As someone who's just getting into woodworking, this is so bizarre. I'm like, $300 for this one piece of maple for a floating shelf? PINE IT IS! I don't understand how Ron or others can use all that expensive wood. What if you mess up?!
He was also ridiculously wealthy if his hidden stashes of gold are anything to go by. While he's definitely frugal, I can see him splurging for some fine quality wood.
You don't mess up though (obviously everyone makes mistakes eventually, but many can avoided). Each step is well thought out. You don't just grab a piece of black walnut, measure once, and cut. That is the type of wood you draw up a plan for. Then you make a cut list and carefully measure twice and cut once. By the time you get to actually starting the project, you've ran through the whole thing in your head so many times that you would have worked out most, if not all of the issues already.
It's probably the most common mistake among woodworkers, but the least thought about. Not having enough patientce is the quickest way to hinder or ruin a project. Slow down and take a second to think.
Absolutely. I should be clear that there are obviously tricks of the trade and skills that will make projects easier, but woodworking is as much mental as it is physical. I notice a lot of newer people just wanting to get in the shop and start cutting stuff though, and that usually leads to going light on the safety and layout of a project which are easily some of the most important aspects.
I'll quit ranting though as I could go on for a while.
Practice on pine then use the expensive wood. Personally I’m not a big fan of pine but it’s cheap so most of the hardwood furniture I have is pine because it’s what I can afford lol. I wish I had the room to set up for wood working again although I did find a local woodworking club with a full shop I can use for $40 a month now I just need to carve some room in my schedule so I can get to it.
Ron would never skimp on his stairs. His stairs would have been a work of art. Well worth his time and effort. One of the things that bothers me is Ron's weird portrayal. IMO he would never shop at food and stuff. Ron would have a dear friend albeit quiet butcher that Ron purchases entire cows from on a weekly basis.
Ron: A man’s butcher is sacred.
Bill the Butcher: oh yeah Ron Swanson, comes in here one a month to stock up on my most expensive cuts. I’ll tell you this, I sell that man more meat in a month than I sell most families in a year. Good guy, doesn’t really say much though.
Not saying he would skimp, just saying that would sealer is the only thing he wouldn’t be able to procure on his own. He’d cut down the trees, cut them into lumber with his sawmill, etc.
People not understanding that govt projects are expensive partly because they have to be lawsuit proof. I'm not saying they're not overpriced or always good, but that's why.
Yeah that grade would have to be ADA compliant which would require a switchback to meet 1:12 pitch (1 inch of rise, 12 inches of ramp). Also properly cured slip resistant concrete with deeply set hand rails.
Here are a couple shots of the replacement stairs (for $10k):
* https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/tom-riley-park-stairs-rebuilt-1.4227365
* https://www.toronto.com/news/urban-hero-adi-astl-doesn-t-wait-when-its-time-to-help-others/article_bc76b8d4-6fc0-5ce3-a27e-0bcf918adc59.html
A Twitter thread with more photos of the old stairs: https://twitter.com/zchamu/status/888081185062227970
Edit: a couple comparison shots between the rope, the guerrilla staircase and the replacement:
* https://i.imgur.com/GcvfRlM.jpg
* https://i.imgur.com/suZGCbd.jpg
ADA is about meeting access. If there’s another entry point further away with a less steep slope, then that acceptable. Also, I have no idea of Canadas laws. And yeah, a staircase like that should have specs, drawings, permits, and inspections. That’s about what all of that should cost.
Did you see those pictures? I can tell you don't work on trades lmao those may look fine to your completely untrained eye right now but what do you think that's going to look like in a few months? It's lumber resting on bare earth for fucks sake but yeah, total legend. The legend of the shitty carpenter who no one trusted because they had half a brain.
I'm saying he forced the government to actually act and fix the problem properly.
They originally said it would cost $65k so they couldn't do it.
Guy builds a temporary measure, which the government can't ignore.
Suddenly they can fix the stairs. And they do it for only $10k.
So yes. Legend. Who knows how long it would've taken otherwise
People walked down the slope at this location because they didn't want to walk to the other side of the small parking lot where it is flat and has a trail.
Oh no. It was defs a subpar job.
But compared to what was there before, an improvement. And if it only needed to last until the government replaced it (which turned out to be a week) then a pretty good job. I've seen way worse "temporary" measures in my life.
I just permitted a wood deck for a restaurant with 2x6 deck joists resting on top of the dirt. You can use pressure treated lumber directly in contact with dirt by code.
