Framing & Lifting a Staircase (solo 😳)

[@bojangles_bonjangles8000]

If you are in a termite area, it’s a good idea to spray all your insulation bays with a termiteacide before insulating. I’m in SoCal and it’s required on all multi-family housing projects. Also a good idea to do an exterior drench, which lasts about 10 years and prevents wood boring termites.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

That’s a very good idea! I think we will do that

[@bojangles_bonjangles8000]

@@MasonDixonAcres Bora-Care is the product you’ll want to look at for the interior. It’s basically just borate used in cleaning products. Exterior drench is called Termidor. They make generics as well.

[@unbrokenground5694]

@@bojangles_bonjangles8000 I worked in professional pest control for two years and Termidor SC is the real deal. Listed for EXTERIOR use only, but if you have a sprayer, you can spray your foundation perimeter annually in spring and it will pretty much keep everything out as far as non-flying insects go.

[@shaunybonny688]

I lol'd at the not a dad yet joke, GG

[@billybike57]

Awesome job, you have extraordinary problems solving skills!

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Thank ya sir! Does the engineer show through enough?? 😆

[@buckymoto]

Where is Elena during most of these vids? Why doesn't she help? Is she doing other things around the property? Your duo dynamic is entertaining to watch.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Usually working her 9-5 so we can actually afford the project 😂 or working on the garden, making food, etc.

[@markr2297]

Nice job on documenting the process of building stairs showing the details and work arounds. Nice to see the check on radiant floor heating with infrared camera.

[@DanielPerez-mb7wm]

Hey bud, I love your journey with and progress. I’m going to try to take on a similar project in 1 year. I’m looking somewhere between Fredrick and Hagerstown Md.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

It will be the hardest but best thing you do! Best of luck

[@einarmikkelsenPNW]

I love watching your work. You follow the same building KZbin channel I do so I get yet another take on it. Strong work!

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Thank you! Yep everyone's gotta learn somewhere!

[@Babylewismama]

This look so fun!

[@lauraquigley6403]

Hello! I just subscribed & Love what you guys are doing! 🙏🙏Blessing’s

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Thank you and welcome 🙂

[@mesh475]

I'm convinced that building channels have the most high negative comments ratio, someone just always has an opinion and it's almost always nit picky. I commend you for your professionalism, I certainly couldn't handle it. Great job on this, can't wait to see you finish up the rest of the place.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Thanks so much! Haha you may be right about that, lots of different ways to build and everyone has their thoughts. It's especially bad on Tik Tok for some reason, we hardly post there because of it. You wouldn't believe how disgusting some of the comments we have to moderate are

[@jacklamanna]

I follow a lot of KZbin and construction related stuff and I love your series on building! I follow you on IG and I’m wondering if you’ll make more long form vids of the siding and stuff on here?

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Thanks so much! We appreciate you following along. Yes for sure, we are about 5-6 videos behind on KZbin because they take a long time to edit. More to come soon! Thanks for your support!

[@averageliving4Life]

Great video Alex! I was certain you had already posted your Stair video. Lol I studied all the videos you mentioned and a few more. Felt extremely confident until the saw hit the wood. Wow. I posted my video last week or so. Not perfect, but I'm sure they'll work!

[@MasonDixonAcres]

I took a look, you did a nice job! I agree, they say you haven't truly built stairs until you've ripped out your first set that didn't fit 😁

[@averageliving4Life]

@@MasonDixonAcres hahaha true enough

[@jask7908]

Vacuum Tip - Wrap 3 layers of paper towel 🧻 around the filter and you will almost never have to clean the filter 🙂 I replaced my regular filter with wet / water pickup filter and layered it with paper towel. Now I only change paper towel once it fills up.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Interesting, does it hurt the suction performance of the vacuum much?

[@jask7908]

@@MasonDixonAcres Not at all. I have a full size Ridgid Vac with filter size almost the length of a paper towel. I fold and tape the excess paper around the bottom of the filter to give it a good seal. This is especially useful when vacuuming Drywall and Cement dust, the two fine dusts that clog and kill filters quickly, and are so hard to clean.

[@billvojtech5686]

Pressure treated wood tends to be wet compared to regular framing lumber. As it dries, it might shrink and/or warp. One tip I've seen about stair building is to spray foam the underside of the stair assembly with closed cell foam. It dries stiff and adds rigidity and eliminates squeaks.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Never heard of that one, that sounds like a lot of mess to avoid a squeak!

[@billvojtech5686]

@@MasonDixonAcres kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYLUk6anodSenqc

[@MattSapp]

Nice stairs! Glad you figured out the great stuff gun situation.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Thanks for the tip Matt!!

[@mariaalegria6759]

Well you are not alone on delaying building stairs, we've living in our house for 8 years now and STILL have not built our stairs to the second floor!

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Holy smokes that’s gotta be a record!!

[@kevinhornbuckle]

What is stopping you?

[@sammax4245]

Think of termite now

[@johntovey3928]

Great job

[@kevinhornbuckle]

Nice work. But I hope nobody takes this to be a how-to video. Many details are not covered. Stair building is tricky and all details must be covered before cutting any materials. It is very expensive to make mistakes in this kind of work.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Yeah there are a lot of code requirements, this video is just intended to show the basics. I did several hours of research and work to design and plan these

[@kevinhornbuckle]

@@MasonDixonAcres It is not my intent to disparage your work. I only want to help others not be ignorant about what it takes to build an accurate and safe stair.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

@@kevinhornbuckle Absolutely! I intentionally don't label any of these videos as how to's, because I know I don't cover every detail. And like many other things, with construction the devil is certainly in the details!

[@pgrosebud2012]

I'm no expert on construction either, but my recently gained knowledge about why nails should be used instead of screws in certain situations makes me wonder about your use of screws on the stairs. Nails have better shear strength than screws in vertical situations.

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Yep nails or structural screws are needed for joining framing members and sheathing as they can bend without breaking. For the treads & risers, I used glue/screws to prevent loosening with wood movement that may cause squeaking. These fasteners don’t really bear load. The joist hangers use Simpson nails/screws rated for structural applications since they are most definitely load bearing.

[@pgrosebud2012]

@@MasonDixonAcres Thanks for educating me and others further. Structural screws do not equal drywall screws!

[@bgd5339]

Isn't it less of a headache to just buy stairs? 🙃 🤔

[@MasonDixonAcres]

Too expensive for a set this large at least where we are