First shared project

[big soft moose]

F***ing hell . Sorry to be offensive but you lot should be castrated, how would you feel if a child fell of the stairs and landed on their head? I fell of a set of steps and woke up a week later having been on a life support machine and am left with brain damage as a result . Get your fingers out and shut the stable door before the horse bolts :shock:

whilst i'm sorry for your personal circumstances , in principal i'd feel that the childs parents should have been watching it - there are far to many nanny state rules already all seeming to be aimed at avoiding the principal of taking responsibility for ones own actions, and those of minors/elderly/animals in ones care.

there are millions of ways a child could injure itself in any house - are we going to legislate to stop them all, so that the parents dont have to be vigilant, if we did all we would achieve would be children who were a menace to themselves as soon as they grew up.

 

[wizer]

Alan your accident was a freak occurrence, for which I sympathise. In 26yrs only once has anyone fell off our stairs and that was due to a lot of alcohol. Our daughter has been taught to climb the stairs sensibly and she never climbs them without assistance (we have gates top and bottom). Our stairs were designed 'ranch style' and as such had a single beam that stood in place of balusters. My Dad removed it because, apart from looking awful, it was every bit as unsafe as having nothing there. All that said, it's on my list to completely renovate the hall. Whereby proper balusters will be installed. Or at least it was until my health took a nose dive and our finances are following it. Hence, unless my Dad saves us purely out of a weird sentimental obsession with this house, we will soon be selling up and heading for the nearest council estate to live in squaller.

ahem, sorry got a bit carried away there.

 

[Matt_S]

From the proportions of the model I wonder if you'll struggle to get your legs in and under the desk? Looks a little awkward maybe mock up with a chair and see how it works.

 

[L Harding]

WELL...

Bet you didnt think people would get so angry about stairs when you posted a pic of your cornflake box model (which i love BTW) did you :shock:

 

[TheTiddles]

I've lost track of how many people I've heard of falling off these open stairs, normally when their kids have left home and they're sure they won't have one of those incidents now.

However, if people want to leave a health hazzard in their house, please be my guest, you're all great customers.

As the for the project, looks interesting, I love fitting loads of bits and pieces into a space, then having to remake it when one of them changes...

Aidan

 

[Max Power]

Wizer, genuinely sorry to hear about your current problems but everything has a way of sorting itself out eventualy. My accident happened about 8 years ago I was left with epilepsy and the ambulance knew its own way to our door I had fits so often. As you can imagine this had catastrophic effects on our lifestyle but thankfully things have settled down and I'm back in full time employment so theres always light at the end of the tunnel :wink:

 

[mickthetree]

Aled

Really sorry to hear about your experience and I'm glad that you are cracking on with things.

My only point was that I've grown up around houses that have stair cases with no rails, in at least 4 houses I can think of. Moved into our lastest house with the same so thought nothing of it.

I was not aware that it is against building regs as Mike has suggested. If I had known when we bought the place, would have requested it be corrected. I just assumed it was the norm as its what I grew up with.

Great model by the way :wink:

 

[Joints]

I'd put my money on the child bouncing off the floor and laughing it off but oh well.

Good thing I don't make up the regs eh?

 

[wizer]

I don't remember having any particular injuries from falling top to bottom. But I was 16, I understand a toddler would probably not bounce

 

[wobblycogs]

Good call not having a TV. We've not had one for 10 years now and I can only imagine the amount of time we have not spent just sitting there watching something we aren't really interested in. Has gone a bit pear shaped the last year or so with the rise of the iPlayer etc.

As for differences between TVs and monitors the gap is really shrinking there will often be many of the same connectors on both. My computer can output HDMI with the correct adaptor which any modern TV will accept. The problem with buying a TV would be finding one without a receiver in it though, if it has a receiver, even if you aren't using it, you have to pay the license fee.