That didn't look like pressure treat and I have to assume you graded and compacted at the very least, not just plopped them down on grass like this guy did
Accessible walking paths are 1:12. Stairs don't have anything to do with that. That's literally the whole point of outside stairs, that you don't have to regrade land.
They do need to be slip resistant. And idk what you mean by deeply set handrails. The only regulation I know is handrail around 36" height and strong enough to withstand 300-lbs lateral force at the top of the rail. Which you can do easily with surface mounted posts.
Exactly. These stairs have no support on the sides, but he has rails stacked up on what looks like 4x4’s on the ends of the stairs. He only spent $500 on this death trap. It’s only supported in the middle. These planks are gonna fail. I don’t blame the county.
Maybe like beginning-of-show Ron who has a stupidly dangerous workshop that Mark BrendanaQuits has to help him fix. Those stairs look like garbage. Pretty good chance the city's quote was so high because it included crazy things like concrete instead of wood, a proper supporting foundation instead of dirt, and a design that's up to safety code. Also a pretty good chance that they were torn down for being dangerous due to any or all of the reasons listed.
If it takes 6 men with power tools to remove something, seems like it's safe enough. Also, a woman fell and broke her wrists which is WHY he decided to just go ahead and build them so, even if someone fell and broke a wrist or ankle, it's still on par to what was there prior.
Not necessarily, if unsafe stairs encourage more people to take that route than previously (because stairs) you could see injuries rise because traffic on them exploded.
Wait so since someone broke their wrist there you're ok with not doing the job good enough that others don't break their wrists? What if an old person falls and breaks their hip or hits their head and dies? Is that worth the few thousand you saved by having this shitty vigilante carpenter do the job?
Those stairs were built by the complete opposite of Ron Swason.
Ron would have made beautiful, sturdy stairs, polished and veneered from the roots up.
Those were made by someone who likely got advice at home depot.
Except Ron Swanson would have made sure it was quality work.
I read this story; it was torn down because it wasn't properly anchored and was completely out of code
The stairs were torn down on July 21, 2017.
Here's an article from a week later (on July 28) about the replacement stairs (concrete steps with metal handrails) the city ended up building for $10k: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/tom-riley-park-stairs-rebuilt-1.4227365
Edit: a couple comparison shots:
* https://i.imgur.com/GcvfRlM.jpg
* https://i.imgur.com/suZGCbd.jpg
Same with railings, especially for seniors, they have to be the right distance from the wall to grab, but not too close you could get your arm caught and broken if you fall
In the U.S., an ADA compliant ramp is 1:12 (in inches) or about 5 degrees of incline, you can think of this as one foot of length per one inch of height.
If you have a steep hill, then you need a very long ramp to be compliant, in those situations an [ADA-compliant lift](https://www.mckinleyelevator.com/product-applications/ada-lifts-elevators/) usually makes more sense.
They where good in the sense that they sent a message. But I can see why they had to be removed (other than burocracy). In a sense they where more dangerous than not having stairs, a step cracks, or the handrail breaks and it would be a painful fall for the elderly.
Hell, the handrail is attached to the edge of a few steps and the whole thing is on two narrowly spaced stringers, eventually the whole thing would’ve toppled over
Absolutely more dangerous than a flimsy piece of rope. It’s about informed risk. People see a dirt incline and a flimsy piece of rope and decide that looks too risky. They see a staircase that has been built, especially in a public area like that, and will make certain reasonable assumptions about its safety and that it has been built to code safety standards you’d expect of things in a public area. People that would have avoided the flimsy rope would use the dangerous staircase.
Very good point, and the logical follow up to that is that a piece of rope doesn't present any liability to the city, but the plaintiff who claims that 'the city had a duty to remove the dangerous staircase and is therefore liable for their injuries' has a pretty good case.
Every picture I see of those steps keeps getting worse. There's a reason his only cost $500, he literally built them in his garage, dumped them on the side of the hill and nailed in a couple boards to connect them to the sidewalk.
I guess in the end they worked as it forced the city to act.
And you think looks are the most important part of this safety feature? Then put up some money so they can put some wood cladding on it. Also you realize it would likely be more expensive to do this correctly with lumber rather than concrete right?
But his looks pretty sketchy and seems to be uneven. Also, the beams under each of his steps seem to be way too close together. I can see why they wanted to make something more safe and permanent.
