crash! literally
I fell down on the stairs and scraped up my hands and legs. Argh! Its one of those things that just makes me so angry at CFS, because my home is a health hazard and its little maintenance items that threaten my family's health and security. But its the little things that its so hard to get help with sometimes.
I have two internal staircases. Both health hazards.
One staircase was originally built out of concrete. I hated it and the structural engineer said it was not to code so I had it demolished. Replaced it with a wooden staircase. I designed it, but hired someone to build it. Build went OK. I had the treads custom cut but intended to go in and finish off the edges with my router, so I had the carpenter to put in temporary plywood treads. After about a year I noticed these were getting soft .. hmmm... checked it out and TERMITES.
In the Caribbean our buildings are made largely from concrete so termites are more of an annoyance than anything else. Except when they eat the supports for your staircase. Now this is the annoying part .. knowing that I have to deal with termites, I make sure all finish construction is done with treated lumber. Termites don't eat treated lumber. I distinctly remember ordering treated lumber for the staircase construction. Somehow it seems that during the process the carpenters ran short, ran out to my storage room and used untreated lumber to finish the job. !@$@*@!!!! Sigh .. fortunately its onlya couple ofsupports but guess who is going to have to crawl under those darn stairs to make those repairs. In the interim my stairs have to be approached with extreme caution.
Staircase number 2, the one I fell on, was a challenge from day 1. Its location does not allow for a standard stair so after many attempts to find a contractor to design a solution, I finally went on the internet, found a space-saver design and customized it to my purposes. Then I couldn't find anyoneto build it! Really. They simply did not understand the design even though it is pretty simple to me. So you know I just got up one day and built it myself.
Design worked fine but after about 2 years I noticed the wooden supports were failing. So I had some metal supports fabricated and set about replacing the wooden supports with metal ones. Should I mention the initial build was pre-cfs and the replacing of supports is post cfs? This may explain why I have 14 steps and its taken over 2 years to replace the supports.
This is so frustrating! A healthy person could have done the whole staircase in 2 hours but with CFS 2 hours becomes 2 years.. and counting. On the rare occasion I can manage to hold up a drill I usually wear out by the 2nd tread. So I've been doing it1 or 2 treads at a time. I did 2 treads just a couple of weeks ago and I have one final tread to go. Just 1, and I have had to be avoiding my staircase because of that one bum tread.
I usually keep a ladder nearby so my son can run up and down quickly without having to use the stairs. The electricians moved the ladder. I cant lift the ladder. So it stays where it is until the electricians put it back. Hmph!
So the electricians show up this morning, I go to let them in, forget about the bum tread (foggy brain kinda day today), the tread gives way with a thunderous crash and once again I'm walking around with open wounds on my legs and arms.
I HATE the fact that CFS makes routine tasks so monumental. I hate that it is so hard to get help with little tasks. Its a heck of a lot easier to get a contractor to come out and build a staircase than it is to get one to come out to fix a couple of treads. I know, I have asked at least 3 contractors to provide an estimate on this work, none of them came back. BTW : The last one took this as an opportunity to appease his curiousity, he was walking through my whole house, peering into crevices and corners under the premise of scoping. Really! You are repairing a staircase, why the heck do you need to tour the entire house!?!?
Fixing the staircase is on my list of things to do before surgery, if I have someone staying in my home to look after me, I have to make sure they are safe. When is it going to be done? Sigh!
I have two internal staircases. Both health hazards.
One staircase was originally built out of concrete. I hated it and the structural engineer said it was not to code so I had it demolished. Replaced it with a wooden staircase. I designed it, but hired someone to build it. Build went OK. I had the treads custom cut but intended to go in and finish off the edges with my router, so I had the carpenter to put in temporary plywood treads. After about a year I noticed these were getting soft .. hmmm... checked it out and TERMITES.
