Now, I have to admit DIY holds no fears for me. I should also admit, however, that I have little aptitude in this field!
Having removed the cupboard from my bedroom that projected into the stairwell/landing – last November – and built a new stud partition wall – last December – to block off the bedroom from the landing, I needed to replace the posts and rails that stopped you from falling down the stairs. Which, to be honest, I still haven’t done.
But I have done the hard part (well, I think it’s the hard part). The posts are all cut to length, trimmed and sanded at the top (so easy to put your hands on), I’ve stained them and drilled out the mortices ready for the tenon joints on the rails (which have yet to be cut and stained). And, most importantly, the first post is safely secured to the wall, which required a lot of chiselling-out of plaster, as the wall wasn’t as straight as the wood.
So far, it’s still on the wall.
Now… if only my plastering was as good. The downstairs chimney needed to be blocked up (easy) and plastered over (less easy) without making it too different from the existing plastered surface (er, impossible). Still… if you don’t try…