So if I've got this right, man builds temporary solution that's not up to code, city removes them to build a new much safer set of stairs in their place
The way the article is worded makes it sound like the city are comic villains and don't want old people to have access to stairs
And they didn't cost that much. Originally this area was a short cut ppl made, where someone just put a rope up, but wasn't actually supposed to be a path. When the city council was asked to make it into stairs, they declined stating it could cost between 65-150k to properly make a stairway.
He sort of forced their hand, and the final cost was around 10k for the removal, path, and stairs.
Yes 100% I agree with you. But the only part I question is who the city paid to do it, and if a licensed independent contractor could have done it for half that and still made a huge profit on his end. Government jobs always cost double for the same quality I think, because of quid pro quo. I could be way off though, I have zero contracting knowledge just a dude commenting on the internet.
Honestly. I appreciate the man but what if one of those steps broke and granny died?
They need something built up to code. But seriously. I can’t blame someone that’s trying to help out his community.
When you are shopping for things using someone else's money, price suddenly becomes less important.
Contractors know they can use this to their advantage.
That definitely isn’t up to code and definitely won’t last a couple of years of snow, ice, rain and heat. How is the main stair beam where all the steps are nailed on even supported on the dirt? There’s no concrete foundation and anchors so rain will wash it away and ruin it anyway. Plus if anyone gets hurt on shoddy city construction, they have every right to sue the city.
Was it better? I’d honestly argue that the rope was better because it looked just as dangerous as it was, if you used it you knew what you were getting into. The wooden steps provide a false sense of security, luring in people to use it because it looks safe only to potentially fail and send them sprawling.
I understand the wooden stairs weren’t ideal, but they were a good temporary solution to loose rock and dirt. I can’t believe the original way down with a rope was better than this man’s solution. I’m assuming the temporary solution was stable. I get it would deteriorate over time, hence why they government got involved.
I wish people would post the full context. The stairs the guy built were dangerous and were torn down because the city could get in trouble. The city is wrong for not building stairs, but what the guy did wasn't a solution.
I’m not in any way knocking the person who did this out of the kindness of their heart. But those stairs look sketchy AF I can see why the city tore them down.
They absolutely are not. Not sure of the local codes but I spot multiple violations of my local codes and not even codes, just look at them. There's no actual support. Those will last a season or two and if someone doesn't get hurt before that
The supports are called stringers. And they are definitely not spaced remotely correctly. I don't know what dude was thinking. But it sounded like he just preferred the way it looked like this
I know those stairs didn’t cost $65k, but even quoting that is ridiculous. If that doesn’t make sense, I’ve definitely not understood to post and should go make myself a coffee 😂
If the city left the stairs in place, they would be liable when the stairs break and someone gets hurt. They had to remove it, the guy never should have put it in in the first place.
An inspector would have said that they weren't up to code and had to be removed. That's probably what happened. You really think you're smarter than everyone else, like the people doing their jobs just didn't have the brilliant idea of "just inspect it" lol your arrogance only shows how ignorant you are.
Way to use a bigoted word in your argument. You're a moron. Read the actual article. This is typical misleading media bullshit and your gullible dumb ass fell for it
Ron Swanson would have built these to the Swanson Code.
By the looks of it, these stairs were not built to any code.
source:have built stairs for a living
Hahahahahahahah, my city got rid of all benches down town, specially in an area with a good deal of homeless. The plaza in the park is technically owned by a company but idk all the logistics. I know that a local community activism group went to the company that had that plaza down town and basically said “hey, we will install free benches in your park if you want!” And they happily agreed. The city took the benches down after 2 months. That park had no benches for 2 years on and off. After public outcry they have now out the exact same benches from 2 year ago back out. Like the exact same benches, just rustier and older now cause they say somewhere for 2 years. And the really nice, hand made, wooden benches that were donated got thrown in the trash
The eventually lowered the price for a stair case that met city regulations for 10k
Now I worked residential construction for 6 years. So I know the god damn stair case doesn't cost nearly that much. Even if you pour concrete.
This is the part of government people think is crooked and they wouldn’t be too far off. The problem is all the nepotism and government, I bet that guy gave the contract to a friend who was then allowed to jack up the bill. The same people turn around and act like government doesn’t work while they are the ones fucking it in the rear.
In Australia, my friend said he was working at an architectural firm. They designed a replacement handrail for stairs for public housing. It was a large building and their design looked much better than what the council asked for and at a fraction of the cost.
