Stairway to Nowhere

The Walnut Street duplex is, for the most part, well designed, with large rooms, high ceilings, and large windows letting in lots of light.  But at least one feature had to go.

In the upstairs flat, at the very back behind the kitchen, is a small odd room.  Half of it had been turned into a moldy disgusting bathroom (now removed).  The other half had a section of flooring that was hinged, and could be lifted.

When the flooring was lifted up, it revealed a set of 5 stairs, going down to the back door.  The door opened out on an old, rotted fire-escape, which we removed in July (just after another deck in Berkeley collapsed, killing 6 people).  It was an attractive nuisance that was seriously dangerous, and we were happy to be rid of it (it had to go anyway, as it couldn't go along for the move).

This left a door that potentially opened into mid-air.  Fortunately, it was boarded up, though not securely. There was a gap at the top, and light, rain (if it ever rained) and, worst of all, pigeons, were free to enter the house.

The upstairs kitchen, with light shining in over the pigeon entrance

This odd design created problems.  The stairs make that back room unusable: how can you use a room where half the floor lifts up out of the way when someone wants to come in or go out?  But the other issue is, the stairs come down in the pantry of the first floor flat, making a cramped sloped ceiling above the kitchen counter.  If the stairs were removed, a window could be placed in that room, giving a westerly view and much needed light to the downstairs kitchen (the two existing windows face north). 

So this weekend we started the process of removing the stairs.  The first step was to close up the opening for the door - which ended up being a surprising amount of work.  We opened up the old door, so we could get access to the space, and then took apart the bottom steps, so there was room to put up new sheathing on the exterior wall.  (This project also involved hauling over our incredibly heavy 35 foot extension ladder.)

Dmitri at the back door (no gay jokes please)

Then we had to remove the old door frame, and pull back the shingles to reveal the house framing.  Finally, we got some ¾" plywood to filling the gap, and nailed it to the opening, and covered it in building paper.  (We didn't bother putting in framing yet, as we want to first figure out if we are cutting into this, upstairs or down, for windows.)

The walled-up back door

The result makes the house more weather- and bird-proof.  But for the moment, we have a kind of creepy set of "Stairs to Nowhere". (If Norman Bates's mother attacked Detective Arbogast on THESE stairs, all he would do is bump his head on the new wall.)

Next weekend, we'll finish tearing out the old stairs, and put in floor joists and a new section of floor.  The weird backroom will eventually become either part of the second bathroom, or the new breakfast room.  We're taking this back room from "Psycho" to "Rear Window."