Bill's Blog

Stairway in Greensboro

After a month in Mississippi, I flew to Greensboro.
My sister Dawn and her partner Mitzi have lived in Greensboro for almost 20 years. They live in an older home. The bedrooms are on the second floor. This would not have been a problem, save for the fact that the steps were designed for little people. The risers were low and the treads very short; so short that only apart of her shoe could make contact with the tread. There were thirteen little steps.

Dawn has MS. For several years, she would stop at the top of her stairs, look down, and feared that she might fall on her way down. I knew that I could help chase away the apprehensions and bring a bit of joy to her life by rebuilding the stairway.

I removed the old stairs. I built side panels to integrate the steps with the existing walls and handrail. I cut new stair-stringers that had eleven steps. Removing two steps made it possible for Dawn’s entire shoe to grab the tread. I installed some beautiful treads.

The final step was to install a new, second handrail. The original handrail only went halfway up the staircase, stopping as it reached he first floor ceiling. The second handrail goes to the second-floor landing. With this finishing touch I had finished my goal.

I really enjoyed my visit to Greensboro. It is a lovely city with comfortable neighborhoods and pleasant people.

Posted by bill at November 20, 2007 02:32 PM