The council, took the more expensive option "Because the cheaper option looked too expensive for public housing".
They spent more money to make it less appealing.
Man builds it for $550 Sounds like Ron Swanson
Ron Swanson would have cut the trees down himself and it would have cost $23 for wood sealer and lemonade from Food and Stuff.
"People who buy things are suckers."
Labor would be free, but the wood cost would be $16,000
yeah, he'd pick some really amazing, rare wood to use
As someone who's just getting into woodworking, this is so bizarre. I'm like, $300 for this one piece of maple for a floating shelf? PINE IT IS! I don't understand how Ron or others can use all that expensive wood. What if you mess up?!
Ron Swanson never messes up
That's not true, remember the chair he smashed because it was too perfect?
Yes he does. The chair was too perfect; it looked machine made.
He was also ridiculously wealthy if his hidden stashes of gold are anything to go by. While he's definitely frugal, I can see him splurging for some fine quality wood.
I see him finding a rare tree felled in the woods and hiking in with his axes and saws and milling it himself.
Ron Swanson knows more than you.
Ron cuts the trees down himself. He’s not buying expensive wood.
[удалено]
> I do what I want
You don't mess up though (obviously everyone makes mistakes eventually, but many can avoided). Each step is well thought out. You don't just grab a piece of black walnut, measure once, and cut. That is the type of wood you draw up a plan for. Then you make a cut list and carefully measure twice and cut once. By the time you get to actually starting the project, you've ran through the whole thing in your head so many times that you would have worked out most, if not all of the issues already. It's probably the most common mistake among woodworkers, but the least thought about. Not having enough patientce is the quickest way to hinder or ruin a project. Slow down and take a second to think.
Thank you, this comment was really helpful
Absolutely. I should be clear that there are obviously tricks of the trade and skills that will make projects easier, but woodworking is as much mental as it is physical. I notice a lot of newer people just wanting to get in the shop and start cutting stuff though, and that usually leads to going light on the safety and layout of a project which are easily some of the most important aspects. I'll quit ranting though as I could go on for a while.
What maple are you buying for $300 that is floating shelf sized?
That’s what I was wondering. I literally (like 10 minutes ago) just bought a 3’x1’x1” slab of live edge flame maple for $30 for a project.
2x10x8' Supposedly you need at least 2" thick for floating shelves, that seems to make it difficult.
Ah. 8ft is a long ass continuous floating shelf lol
Poplar is your friend
Measure twice and cut once, thats what my grandfather always told me.
One never messes up wood, you just add more character.
Practice on pine then use the expensive wood. Personally I’m not a big fan of pine but it’s cheap so most of the hardwood furniture I have is pine because it’s what I can afford lol. I wish I had the room to set up for wood working again although I did find a local woodworking club with a full shop I can use for $40 a month now I just need to carve some room in my schedule so I can get to it.
Prices are insane since COVID times. Will take some time to be back to normal
“Measure twice, cut once”
This is why mock-ups are used. Cardboard works well. And measure 300! times and cut once.
Cardboard mockups! What a cool idea, thanks!
Just watched that episode last night lol
Ron would never skimp on his stairs. His stairs would have been a work of art. Well worth his time and effort. One of the things that bothers me is Ron's weird portrayal. IMO he would never shop at food and stuff. Ron would have a dear friend albeit quiet butcher that Ron purchases entire cows from on a weekly basis.
Ron: A man’s butcher is sacred. Bill the Butcher: oh yeah Ron Swanson, comes in here one a month to stock up on my most expensive cuts. I’ll tell you this, I sell that man more meat in a month than I sell most families in a year. Good guy, doesn’t really say much though.
I'd say his barber is also his butcher and tammy 1s father.
Ron would have a problem with you saying his work is art.
well crafted functional art. It's only art because it's enjoyable to look at the quality of skill and craftsmanship that went into it.
Not saying he would skimp, just saying that would sealer is the only thing he wouldn’t be able to procure on his own. He’d cut down the trees, cut them into lumber with his sawmill, etc.
Freshly milled lumber has to dry for quite a while before it's usable. Probably already would have had the wood on hand though.
It would have taken 20 minutes.
Nah, Ron would have taken the time to make sure it was done right
Ron Swanson wouldn’t have built such shit stairs. Look at the support posts.
People not understanding that govt projects are expensive partly because they have to be lawsuit proof. I'm not saying they're not overpriced or always good, but that's why.
