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Show APRIL 11, 2001 B7 WASATCH COUNTY COURIER gage KP Tewe ESS Vee The Deck know that the element that you set foot on is called a “tread.” “Stringers” support the treads. The “riser” is the above the ground, you'll need stairs. be less than 9 inches. Since codes can vertical board that is located between Stairs can be one of the more chalvary from location to location, it's a treads _ except in the case of “openlenging aspects of a deck-building good idea to check with your local project. We can remember when, as ~ riser” stairs where; as the name building department. implies, no riser is installed. One other | pouns apprentice carpenters, the Codes aside, when designing stairs “stair layout and construction” part of — term that you might find useful is for comfort, a good rule of thumb is “landing.” It's an area at the bottom of, our curriculum created both excitethe sum of unit rise and unit run top of, or between flights of stairs. In ment and anxiety for our group of budshould be 17 to 18 inches. , - ding carpenters. the case of a deck, a landing can be Unless you like bouncy stairs, we large enough to be a “mini deck.” When building stairs, you not fois suggest that you build them using need to be a good craftsperson, but, in Although the straight-stair type is three stringers _ one at both ends and. many cases, you need to have a solid. among the most popular and easiest to one in the middle. A stringer consists background in both math and geomeconstruct, it is just one of many layof one continuous piece of lumber that outs. Open-riser ladder, L-shaped, T- - runs from one level to the next. try, as well. However, as you will learn, Depending upon the desired appearnot all stair-building projects need coe shaped, U-shaped, switchback and winding are some of the others. You be complicated. ance, a stringer can be cut or notched might employ one or more of these There are many chines to be conin a saw-tooth fashion or remain solid. types depending upon the lay of the sidered before you build a set of stairs: — If you will be using a cut stringer, you land and/or how elaborate your deck The stair type (the layout or design); can cut it yourself or you can often find design is. the “total rise” (the vertical distance precut stringers at. you local lumber“No sense in skimping when it _ yard. In either case, the treads are - from the origin of the stairs to the top comes to stair width. Not being small surface); the “total run” (the horizonnailed to the top edge of the stringer. guys, we like stairs of ample width _ tal distance that the stairs cover from If you, like many folks, are afraid of no less than 36 inches and, in some the face of the first “tread” (the surmaking a mistake when cutting a per- face you set foot on) to the end of the cases, up to. 48 inches. For safety's fectly good piece of wood with a last sake, building codes require that tread and riser dimensions are consistent . for the length of the stairs. In general, codes require that a unit rise (the stringer, a solid stringer might be way to go. Instead of resting on stringers, the treads are attached tread; and the construction seen! + ONSe arene, Pepa method (how the stair parts are to be assembled). Before running off to your local aes" In the Moo iat mee the literary world—except for a RM Ree emma: he mts MetArt ASEAN URN SERINE A? SINE Papers. This is not, mind long slowdance with ‘metaphors with express intent to seduce—first the language and then the reader. Of course, not every word or everyone is in the mood for love. Still, if you think about it, our into formal chickenscratch is noble in and of itself. It isn’t enough vocally for most of us to grunt or click to be understood. It isn’t even enough for us to say: “the sun is hot” or “the snow is cold.” If we really want to be understood we might say “the sun is burning a hole through my head” or “the snow is falling like powdered sugar from a confectioner’s strainer basket.” Actually, everyday speech may very well be as simple as the for- wish to justify my own scholarship, I — is the entire story. that decline has Simultaneous with been the rise of democracy and the corresponding _ need for language that would be inclusive of a dynamic electorate instead of — _ for its statesmen only. In other words, - as more people were invited into the conversation, allowances -had to be made for new Pe and perspec- tives. Madison could write to fellow FE ounding Fathers and be understood its potency. | It is, Pm afraid, why the vibe metropolis is most often the center of — cultural dialogue and growth. That does not always make its pronouncements correct—as we rural folk are quick to point out—but at least people there are talking. Individuals and, ironically, communities that are geographically isolated can become intellectually so, as well. And without indi- ‘vidual and collective dedication to overcome the effects of distance, they can lose their gifts of higher expres- sion from lack of practice. | This is by no means a given, and - there are many local institutions dedicated to the defeat of such a fate. A Century, English has imported spicy words’ from -smalltown newspaper, to the