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Post by jfc on Oct 23, 2008 12:34:24 GMT
Ive just been to the timber yard and heard that one of my builder customers has got a Polish guy to make a staircase for him . It was a job i priced but must have been undercut . Not a problem as thats the game BUT when i heard the materials he took to build there staircase i had to laugh . 25mm MDF ( for the treads i assume ) 18mm MDF  and 4x2 sawn ;D I have no idea how he intends to make it but all i can think is some form of ladder work with the 4x2 and cladding it in MDF ;D I'm gonna have to go and take a peek at this one ;D |
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Post by sainty on Oct 23, 2008 13:04:18 GMT
Sounds like a good job. Some sort of stud work maybe?
I know of someone recently that had a Polish team build some stairs. One guy visits the site, takes measurements etc. Sends the details back to Poland where its built and then shipped back to the UK for fitting. Frightening really. Imagine what else could go this way, well you dont need to imagine, anything labour intensive.
Rgds
Stu
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Post by jfc on Oct 23, 2008 14:03:54 GMT
Yup sounds like a lovely elegant peice of joinery to add to a five bedroom victorian house  ;D |
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Post by scraper on Oct 23, 2008 15:39:18 GMT
Ah, Polish staircases ............................ Maybe like these?  www.domanski.com.pl/galeria/index.htmlAnd no laughin at the name 'Schody' - it obviously means something other that our similar sounding word!! |
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Post by jfc on Oct 23, 2008 17:15:29 GMT
I dont think he will be getting anything like that ;D I quoted £800 for southern yellow pine strings , 25mm MDF treads and 12mm ply risers . The stairs have one turn ( three winders ) I dont suppose BC care how it is constructed as long as all the regs are right |
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Post by mrgrimsdale on Oct 23, 2008 17:27:06 GMT
I was never that bothered about being under-cut. It means the other geezer is working for less, or the client is getting a worse job done. Let them get on with it!
I'd be more bothered about losing a job to someone doing a better spec at a higher price. I'd wonder why I was offering to do it cheaply in a cloud of mdf dust when the other bloke was getting more money and doing it in oak or whatever.
If things are getting competitive go up-market where they can't follow!
cheers
Jacob
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Post by jfc on Oct 23, 2008 18:07:36 GMT
I'm with you there Jacob and when i gave my price i told him that i didnt really want the job unless he wanted it in oak . Staircases take up to much space to be knocking out cheap ones . I even recommended a couple of people i know to price for him so i'm not fussed about losing the job . I am fussed about losing it to someone that isnt going to do the job right . When i said he is a builder , he is more a young lad that has made alot of money and gets us to do his properties up . He doesnt know the regs and doesnt need to as we all know our jobs . It doesnt sound like it is going to be built right from the material list to me and i would hate to think he will have to replace it at the end of the job because it gets pulled by the BCO .
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Post by jfc on Oct 23, 2008 19:01:14 GMT
Can you make a structually sound staircase totally from MDF ?
I would say NO , ply yes but MDF .......
Anyone done it ?
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Post by modernist on Oct 23, 2008 19:28:12 GMT
If things are getting competitive go up-market where they can't follow! cheers Jacob that's what the british motorbike industry thought unless of course you do it be better design which is the answer and not the one followed by the bikes with dire results. I don't go with the "design is all" school - being a dooer by nature, but it comes close. BTW those Poolish staircases are wonderful - bet they wern't sold on price. Brian |
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Post by modernist on Oct 23, 2008 19:30:20 GMT
You wouldn't think I checked the spelling before I poosted it would you. Been a hard day.
Brian
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Post by tusses on Oct 23, 2008 19:33:03 GMT
LOL ... MDF ... HA HA ... I rest my case ;D sorry - couldn;t resist ! I know it has its place  |
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Post by jfc on Oct 24, 2008 18:39:07 GMT
I saw the owner today ...... All MDF  18mm MDF strings with 25mm treads fixed by screwing through the strings and some battern underneath it . A battern screwed to the tread to fix the riser to . f**k**g cowboys !!!!  |
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smudger
Full Member
Hmm. Chimped it up again.