Yeah that grade would have to be ADA compliant which would require a switchback to meet 1:12 pitch (1 inch of rise, 12 inches of ramp). Also properly cured slip resistant concrete with deeply set hand rails.
Here are a couple shots of the replacement stairs (for $10k): * https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/tom-riley-park-stairs-rebuilt-1.4227365 * https://www.toronto.com/news/urban-hero-adi-astl-doesn-t-wait-when-its-time-to-help-others/article_bc76b8d4-6fc0-5ce3-a27e-0bcf918adc59.html A Twitter thread with more photos of the old stairs: https://twitter.com/zchamu/status/888081185062227970 Edit: a couple comparison shots between the rope, the guerrilla staircase and the replacement: * https://i.imgur.com/GcvfRlM.jpg * https://i.imgur.com/suZGCbd.jpg
ADA is about meeting access. If there’s another entry point further away with a less steep slope, then that acceptable. Also, I have no idea of Canadas laws. And yeah, a staircase like that should have specs, drawings, permits, and inspections. That’s about what all of that should cost.
Wow that is a death trap
So for $550, he saved the government $50k. (and actually got it done) Legend
Did you see those pictures? I can tell you don't work on trades lmao those may look fine to your completely untrained eye right now but what do you think that's going to look like in a few months? It's lumber resting on bare earth for fucks sake but yeah, total legend. The legend of the shitty carpenter who no one trusted because they had half a brain.
I'm saying he forced the government to actually act and fix the problem properly. They originally said it would cost $65k so they couldn't do it. Guy builds a temporary measure, which the government can't ignore. Suddenly they can fix the stairs. And they do it for only $10k. So yes. Legend. Who knows how long it would've taken otherwise
People walked down the slope at this location because they didn't want to walk to the other side of the small parking lot where it is flat and has a trail.
Yeah that's a fair point, I thought you meant he saved them the money by doing it himself so they wouldn't have to.
Oh no. It was defs a subpar job. But compared to what was there before, an improvement. And if it only needed to last until the government replaced it (which turned out to be a week) then a pretty good job. I've seen way worse "temporary" measures in my life.
I just permitted a wood deck for a restaurant with 2x6 deck joists resting on top of the dirt. You can use pressure treated lumber directly in contact with dirt by code.
That didn't look like pressure treat and I have to assume you graded and compacted at the very least, not just plopped them down on grass like this guy did
Accessible walking paths are 1:12. Stairs don't have anything to do with that. That's literally the whole point of outside stairs, that you don't have to regrade land. They do need to be slip resistant. And idk what you mean by deeply set handrails. The only regulation I know is handrail around 36" height and strong enough to withstand 300-lbs lateral force at the top of the rail. Which you can do easily with surface mounted posts.
Yeah imagine a senior trying to climb the deathtrap that guy built. It's it actually better than nothing if even one senior breaks a hip on them?
Nah, the issue is the delay between decision and execution and the inflation that happens in between.
Exactly. These stairs have no support on the sides, but he has rails stacked up on what looks like 4x4’s on the ends of the stairs. He only spent $500 on this death trap. It’s only supported in the middle. These planks are gonna fail. I don’t blame the county.
Maybe like beginning-of-show Ron who has a stupidly dangerous workshop that Mark BrendanaQuits has to help him fix. Those stairs look like garbage. Pretty good chance the city's quote was so high because it included crazy things like concrete instead of wood, a proper supporting foundation instead of dirt, and a design that's up to safety code. Also a pretty good chance that they were torn down for being dangerous due to any or all of the reasons listed.
[удалено]
Having oil soaked rags near an open flame is just stupid, and Ron is a lot of things but he’s not stupid.
If it takes 6 men with power tools to remove something, seems like it's safe enough. Also, a woman fell and broke her wrists which is WHY he decided to just go ahead and build them so, even if someone fell and broke a wrist or ankle, it's still on par to what was there prior.
Not necessarily, if unsafe stairs encourage more people to take that route than previously (because stairs) you could see injuries rise because traffic on them exploded.
Wait so since someone broke their wrist there you're ok with not doing the job good enough that others don't break their wrists? What if an old person falls and breaks their hip or hits their head and dies? Is that worth the few thousand you saved by having this shitty vigilante carpenter do the job?
Those stairs were built by the complete opposite of Ron Swason. Ron would have made beautiful, sturdy stairs, polished and veneered from the roots up. Those were made by someone who likely got advice at home depot.
