Odd shapes on stairs - repair or just built like that
- Thread starter jacko555
- Start date
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Deleted member 174758
The stairs probably had something like a hessian or woven covering on it for many years - so long that the weave pattern has been impressed into the timber.
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Deleted member 174758
When I looked at this on my phone it wasn't that clear - I've now viewed your two extra photos on my laptop and yes, it is a repair.
So in that case congratulations - you have the weirdest repair job I've ever seen done on a flight of stairs. So not something done when the stairs were new - possibly done by a previous owner who wanted to take wear out of the stairs (maybe in the late 10940s/early 1950s when timber was still on ration - intil 1954). As a chippie I cannot see a tradesman ever doing a repair job in that way - far too costly in terms of time, especially as softwood is and always has been relatively cheap
So in that case congratulations - you have the weirdest repair job I've ever seen done on a flight of stairs. So not something done when the stairs were new - possibly done by a previous owner who wanted to take wear out of the stairs (maybe in the late 10940s/early 1950s when timber was still on ration - intil 1954). As a chippie I cannot see a tradesman ever doing a repair job in that way - far too costly in terms of time, especially as softwood is and always has been relatively cheap
The stairs may have been built like that to allow easy replacement of the worn area of steps without having to interfere with the structure of the staircase.
The history of the house is like that. I received a letter from the children of the previous owners (who lived here from the 1950s to 2019/2020) detailing the history of the house.
House was built by a chap in between 1910/1920 something, who sourced everything reclaimed. The stained glass window was older victorian. The stair case newel posts are oversized for the space with a massive ball cap thing. Each door frame was built around the odd sized doors (every one is a non standard and unique size) etc.
I wouldn't be surprised if he did it to retread them. Each cutout is a random size.
Hey ho, another unique feature
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Deleted member 174758
But why? In the 1920s materials were cheap enough but surely nobody would have wasted manpower on such an idea? Normally wear is more confined to the bull-nose nosing, which if it gets badly worn can be can be replaced with standard section timber dowelled and glued in place after the old nosing is cut off (a job I have done a couple or maybe three times, but on far older buildings). Treads which are broken or badly worn would normally just be cut out and replaced from below, complete with the wedges and glue blocks. This sort of repair generally requires a router (to cut the step down to a uniform flat "shelf" to which the repair piece would be applied), which in the days before electric routers (in the UK that means the 1950s) meant hours of labourious work with a router plane or even an "old woman's tooth". Only a patternmaker (or a DIYer) might be bonkers enough to undertake that!
The OP says that:
All I can say is that it must have been a labour of love...
