ItzKathyP Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I'm taking a break from subject staircase and reading all the comforting and helpful words from those of you who have mastered this craft. I am still, however, considering building a nice back yard for my Pierce and having a having Halloween bonfire with guess what as the burnee. When I decided to take "semi-retirement" (I work 3 days/week) I ordered my Pierce to fill my retirement hours with joy and fulfillment. I LOVE my Pierce. I've accumulated some construction materials that I'm delighted with, found just the right color paints for it, and have some dandy wallpaper that I can hardly wait to hang. I had a ball building the base and felt competent doing it. Then came the staircase. ARGGHHHHHHH!!!!! It's really nice to have a forum for my frustration, being fairly certain that y'all will understand that this mood will pass and all will be well. Do you think a big curtain around the staircase would fit in a Turn-of-the-Century Art Deco house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 You could omit the staircase and fill in the hole and say that it's in the part of the house that you can't see, or you could build a lovely spiral staircase (do a "search" for that thread in the General Discussion forum), or you could do what I have been known to do and take it all apart and deal with it separately at a later time, when I've thrown things and gone off for a stiff drink of bourbon or a piece of dark chocolate and had an attitude adjustment in the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 My Pierce hasn't popped out of the box yet, but still I feel your pain. When something doesn't go right, it just doesn't go right! Have you thought about other options? There are Pierces here with delicate winding staircases. I can just see one with an aluminum handrail and shiny marble steps in the Art Deco mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uppitycats Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I can't begin to tell you just how many times I was ready to use my Garfield staircase as kindling!! But I did what HavanaHolly and a host of others here suggested... "Step away from that staircase!! Put down the sledgehammer!!" :yay: and went back at at another day, after a pot of coffee, a few harsh words....and it turned out pretty neat. And then there were the times that I was ready to burn up the whole HOUSE (well, at least as much as I had constructed of it!)....but she turned out pretty nice I think. I'd probably just move on to something else, and come back to it another day... Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Here are pictures of my Pierce Building: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/556889918hwwgSB Seems like it took over an hour to assemble completely but I really like the looks of it I hope this helps you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItzKathyP Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 Wow, you guys are great! My attitude has adjusted already. Havanaholly, I took a jar of hot fudge out of the fridge & ate it with a spoon. I feel SO much better! KathieB, I wish I'd thought of the marble steps, but as I've read so many times in this forum, this house seems to be deciding what it wants to be as I go along. I began with late Victorian/Queen Anne period in mind and stained the steps dark mahogany. Now, as I'm accumulated stuff to go in it, the Art Deco period is emerging. How would you do marble? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Wow, you guys are great! My attitude has adjusted already. Havanaholly, I took a jar of hot fudge out of the fridge & ate it with a spoon. I feel SO much better! How would you do marble? Kathy, there is nothing so terrible that chocolate cannot cure! Here's a down & dirty on faux marble. Look long & hard at whatever kind of marble you want to reproduce (if you want to go for more or less real look) and gather some paint in the colors you want. Let's start with simple white & gray, and I use paint in tubes. Prime your surface with white. When it's dry give it a coat of white satin or gloss latex paint. While it's wet, squeeze a little bit of black paint onto a scrap of waxed paper and using a fairly fine, thin paintbrush, load the tip and randomly drag it through the white, wiggling & rolling it until you don't see any more black. Wipe off your brush and repeat until you're satisfied with the appearance of your "veining". now take a wadded facial tissue or a cotton ball and merrily dab at your black lines; experiment with dry, damp & wet applications; or drag a feather across the lines; you will get all kinds of different effects, depending on how you play with the paint. Want to warm ut up? Take yellows, reds or browns in minute quantities on your tissue/cotton ball and randomly & lightly pat it all over the wet paint. You want it cool instead? Go for blues, greens, a hint of purple. PLAY with it! You don't like the way it looks? Take a wet rag & wash it all off & when it's dry, begin again. Better, play around with scrapwood until you get a look that butters your grits, and RUN with it! You can also use royal blue, crimson, umber or phthalo green for your veining instead of black. Marbling is the most messy fun you can have without getting fat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItzKathyP Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 Thanks for your wonderful staircase tutorial, Tracy. I wish I'd found it before I started, although things are going better since my dip into the (chocolate) sauce. I do have a question, though. The instructions say to prepare the pieces before assembly. Is this the best way to proceed? My staircase is partly painted and partly stained, so doing that after assembly would be more difficult, I would think. It may be that I'm having trouble lining everything up because the pieces are already sanded. Could that cause a problem for areas that have so many pieces and where tolerances are so small? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItzKathyP Posted January 8, 2008 Author Share Posted January 8, 2008 Havanaholly, the fat ship has already sailed, but the FUN remains! This marble idea is so wonderful, thanks to KathieB, and your instructions are just perfect. How amazing! I guess there's no reason to rush through the staircase, but rather work harder to make it a focal point. The house has already changed all the ideas I started with, so why not just go with it. I actually love the shape of the staircase and the way it creates a "wall" between the dining and living rooms, which is why I discarded curved staircase idea. I sent a question to Tracy about preparation of the pieces prior to or after assembly. It would be awfully difficult to do this marble on the steps after assembly, I would think. I'm SO excited about this!! Thanks to all for your ideas!