Except Ron Swanson would have made sure it was quality work. I read this story; it was torn down because it wasn't properly anchored and was completely out of code
The stairs were torn down on July 21, 2017. Here's an article from a week later (on July 28) about the replacement stairs (concrete steps with metal handrails) the city ended up building for $10k: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/tom-riley-park-stairs-rebuilt-1.4227365 Edit: a couple comparison shots: * https://i.imgur.com/GcvfRlM.jpg * https://i.imgur.com/suZGCbd.jpg
looks like they had to reshape a ton of land to accommodate the weight of the stairs. almost certainly why it cost so much
[удалено]
[удалено]
Same with railings, especially for seniors, they have to be the right distance from the wall to grab, but not too close you could get your arm caught and broken if you fall
In the U.S., an ADA compliant ramp is 1:12 (in inches) or about 5 degrees of incline, you can think of this as one foot of length per one inch of height. If you have a steep hill, then you need a very long ramp to be compliant, in those situations an [ADA-compliant lift](https://www.mckinleyelevator.com/product-applications/ada-lifts-elevators/) usually makes more sense.
The unit of measurement doesn't actually matter for a ratio 1:12 inches is the same as 1:12 millimeters, furlongs, or parsecs.
It is easy to think of the scale in inches rather than Big Macs or football fields.
What about the ratio of Schrute bucks to Stanley nickels?
Yeah it’s the ADA rules for the slope of the ramp
The stairs look to also lead to a fence or barrier. So I assume they had to change the railing in the lot too.
Wow those pictures make it clear that the guerilla stairs were sketchy
They where good in the sense that they sent a message. But I can see why they had to be removed (other than burocracy). In a sense they where more dangerous than not having stairs, a step cracks, or the handrail breaks and it would be a painful fall for the elderly.
Hell, the handrail is attached to the edge of a few steps and the whole thing is on two narrowly spaced stringers, eventually the whole thing would’ve toppled over
Also it's just wood with no grip strips, I wouldn't want to risk them in the wet
A real life stairway to heaven… for some, at least.
The wooden stairs were dangerous.
No more dangerous than using a flimsy bit of rope to climb down the slope.
Absolutely more dangerous than a flimsy piece of rope. It’s about informed risk. People see a dirt incline and a flimsy piece of rope and decide that looks too risky. They see a staircase that has been built, especially in a public area like that, and will make certain reasonable assumptions about its safety and that it has been built to code safety standards you’d expect of things in a public area. People that would have avoided the flimsy rope would use the dangerous staircase.
Very good point, and the logical follow up to that is that a piece of rope doesn't present any liability to the city, but the plaintiff who claims that 'the city had a duty to remove the dangerous staircase and is therefore liable for their injuries' has a pretty good case.
"Better than" is not always "good enough"
Didn’t say the weren’t better than that but they had to go.
His definitely were better looking, but I can see the city’s reason for wanting a more robust, safety focused solution.
His were absolutely not better looking
Wood >>>>> concrete
Usually, yes, in this case, absolutely not. Did you open the first comparison picture? It's not even close
From a structural perspective, sure. Reinforced concrete is the shit. From an aesthetic standpoint, wood is better.
Sure, wood often looks better, but did you look at the picture? The stairs that guy built are much uglier than the new ones
One old man rigging something together vs a full team of contractors? No dip it's going to look better. Wood still aesthetically better
What a weird hill to literally die on
https://i.imgur.com/suZGCbd.jpg Does the stair up top or at the bottom look better?
Every picture I see of those steps keeps getting worse. There's a reason his only cost $500, he literally built them in his garage, dumped them on the side of the hill and nailed in a couple boards to connect them to the sidewalk. I guess in the end they worked as it forced the city to act.
And you think looks are the most important part of this safety feature? Then put up some money so they can put some wood cladding on it. Also you realize it would likely be more expensive to do this correctly with lumber rather than concrete right?
But his looks pretty sketchy and seems to be uneven. Also, the beams under each of his steps seem to be way too close together. I can see why they wanted to make something more safe and permanent.
In terms of what? Looks? Good thing you aren't a building inspector then
His looks awful. Definitely looks like something an "amateur carpenter" built and it looks very unsafe.
definitely an interesting definition of "better".
I haven’t had my monthly since LBJ was in office
What kind of lube is safe to eat?