Posts: 183
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Post by smudger on Oct 24, 2008 19:43:50 GMT
My son has just had a new staircase put up to his loft - all proper stuff, made of tree wood, handmade on site. Looks a treat. About to have a main staircase put in by the same guy for a few thou. Could it be down to how much you are prepared to pay ? Peanuts & monkeys come to mind. |
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Post by jfc on Oct 24, 2008 19:55:53 GMT
Maybe it is about what you want to pay BUT this guy doesnt know about construction so thought he was getting a normal staircase , not a bodge . His words to me today where " Ive been tucked up havnt i " All i could say was its probably safe but not normal construction methods , cant say without seeing it . What else can you say  I did offer to go round there and take the piss out of the bloke doing it but he doesnt speak english so there was no point |
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Post by paulchapman on Oct 24, 2008 20:43:51 GMT
I did offer to go round there and take the piss out of the bloke doing it but he doesnt speak english so there was no point I'm sure you could have used some sign language that he would have understood ;D |
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Post by engineerone on Oct 24, 2008 20:47:25 GMT
but did you offer to interpret when the building inspector comes round ;D that'll teach clients to be tight arses  paul |
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Post by jfc on Oct 24, 2008 21:20:30 GMT
The problem is Paul that most BCO's dont know what they are looking at or dont look at anything to hard . If he trips up the stairs he may check the run and if thats wrong he / she may look further but they are more interested in looking at stamps on insulation and glazing than the actual cunstruction because they know f**k all about construction .
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simuk
Full Member
Posts: 111
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Post by simuk on Oct 24, 2008 22:41:52 GMT
The problem is Paul that most BCO's dont know what they are looking at or dont look at anything to hard . If he trips up the stairs he may check the run and if thats wrong he / she may look further but they are more interested in looking at stamps on insulation and glazing than the actual cunstruction because they know f**k all about construction . Couldnt agree more, just dont let them no! |
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Post by andy on Oct 25, 2008 13:27:46 GMT
What a waste of MDF Could have used chipboard instead  |
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Post by wadkin1 on Oct 25, 2008 15:15:43 GMT
Bloody Poles
Anyway a thought that occurred to me, could it be carriage construction? I have never built one myself but i have seen numerous old staircases using 4by2 for the carriage particularly with cut strings? Some very old examples well constructed and still sound 100 years on. Not saying that the Mdf will last just pointing out that there are other construction methods.
Just a thought
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Post by jfc on Oct 25, 2008 17:05:32 GMT
I know what you mean as i have used this construction to wrap a staircase around a dancing podium so the girls could walk up it and into the cage ;D I loved that job ;D Ive also used it to make removable staircases in night clubs so the stage can be used easier . Not the type of construction i would put in someones house though . Anyway no , he has used string construction with 18mm MDF |
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Post by jonnyd on Oct 25, 2008 17:23:46 GMT
I would have thought the mdf wouldnt have been long enough to make the string in one piece even with a 10 x 4 sheet. sounds like a right bodge job.
I suppose you had to go and check the staircase out when the club was open just to make sure it was up to the job ;D ;D
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Post by jfc on Oct 25, 2008 17:46:50 GMT
Actually i was the only one that was still there fitting locks so drug dealers couldnt use rooms off the main club floor , the rest of the chippys left early to get ready . Shame i didnt make it as the team of chippys i had working with me had filled one of the rooms with booze and kept the keys ;D Good boys ;D
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Post by mrgrimsdale on Oct 25, 2008 19:21:25 GMT
Bloody Poles Anyway a thought that occurred to me, could it be carriage construction? I have never built one myself but i have seen numerous old staircases using 4by2 for the carriage particularly with cut strings? Some very old examples well constructed and still sound 100 years on. Not saying that the Mdf will last just pointing out that there are other construction methods. Just a thought Staircases not my thing but I have done 'carriage' construction stairs but didn't know that's what they are called. I think of them as stairs built off bearers. You get them a lot in old cottages. From underneath they are sometimes very neat and sometimes look a complete bodge. Either way, when you pull them apart and rebuild them they start looking quite intelligent and a perfectly viable way of building a stair without strings. What's clever is that the bearers don't have to have the same pitch as the stair nosings - so they can drop below the winders, if there are any, or sit on the nearest convenient joist, whatever the pitch. I'll see if I have any snaps. cheers Jacob |
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Post by tusses on Oct 25, 2008 20:39:25 GMT
What-d'ya all recon to these then ?  I inherited these with our old (1800) house. They're are not original - doh !!!  but I recon DIY from around 1940 |
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and 4x2 sawn 
;D
I did offer to go round there and take the piss out of the bloke doing it but he doesnt speak english so there was no point 
but I recon DIY from around 1940