Day Seven-seventy: a post is born

So we know we're supposed to be finishing the laundry hamper but....we just couldn't let some mild weather pass without taking advantage to do an outside project. This was a project that we never had in mind until the last snow/ice storm made us realize how treacherous even a couple steps can be without a handrail. So we made one.

This is what we had to start with. Two steps and a landing seen from inside...

And from the approach.

But what sort of railing to install? We discarded wood as too big and clunky for such a small space. That left metal. Should we sink it into the ground? We thought it would loosen over time. That meant sinking it into the concrete, but we weren't thrilled with the idea of digging out a big hole that we would have to refill with cement around the post. Then we hit on it, why not attach something to the top of the concrete? Something like this?

When you thread pipe into it you get the basis of a nice post. As a bonus, we got to see the pipe-cutting and -threading machine at Home Depot in action. It's quite impressive if you don't mind the smell of industrial oil (to keep the thing cool).

With that settled we moved onto drilling out pilot holes for the lag shields and galvanized screws. With a Sharpie we marked out the drill holes.

The first one went alright, but the batteries died on our cordless drill barely into the second (left) hole. It has many advantages but staying power on a difficult task isn't one of them.

What to do? Fear not, our friends at the Depot have plenty of solutions for every problem. We opted for a corded drill that also has a hammer drill function, which is tailor-made for working in cement.

With this little beauty in hand we made quick work of finishing the first post.

And the second.

And even the third and fourth.

Now we have to attach the railings and paint the whole thing, because we're just not into the whole "industrial" look of galvanized steel. Stay tuned.