Got the truck fixed this morning and came home and hit it. By 5:00PM (started at about 1030a) the stairway is mostly done and functional. Unfortunately not thinking I cut a 2x10 for a scab board and ended up not using it. That would have been the last (bottom) tread, so.......I ran out of wood. Too tire to go pick up another 8ft 2x10. The scab piece would work if it didn't have three carriage bolt holes threw it. I was overthinking the build.




Here is the repair where the top split out when it fell yesterday. Turned out well. They use the same plate to join stringers together for longer stairways for deck building. And of course I used the local Gorilla Glue and cabinet clamps.



Yip the bottom step is a lu-lu. I was not able to make any more clearance from the overhead coming down. I was hoping that reducing a step in the stringer might help that, but after thinking about it the only way to do that would be to make the stairs much steeper which then also makes the treads less deep. So guys like Shayne and Eric will really have to stoop to clear.



These older homes were not really meant for renovating basements. The ceiling is as low as 80" in the corners of the basement. In the center where the floor is the lowest it is about 85 inches. So just over 7 feet. I can't do a drop ceiling so I will do an acoustical that uses furring strips attached straight to the floor joists to maximize head room.