Garden stairs

When I bought the house, it came with wooden steps to the garden. Rose told me they were quite recent. I suppose she must have had them replaced. And I was quite dutiful in painting them every year. But paint only does so much in the bracing north Wales weather! You could tell the wood was slowly decaying.

The stairs in question 

This year I decided I needed to do something about it. I just didn't know where to go. But when the steps were looking like they might give under the weight of a heavy person, I first had a look whether I could just replace the crumbliest steps myself. 

That didn't work; some of the screws I couldn't get to move, and some of them were moving a bit too freely. I also noticed that it wasn't just the steps, but also the diagonals, that were showing signs of decay.

Not in good nick

 

The next step was to Google gardeners that might do that sort of work. In my quest for someone to replant my raised beds, I had noticed that people who called themselves gardeners are quite likely to not specialise in plants at all, but only in the hard infrastructure of gardens, such as raised beds and decking, and, indeed, steps. So I contacted a local one. They confirmed they indeed do that kind of work, and soon a man appeared to have a look at the actual situation. The next day he gave me a quote, and I accepted it. But then I asked him when he could actually do the work, and he came back to me saying that he actually couldn't. Now that was a waste of everybody's time!

The stairs were really due replacement, so I changed tack. I asked on the village Facebook page if anyone could recommend someone. And that same day I had two blokes in my DMs, offering their services. Both appeared later that same day to have a look, and both provided a quote the day after. And I gave the job to the first person who had shown up. There wasn't much difference in the two quotes, but the second delegation was suggesting doing the work black. I am in favour of tax! So I am going to be paying the whole amount, to the first guy. And he seemed a nice bloke, and he could do it soon. 

The bloke who got the job also said that another job, the very next day, has fallen through, so we agreed they would come right away. It did mean I couldn't be around for any questions. But I don't think there are that many questions you can have about garden stairs.

They arrived after I had had to leave to go to work. And no questions were asked. I did manage to get back quite early, and when I did they just finished! So I could admire their work. They had made a nice replica of the original stairs. Works for me! And they helped me put the old stairs and the offcuts of the new one in the garage. I will have a lot of firewood from that! Now I need to paint the new stairs and put anti-slip on top. And then I'm sorted again for many years! Great!

Result!