The basement stairs in our house needed to be replaced long before we actually bought this place. The bottom step was missing its nose so it was short. Both stringers, as I found out during the demolishing phase, were cracked in half. The only thing keeping the stairs from complete collapse was that they were wedged in so tight that they couldn't fall down. Yikes!
I decided to build new stairs when the girls were out of town last weekend. I used 2x12s instead of the original 2x10s for stringers. Much stronger. I've also added a 3/4" plywood center "stringer" as a divider and tread support. This keeps the treads from flexing down too much as there won't be normal risers installed.
Since there can be a ton of wasted space under most any stairwell, I wanted to make it so my lovely and talented wife can store canning supplies under the steps. When complete, she'll be able to fit 18 flats of pint jars with 12 jars per flat. That's 216 jars! I imagine if you didn't want to use the cardboard flats, you could add another 20-30 jars.
I finished Phase I and that was to replace the stairs so the new ones were minimally functional. No pictures of this phase or the demolition. So my birthday weekend, I started with the internal shelving. I know that it would have been easier to build this like a cabinet then put treads on and finish it but oh well...
Here is a shot showing the upper section with a flat of jars. One on each side for the top then two on each side for the rest and nothing for the bottom most riser.
More work to do. I still have two more shelves to build and finish the removable risers. I figure I'll have it done by Labor Day.
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