extent Mexico, war terminolthat it represents the town that it purogy from Japan, and terms of endearports to speak to, can be vital to reversment from France. This flexibility has - ing that trend. A vibrant arts scene can made the President’s English the lan‘simultaneously remind us of the grand guage of the modern world, but it has heritage of our species as well as also made it a nightmare to master. inspire individuals to contribute to it in. Strangely, that challenge can be hardnew ways. Continuing education of all _ er for native speakers than for interna- kinds in all directions can help tremen- tional students. For many who grew up with the language, its utility has overshadowed its idealism. They fall ously. And, of course, good politicians back on the verbal equivalent of grunts and clicks because it is easier. This happens most often in isola- tion. Whether living the life of the hermit (sans books) or stuck in a relation- and an active polity can learn to “refine ~ and enlarge” the public view. What is wanting is the will. But notice, too, that the written word is vital to the mission of each of _ these institutions. It would appear that writing need not be as abstract an art ship with poor communication, there as we sometimes seems to be another force of evolution at work—in contretemps—when it comes to language. Just as higher elevations force the human body to can be very much alive. In fact, it can _ dismiss it to be. It be downright sexy. lf you are in the mood. choose between essential functions to Matthew Heimburger is a professor survive, so too does isolation’ cause us ‘of American civilization at Brigham Young University. He lives here in the Heber Valley with his wife and son. to lose higher forms of expression to essarily make them more precise. for the specialized audience of my own atrophy. % | inherent power of language, it will lose dynamic: mer statements, but that doesn’t nec- HE LEONE A USNTORETEPS EII RY wig OSG ATI a YORE GUMS «GRMN OS af RRS PERN American will comment that our language and political savvy have devolved since the | When planning your deck stairs, don't forget to include a handrail. Though not always required by code, a handrail is practicable, it improves cut safety and appearance. : the (For more home-improvement tips the © and information, visit our Web site at to www. onthehouse. com.) . because in those years they were at once both the learned and powerful classes. Today, if I write exclusively In al used for decking. jettisoning words like inexorable and quintu_plicate in favor of relentless and “copy five times.” In the Revolution. But I am not sure that that — species’ need to codify sense and expe- vanized angle iron bolted to the inside of the stringer. Risers and treads can be constructed from the same materi- ished to a locked ivory tower. As the written word—especially in novel form—has become associated with general readership and mass produc- . tion, the language has followed. Vocabulary _ has become you, because they can’t read or don’t take their studies seriously, but because our society has evolved away from the level of prose employed by Madison, Jay, and Hamilton in 1787. When I am in professor mode and- be anchored for Words teach ing that can It is, in essence, a rience ‘When . I here is a sensual side of writ- some to accept. The stringers Should to the concrete pad using anchor bolts _and a pressure-treated kicker or a gal- ter how timely my ideas will be ban- | American history, my students always struggle with The Federalist be difficult for prevent rot. cleats or metal brackets that are fas- are complex reasons for this. © | ~ either type of this material should be used between the bottom of the stringer and the concrete or gravel to imagery, for metaphors are the staff of lyze, and compare— though not always easy to innovate with. There SPECIAL TO THE COURIER’ To maintain the safety and stability : of the stairs, it is imperative that the _ bottom of the stair stringers be placed on a solid, well-drained surface such as a pad of concrete or compacted gravel. If the stringers consist of something other than pressure-treated lumber or redwood, a small piece of historian’s craft, I may Vvwin a few accolades from peers but I'll never be heard by the general public—no mat- Language—spoken. or written—is an evolutionary trait that evolves in the open—easy to find, ana- MATTHEW HEIMBURGER ure twices Hemingway every decade or so—we error on the side of descriptive life. ~ tened to the stringers below the tread. Most do-it-yourselfers find it easiest to work with solid stringers because, instead of having to measure twice and cut once. All you need to do is meas- 4 Ms TRIN Na ENS a DRE Ae NP ea Rar fy PARR MSINY SSOS eR ee nz will be more than about 15 inches — dimension from the face of one tread to the face of the next) not exceed 8 » inches. Codes also require that the ‘unit run (the dimension from the face of one riser to the face of the next) not And if we do not use the } If you have plans to build a deck that will have more than one level or idtibervend” to buy stair material, you'll need to know a few “stair” terms to make a material list. You already TT MT BY JAMES AND MORRIS CAREY — |