Lakeside Staircase: Recon

After several years of delays — from false start to postponement to more false starts — Glen and Tony have resuscitated Rosslyn’s lakeside staircase repairs. Today I’ll catch you up on their preliminary “deep dive” (don’t worry, I’m speaking figuratively since Lake Champlain water temperatures are presently inhospitable at best.)

We started out by assessing how severe the TimberSIL substructure rot was. In simplest terms: unsalvageable. As with the boathouse gangway and the main house deck, all of the substructure fabricated out of TimberSIL (back in 2007) had completely failed. Rotten through and through.

Frankly, that didn’t come as a surprise. Everything we constructed with TimberSIL failed, much of it in the first year of two, and some of it even during initial construction. I’ve chronicled the debacle elsewhere, so I won’t revisit this dark chapter now.

The priority during the lakeside staircase recon was to evaluate the scope of structural repairs needed, to survey the viability of rehabilitating the existing posts and railings, and to begin strategizing our repair workflow.

Fortunately, the concrete piers remain stable and in great condition. All of the substructure has failed, so we will replace stringers and framing with identical components, templated from the originals, but with a superior treated lumber alternative. Risers and treads, also fabricated from TimberSIL are similarly nonviable, so replacements will be templated and milled from existing templates. And, a glimmer of good news, the railings and posts are in better condition than feared. Evaluation is ongoing, but we’re hoping that it will be possible to rehabilitate them. It will most likely be necessary to replace all/part of the interior (structural) posts which are largely rotten, but that consideration is ongoing.

So, for now, kudos to Glen and Toni for such a swift and thorough first phase on this project. Now that all of the parts are in inventory and drying in the barn, we will begin to make decisions with respect to rehabilitation, repair, rebuilding, etc. Never a dull moment!