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smythe89

staircase not square

4 years ago

We are undergoing a major addition renovation. We were not able to live in the main part of the house during construction and when we arrived back here we noticed the new staircase was not square or plumb. The closed stringer makes this very apparent because you can see the full top of it at the bottom of the stairs but only about 1/2 of it at the top. The GC didn’t catch it and now says we have to live with it. The wall was not the issue. The bottom step is out of line by an inch far right side vs. far left.
My question is how can we camouflage this? We had planned to place moulding along the wall but that doesn’t seem possible now. Any input is greatly appreciated .

Comments (11)

  • PRO
    4 years ago

    What??? You have to live with it ??? Tell the GC to take it to his house and live with it . This is on him if he hired the staircase pro then he needs to fix it if he did the work he needs to fix it this is not acceptable ever .

  • PRO
    4 years ago

    Please take a picture farther back and re-explain.

  • 4 years ago

    I can’t move back anymore so I’ve taken more photos that might help illustrate the issue. The tile you see in the photo was our existing floor. The staircase is a new addition that take you up to the second floor landing. Photos of the floor illustrate the difference from of the bottom step. When we measure from the wall behind me there is a one inch difference in distance. (Tape measure wouldn’t cooperate to show you that image). Next two pictures are the top and bottom stair stringer. There is a significant difference and it appears they cut into the wall to bury the stringer at the top. There are 4 new staircases that were installed. The very bottom one is fine. The other 3 are not. They all have some variation of this issue. I hope that helps. The GC signed off on this and paid the subs already so getting them back here to adjust anything is probably not possible. Ripping everything out is a nightmare now since new tile floor went in. No idea why the big gap between the old tile floor and the bottom step didn’t send a red flag to anyone. Very frustrating….

  • PRO
    4 years ago

    Sorry, still not getting it.

  • 4 years ago

    Ok. Thanks anyway💁‍♀️.

  • PRO
    4 years ago

    Go outside and take a picture of the problem through a window please.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I see what you mean (had to read twice) but dont have a solution other than a complete redo which wont happen. Can the intended trim be scribed to fit? And paint the same color as the wall. Is the wall crooked?

    Quality control and value are things of the past. The drawings werent properly vetted or it has to do with poor math skills I had a similar situation. Some parts were reparable but the overall project leaves much to be desired. For some reason, the work crew isn't paid to notice or speak up during construction. In my case, the business owner won't come back to look at the work. Paint helps to camoflage flaws.

    I'm sorry this happend.

  • 4 years ago

    Sorry Joe, there’s no window💁‍♀️
    I did get some good feedback from another site. A “stair guy” suggested building out the wall with compound or mud and feathering it in.
    The wall was existing and straight. The framers also messed up my front entrance stairs. Trends were 8’ on the plans and I have 7 foot treads now. That is going to be redone but honestly this has been a nightmare from day 1. Can’t wait to get these guys out of my house. Thankfully electrician and plumber were wonderful…silver lining🙂

  • PRO
    4 years ago

    IMO you need to get a insppector in there to see what even is to code I am not sure what you mean by the treads but sounds not to code to me.

  • PRO
    4 years ago

    The last thing you want at this stage is an inspector with a red tag in his pocket and ready to use it.

  • 4 years ago

    We will need a final inspection when the job is done. 💁‍♀️