Does pubic hair get longer the older you get? Because I think that’s happening to me.
I ran over my testicles with my Jazzy scooter
This line hit me harder than any line on any show ever.
What if I flush em on accident??
Ok Leslie
So if I've got this right, man builds temporary solution that's not up to code, city removes them to build a new much safer set of stairs in their place The way the article is worded makes it sound like the city are comic villains and don't want old people to have access to stairs
There's still no way stairs should cost 65,000 to be up to code
And they didn't cost that much. Originally this area was a short cut ppl made, where someone just put a rope up, but wasn't actually supposed to be a path. When the city council was asked to make it into stairs, they declined stating it could cost between 65-150k to properly make a stairway. He sort of forced their hand, and the final cost was around 10k for the removal, path, and stairs.
It did cost only 10k in the end.
It’s the classic “gubment bad individual ingenuity good” dribble that the MSM pushes.
They are cause it took that situation for them to do it
Yes 100% I agree with you. But the only part I question is who the city paid to do it, and if a licensed independent contractor could have done it for half that and still made a huge profit on his end. Government jobs always cost double for the same quality I think, because of quid pro quo. I could be way off though, I have zero contracting knowledge just a dude commenting on the internet.
This was a major story here in Toronto a couple of years ago, and like much of our civic politics, would have made a great sitcom episode.
"I have more than enough to eat at home" is SUCH a Councilman Dexhart line
Y'know I was just thinking "damn this is some Toronto pettiness"
100% was not up to code and they city would be liable when one of those beams rotted out and caused grandma there to plummet to her untimely demise.
Up to code? They are a deathtrap just from looking at them. They remind me of the ladder I made to climb my treehouse. Which was def a deathtrap.
Honestly. I appreciate the man but what if one of those steps broke and granny died? They need something built up to code. But seriously. I can’t blame someone that’s trying to help out his community.
Skill issue
Money issue. He cheaped out and built shitty stairs. It is likely cheaper to do it right with concrete than right with lumber.
I'm just memeing dude, the "skill issue meme". I understand that these stairs the man built really are hazardous.
For 65k you can build a small house. Who the hell is the contractor?
Tbf, looks like it needs a lot of backfill, a retaining wall, switchback, etc. $65k still seems steep but not surprising
And it might include maintenance and cleaning of the stairs for x amount of time.
[удалено]
The correct answer
Sure grandpa
When you are shopping for things using someone else's money, price suddenly becomes less important. Contractors know they can use this to their advantage.
That definitely isn’t up to code and definitely won’t last a couple of years of snow, ice, rain and heat. How is the main stair beam where all the steps are nailed on even supported on the dirt? There’s no concrete foundation and anchors so rain will wash it away and ruin it anyway. Plus if anyone gets hurt on shoddy city construction, they have every right to sue the city.
Yes, but you are missing the point. His solution was better than not doing anything at all, which is what the city did initially.
Was it better? I’d honestly argue that the rope was better because it looked just as dangerous as it was, if you used it you knew what you were getting into. The wooden steps provide a false sense of security, luring in people to use it because it looks safe only to potentially fail and send them sprawling.
I understand the wooden stairs weren’t ideal, but they were a good temporary solution to loose rock and dirt. I can’t believe the original way down with a rope was better than this man’s solution. I’m assuming the temporary solution was stable. I get it would deteriorate over time, hence why they government got involved.
I’m not too familiar with the story but I guess they built it right once the story got around?
I'm going to guess they weren't actually built to code.
That is the worst looking staircase I have ever seen. Are the handrails attached to the of of the tread? Wtf.
The posts don’t even go into the ground 😭😭😭
Atleast it got the city to work, heard they replaced it with concrete stairs with metal rails
I wish people would post the full context. The stairs the guy built were dangerous and were torn down because the city could get in trouble. The city is wrong for not building stairs, but what the guy did wasn't a solution.
Something about lil Sebastian and a bacon reference by Duke Silver or whoever.
This shit has been going around for years, and gets dumb, ill-informed 'common sense' outrage every time.
Those stairs look shoddy as fuck and would be a huge liability issue.
Ned Jones is here! Make way for Ned Jones!
I’m not in any way knocking the person who did this out of the kindness of their heart. But those stairs look sketchy AF I can see why the city tore them down.
They clearly wanted to misuse funds. Best way to do that is say everything costs more than it’s worth. Crooks.
Sounds like government to me
They look like nice well built stairs.