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggiemae Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 Put the staircase into a zip lock bag label it and move on. Don't pop out the openings either, or if you already have, save the part in the bag with the stairs . I am working on my Pierce as well and as is often the case with me, I am still not decided if I will put the stairs in the recommended place or not so I will wait until I am further along in case I decide to reconfigure them or even not use them at all. There are plenty of surfaces to attach them to even if you need to cut off tabs to get them in. My recommendation is that you go back to the stairs later in the build. Forget them for now, find your "happy place" and move on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 If you haven't already done so, run out & invest in a few rolls of 2" masking tape (you can always split it down if you need it narrower) and begin assembling parts without gluing, using the tape. This is what we who routinely do this call a "dry fit" and once the shell of the house is together take your time to study the layout. Usually a formerly reticent house will begin speaking to you and telling you what it wants to become & how it wants you to do certain things (like marble Art Deco stairs). Remove, then prepare. Some of the prep work may include painting, papering, wainscots, baseboards & coffering ceilings in impossible-to-reach places after final assembly (with glue). If you plan to install electricity you'll want to study where you want your wiring to run and how before you decorate or glue. At the very least I will scribe floorboards and punch nailholes into the "board" ends directly on the plywood sheets and sand, stain and seal them after I remove them from the sheets & before assembling, sometimes even before a dry fit if the house has already begun to speak to me, like the pub I made from the Glencroft did. I will also prime and finish off the ceilings. I have also been known to work out of order of the instructions, and a couple of builds I have ignored the instructions totally! Here, again, by the time I have begun to punch the first piece out of the kit I have already read through the instructions three times, at least; sometimes the dry fit will demonstrate a better order to follow, or what to ignore, and other times exactly why the instructions must be followed "as is". There is no "right" or "wrong" way, there is the way that works best for YOU. Some products that work for Lynette don't work for me, and I'm sure many that work for me may not work for you. If it's new & you're not sure, try it out on scrapwood! Play, and don't be afraid to try something brand new; challenging yourself and succeeding is growth, and failing is a learning opportunity. Did I mention this is FUN? If you're not having fun, you have already learned what to do (holly's Chocolate "cure"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I do have a question, though. The instructions say to prepare the pieces before assembly. Is this the best way to proceed? My staircase is partly painted and partly stained, so doing that after assembly would be more difficult, I would think. I built my staircase after I sanded the pieces first. I stained them AFTER they were assembled. I used a sponge brush and it went on nice and even for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Geez, I've never had any problems with the Pierce's staircase and the Garfield staircases - they are sooooo simple! But then I love making stairs.......sorry...had to put my 2 cents in! And the staircase I made for my castle I made by hand without any patterns...... Wolfie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbytsdy Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Please don't burn the staircase...! You can do all sorts of great things with it-- I papered and trimmed and runnered and rodded my Pierce staircase, and check out Wolfie's-- she did some great detailing on hers. It's one of the things I am looking forward to the most on the Beacon Hill-- getting another chance to play around with the staircases and see what I can do with 'em. I do have trouble-- seem to have a knack for getting things out of square-- but spackle and wood paste sure do make me feel better about it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I guess this would be a good place to share that much as I enjoy the look of stairs in dhs I have a time with the railings! The Magnolia was the second build I've done with a turning staircase (after the Glencroft) and I'm afraid I said some rather graphic (& naughty) things to it. It went in and fit PERFECTLY in the dry fit, too. Ah, well, it got dont and that's all I'll say. I do enjoy putting on shingles & siding, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaineYankee Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I dreaded those "ugly, scary" stairs, too, until I saw a few pics on here of other people's projects. Then I tore the stairs apart (I inherited my Pierce poorly assembled) and started from scratch with new ideas. Wow! Sooo much better. I have not copied anyone else, but I have drawn from their ideas. One thing that I am trying is to put a standard railing on top of the side panels, instead of the flat piece of wood. So far I've only done it as a mock up, but it looks good. Pictures to follow :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I've been trying to decide what to do with my poor Pierce's stairs too. They're falling apart (just like the rest of the house) and will have to be reassembled...SOMEHOW. I really like the marble idea, but until she talks, all plans on hold. (I figured I could at least rebuild her stairs...right???) ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I LOVE the idea of the marbled stairs! One of the things that might be fun to do is to make panelling for the staircase sides from scrapwood and either paint the whole thing, including newel posts, to look like marble, or just the treads and risers and then stain the paneling and make inserts (either a mural, wallpaper or painted/ photocopied or stitched) to fit within the paneling; sort of 18th Century Georgian opulent; or go with Art Deco with all marbling and use filigree fan ribs for the balusters (painted either black or gilded) and marblize the banister, as well. Then you could marble the foyer floor and go berserk with wall treatments! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItzKathyP Posted January 13, 2008 Author Share Posted January 13, 2008 Many thanks to everyone for their support and helpful information during my recent staircase meltdown. Progress is now being made! I've learned so much from you all that can be applied not only to staircases but to the entire project. The Pierce is my first house and will certainly be my favorite of any I'll ever build. Hope to be able to post some pictures within a few days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 Hurrah! (as we all join hands and do a big happy dance for you!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corwin Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 If its like the Garfield stair case I cut off the banister and I am going to add Pre made spindles,railings, posts, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamie Posted January 14, 2008 Share Posted January 14, 2008 The staircase in the Garfield were not a problem for me--it is the whole house and yes quite often I feel like breaking it apart and burning it. I do just walk away for a while and yes all choclate is wonderful to have and it really does help. In general I do not put stairs in my houses because they take up to much room but thhe Garfield stairs are elegant an the house would loose something without them. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshines_minis Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 I personally pre-paint and stain everything so I don't worry about drips and splatters. I recommend getting her a catalog from hobby builders supply. Also I use the crap out of blades and tape. Those are my main tools. :welcome: . She Can save a fortune on paper if she prints up some off the internet. Also Some magazines to inspire her to create from scratch.Just Take your time and it will be a lot less overwhelming. After the house is built, then her fun begins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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