One concern I would have about sticking the TV to the back of a door like that is stress and strain on the cables / sockets. They aren't designed to undergo regular movement. I would guess the socket would break internally first which could be, at least partially, prevented by clipping the cables.

I keep an eye out for TV technology because one day I've said I'll get a PS3 but I can't justify paying the license fee in order to play games and I have just got a decent computer into the bargain. Oh well.

 

[woodsworth]

I just discovered IPlayer last week. Watched three being human's. I like that one. Decided not to mount the monitor on the door, and will have two panels that will open up to reveal it instead.

About not having a handrail. Lets drop it. there are only two of us living here and no children. The only other person who has used the stairs since it has been down was Karl and he did alright. We will have the wall back up and a handrail on the wall in the next couple of months soo... It is a non issue.

Sorry to hear of other people's experiences but lets move on from a non issue please. Accidents happen all the time around houses, and short of turning every home into a padded cell they are going to continue happening, that's just a fact. I think we have far to much nannying without nannying each other as well, thank you very much.

 

[Lee J]

anyway, remember the very first post in this thread?

hinges. the door needing to open and fold back on itself so its completly flat would point towards your standard butt hinge , thats if you dont mind seeing the ends. A butt hinge near the top and one near the bottom would hold the weight of the door + telly. What did you say you were making the panels out of? MDF? Oak?

 

[woodsworth]

Unfortunately this will be in pine, and as I no longer need to mount the monitor on the door it will be hinged the other way now so it opens against the wall. Which also means i can use concealed hinges. The stiles and rails will be 5 inches and have a dividing kirf cut part way through and painted black or darkish so the openings don't stand out to much. If that makes sense.

 

[Lee J]

got ya, you've more options now your not having to open it out flat.

good luck

 

[Benchwayze]

No, a domestic stair needs a handrail at least 900mm above the nosing line, and is not allowed an opening anywhere that will allow a 100mm diameter ball to fit through. Them's the rules.......

Mike

Yep... Them's the rules...

But who is going to enforce them?

I don't have the problem, but if I wanted to fit a single rail, and was irresponsible enough, I would do so.

They would have to break-in to my 'Castle', to inspect it, believe me.

Now, if I was building a new house... Well, that's an entirely different pile of bricks!





John

 

[MikeG.]

Yep... Them's the rules... But who is going to enforce them? John

I believe that if you changed your stairs during the time you owned your house you would would be expected to declare it to your purchaser when you sell the house. The Council of Mortgage Lenders now insist that all works done show compliance with the Regs, so the purchasers solicitor would expect you to provide a completion certificate saying the works complied.

Not completely sure though....

Mike

 

[woodsworth]

I think you are right Mike but the reality is it won't happen. When we bought this place it was found out that the previous owner built the shop and the conservatory without planning permission. What happened? nothing that's what. No fine no slap on the wrist no nothing. I know that he replaced the stairs in the house and even put on an extension, non of which was declared but was evident. These are big things an no one blinked an eye. The electrics were not certified but there was a certification for someone who came and did one thing in part of the house at some time and said what he did was ok. The rest of the house, my god it is a nightmare. We will be left with the bill to fix it. Not to mention put his work right.

The way things are supposed to be or should be simply are not followed or respected but then what else is new?

 

[Jake]

You can in theory sue him if he lied about it. There isn't a magic policeman who will step in (well, unless you call in the building inspectors, or they otherwise get a sniff of it and can be bothered) but that doesn't mean you don't have rights - and the same goes for your future purchaser if you do the same.

The likelihood of that happening is of course an unknown. In normal circumstances people won't pursue it probably. But if, say, a guest of your future purchaser fell down the stairs and breaks his neck, and your future purchaser's insurance co has to pay out a few million for lifetime care, it becomes a greater possibility.

 

[Karl]

"It was like that when we bought it"



Cheers

Karl

 

[woodsworth]

Good thing you didn't fall down our stairs when you came Karl!!!