the rest of the balusters. Here Nate and Mike are marching up the stairs with the balusters, cutting each one to fit perfectly.

Here Darryn mortises the base of the volute for the balusters that wrap around the newel.

With the majority of the balusters in, it was time to remove the clamps and finish the railing.

After the joints were secure and clamps removed, the joints were trimmed to blend uniformly. Here Darryn concentrates on fine trimming the upper joint.

They have an incredible variety of fine hand tools for this delicate work.

Once the balusters were installed, the end nosings were added to the treads and the detail on side of the stairs was complete.

Next up was the railing on the upper landing. Nate is chiseling out the termination for the railing while Darryn readies the location for another of the steel balusters.

As with the railing down the stairs, the upper railing was dry fit for the alignment.

Next, the upper railing was joined in place, clamped to steady the installation while the glue cured.

As the glue cured on the railing joints, it was time to install balusters on the landing.

Here Nate installs the last few balusters prior to finishing the joints in the rail.

The system as a whole is nearing completion.

This perspective up the stairs shows nicely how the railing doubles back on the landing.

With the railing installation complete, all that was left was final sanding and cleaning of the railing.

The gooseneck is incredibly elegant and handsome with the balusters installed.

Here's a bird's eye view of the finished volute.

Altogether, the finished railing is exactly what we were hoping for.

It makes for such a wonderful detail, and we'll cherish it through time.