boltonblue

1 computer with mechanical CAD software √
30 80 lb bags of redimix concrete √
4 4ft 12in diameter sono-tube √
3 10ft 2x6 √

1 1/3 cubic yard wheelbarrow √
1 hoe √
1 spade √
1 pot hole digger √
1 pitchfork √
1 hand trowel √
1 grading rake √
1 edger √

1 25 ft rule √
1 30 ft rule √
1 4 ft carpenters level √
1 2 ft square √
1 ft T-square √
1 laser level √
1 framing hammer √
1 radial arm saw √
500 ft spool of nylon twine √
1 plumb bob √
1 1/4 in masonry drill bit √
1/4 hp drill √
a bunch of driveway reflectors to act as marking stakes. √


and oh almost forgot,
1 bottle 200 mg ibuprofen √


BUT that all got to here,



which will someday support this,



When I started this silly project I had no idea it would be this annoyingly difficult to get right.
But projecting dimensions from a deck 108 inches in the air and trying to get everything to line up has been brutal.
It seems every time I took a measurement it was different from the previous time.
I broke down and bought a good laser level last night and it saved my butt this afternoon as I was putting the second stair landing in and found I was off by several inches of elevation.
A little quick redesign and I recovered but a new additional step got added.
This how the original stairs were set up but were just plain built wrong and rotting.

Lainey

Have a good weekend, Jerry.

Legal Bill

Yeah, stairs can be tricky, Jerry. There used to be house in Quincy with a set of stairs that never reached the ground. The person had a sloping lot and the guy couldn't figure out how to end the stair case.

dlq04

Glad that's your project. That's all I can say.

MsPerky

Are you sure you want to finish this yourself? There is a point at which a challenge just becomes a drag. Guess you haven't reached that yet.

boltonblue

Deb,
It is said I'm long on dumb endurance. There are others who use more colorful language.
It's probably he reason I've been successful at work.
that and I have never been able to accept defeat.
At this point I'm not sure I could hire anyone to do what I want they way I want.


Bill,
one of the tough parts is I'm used to dealing with dimensional accuracy ± .001 inches.
It really bothers me to be dealing in ± a quarter to a half inch of measurement error.

Legal Bill

^Don't let it bother you Jerry. That's why they make shims, caulk and decorative molding.

PokS2k

It does look good!

Spokes Man

[QUOTE=boltonblue,Apr 21 2010, 04:35 PM]1 computer with mechanical CAD software

boltonblue

There is a story there.
I was drawing it on paper when #2 son told me "why don't you do it on a computer?"
" becuase I don't have the software and don't have time to learn, wise guy!!"
He was taking a CAD course at school and got a student version of the PTC Pro-E called pro-desktop. He whipped off the drawings in no time before he got bored with it.

Simpsons are in the game plan.
You can't tell from the picture but they are embedded in the support posts.