In the Caribbean our buildings are made largely from concrete so termites are more of an annoyance than anything else. Except when they eat the supports for your staircase. Now this is the annoying part .. knowing that I have to deal with termites, I make sure all finish construction is done with treated lumber. Termites don't eat treated lumber. I distinctly remember ordering treated lumber for the staircase construction. Somehow it seems that during the process the carpenters ran short, ran out to my storage room and used untreated lumber to finish the job. !@$@*@!!!! Sigh .. fortunately its onlya couple ofsupports but guess who is going to have to crawl under those darn stairs to make those repairs. In the interim my stairs have to be approached with extreme caution.
Staircase number 2, the one I fell on, was a challenge from day 1. Its location does not allow for a standard stair so after many attempts to find a contractor to design a solution, I finally went on the internet, found a space-saver design and customized it to my purposes. Then I couldn't find anyoneto build it! Really. They simply did not understand the design even though it is pretty simple to me. So you know I just got up one day and built it myself.
Design worked fine but after about 2 years I noticed the wooden supports were failing. So I had some metal supports fabricated and set about replacing the wooden supports with metal ones. Should I mention the initial build was pre-cfs and the replacing of supports is post cfs? This may explain why I have 14 steps and its taken over 2 years to replace the supports.
This is so frustrating! A healthy person could have done the whole staircase in 2 hours but with CFS 2 hours becomes 2 years.. and counting. On the rare occasion I can manage to hold up a drill I usually wear out by the 2nd tread. So I've been doing it1 or 2 treads at a time. I did 2 treads just a couple of weeks ago and I have one final tread to go. Just 1, and I have had to be avoiding my staircase because of that one bum tread.
I usually keep a ladder nearby so my son can run up and down quickly without having to use the stairs. The electricians moved the ladder. I cant lift the ladder. So it stays where it is until the electricians put it back. Hmph!
So the electricians show up this morning, I go to let them in, forget about the bum tread (foggy brain kinda day today), the tread gives way with a thunderous crash and once again I'm walking around with open wounds on my legs and arms.
I HATE the fact that CFS makes routine tasks so monumental. I hate that it is so hard to get help with little tasks. Its a heck of a lot easier to get a contractor to come out and build a staircase than it is to get one to come out to fix a couple of treads. I know, I have asked at least 3 contractors to provide an estimate on this work, none of them came back. BTW : The last one took this as an opportunity to appease his curiousity, he was walking through my whole house, peering into crevices and corners under the premise of scoping. Really! You are repairing a staircase, why the heck do you need to tour the entire house!?!?
Fixing the staircase is on my list of things to do before surgery, if I have someone staying in my home to look after me, I have to make sure they are safe. When is it going to be done? Sigh!
Replies
Max, I\'m so glad that you didn\'t break an ankle or a wrist, or worse in that fall. You definitely need to get the stairs fixed before your surgery. I\'m sure you\'ll need to go up and down the stairs before you\'ve fully recovered, so you need to do every thing you can to make sure you don\'t fall then.
Carpenters???? Is that what they call themselves? Do they have laws in the Caribbean to protect people from scammers like that? Around here, they\'d be either sued or prosecuted out of business!
Is there any way you and your son together can put the ladder back in place safely?
ah sugar, hate to hear that you fell.......got scraped up and bruised......that is so not what you need right now............you would think that there would be one responsible capable dude who could take this stair issue off your shoulders and help a lovely woman out..........sigh, it\'s hard to find reliable folks to do things, but I still wish it would happen for you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh max what a trip and a half.I really feel for you, so much going on there.You are pretty amazing though, there is a power horse inside of you girl!! Hey I\'ve never used a drill in my life, I can\'t believe some of the things you have done in that house of yours.Despite the unfortunate disadvantage of your physical body, you have some strong inner strength happening there girlfriend. Never a dull moment.Hope your wounds heal quickly and please be careful now, before your surgery.Hugs and healing, my Jamaican friend xo