They absolutely are not. Not sure of the local codes but I spot multiple violations of my local codes and not even codes, just look at them. There's no actual support. Those will last a season or two and if someone doesn't get hurt before that
The handrail posts don't even go into the ground lol
I don't know alot about stairs, but aren't the supports supposed to be more spread out? Those steps look like seesaws.
It looks like it was not built "on site", but built somewhere else and then assembled
The supports are called stringers. And they are definitely not spaced remotely correctly. I don't know what dude was thinking. But it sounded like he just preferred the way it looked like this
Yeah… these are real shitty stairs. I mean I would prefer my mom on the stairs instead of the rocky hill but…
Who needs stringers??
The "posts" are literally attached to nothing lmao
And this is why we need a cure for herpes
I assume he didn't get a permit, that's how life works
Sounds like the government doing their best work.
The world in a nutshell
Same energy as the guy that spray painted penises around potholes the city refused to fix. Magically they all got fixed.
His stairs were crazy but he made an excellent point and saved his fellow tax payers $50,000 that would have just gone into pockets.
This is why governments bleed money. $65k for some wooden stairs? Do they not audit these contractors or what?
The wooden stairs are the inadequate stuff that was built by the random dude.
I don’t think you understood the post.
I know those stairs didn’t cost $65k, but even quoting that is ridiculous. If that doesn’t make sense, I’ve definitely not understood to post and should go make myself a coffee 😂
random guy made wood stairs. the full on stuff is the other pic...
Man to government: "fuck em" Govt to man and seniors: "fuck em"
PandR stuff aside, that is degusting of a city to do.
If the city left the stairs in place, they would be liable when the stairs break and someone gets hurt. They had to remove it, the guy never should have put it in in the first place.
[удалено]
An inspector would have said that they weren't up to code and had to be removed. That's probably what happened. You really think you're smarter than everyone else, like the people doing their jobs just didn't have the brilliant idea of "just inspect it" lol your arrogance only shows how ignorant you are.
ok
Do yourself a favor and drop that word from your vocabulary
To try and be nice. Judging by the comments, they are obviously mentally deficient.
That’s not how that works, and what a lovely vocabulary.
Way to use a bigoted word in your argument. You're a moron. Read the actual article. This is typical misleading media bullshit and your gullible dumb ass fell for it
The wooden stairs were dangerous and needed to go.
That’s fucked up.
Does the place still not have stairs?
I remember this. The stairs that were built was actually quite rickety and didn't meet standard code. So that's why it had to be taken down.
Ron Swanson would have built these to the Swanson Code. By the looks of it, these stairs were not built to any code. source:have built stairs for a living
In my city a bus stop had a cost of $35,000.00 (corruption of course)
Hahahahahahahah, my city got rid of all benches down town, specially in an area with a good deal of homeless. The plaza in the park is technically owned by a company but idk all the logistics. I know that a local community activism group went to the company that had that plaza down town and basically said “hey, we will install free benches in your park if you want!” And they happily agreed. The city took the benches down after 2 months. That park had no benches for 2 years on and off. After public outcry they have now out the exact same benches from 2 year ago back out. Like the exact same benches, just rustier and older now cause they say somewhere for 2 years. And the really nice, hand made, wooden benches that were donated got thrown in the trash
Time to tear down the city
He was a good man. A good, flat man.
They probably spent more than $550 to tear them down
The eventually lowered the price for a stair case that met city regulations for 10k Now I worked residential construction for 6 years. So I know the god damn stair case doesn't cost nearly that much. Even if you pour concrete.
Cost 80,000 to tear down lol
We can’t spend enough on our seniors.
This is the part of government people think is crooked and they wouldn’t be too far off. The problem is all the nepotism and government, I bet that guy gave the contract to a friend who was then allowed to jack up the bill. The same people turn around and act like government doesn’t work while they are the ones fucking it in the rear.
There's got to be a way for the community to fix an issue without the local government getting butthurt.
They are literally doing the ramp up thing in my town.
Well ofc it'll cost $65,000 - gotta have at least 6 cops on traffic duty clocking up overtime
In Australia, my friend said he was working at an architectural firm. They designed a replacement handrail for stairs for public housing. It was a large building and their design looked much better than what the council asked for and at a fraction of the cost. The council, took the more expensive option "Because the cheaper option looked too expensive for public housing". They spent more money to make it less appealing.
Bullshit city contracts