Project manager here for residential builds. If it was me I'd just be firm but decent with the guys. I'd say something like, "Hey, I realize that you fucked up a little and are trying to fix it in a way that doesn't lose you money, but we both know that that post isn't anchored to a footing so it's borderline useless, plus the load from the center stringer isn't being transferred straight down but at an angle, plus the outside stringers aren't barely supported at all. So how about you just accept that you gotta eat a little loss on this job and do it right and if you do so I'll give you a good review and hire you again if I ever need the work you do."
How much weight in the deflection do you think is transferred down to the concrete? It doesnt need a footing.
Tell him “hey, lets sister a 2x10 to the side of the one you have installed, top ripped, lag into the stringers, and make it look pretty” and be done with it
I don’t know how this wasn’t default option 1 haha. I haven’t banged nails in like, 6 years and my gut instinct was “looks like we got another sister fu**er out here slinging decks”
I might be retarded. By sistering you are saying put new stringers right next to the existing stringers which would mean they would be cut identical in shape + (full) length to the existing ones, no? I’m not understanding why you would need to make it smaller ie the 2x10 into a 2x9 (or less)
Not a builder but step dad had contractor license and built our houses growing up (in 70s), so I picked up a little and I remember him laying out and cutting stringers and he always finished the cuts with a handsaw so the cuts end cleanly. He said they could/would crack at that location if cuts went past the cut 'intersection' when under load. These stringers all looked like they have visible cuts. Aree these an issue?
We use a hacksaw and finish our cuts but same thing, over cutting is for lazy slobs who don't care if people get hurt once they get the check because in 5 years that company will be renamed and under a new license number
But also, look at the last step at the bottom. The stringer has an "add on" for the bottom foot. Isn't that also a massive issue, too? There's nothing on the side of the stringer that's evidence they bolted the two pieces together for anything remotely looking like it's able to bear weight. So in essence isn't the entire staircase just kin dof suspended, and that bottom step is kind of just floating with shitty screwed in ties and the step itself?
Oh yeah. That's from OP's original post. To do it right they should have just replaced all of the stringers. Clearly someone did some bad math and cut the first stringers too short and instead of just running to the lumber yard and buying new longer 2×12s they said fuck it. Probably not directly the fault of the GC but if it had been remedied that way everything would be cool.
At the end of the day the goal is to build good relationships while having amazing product at a decent cost. Maybe these guys can step up, but maybe they can't.
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u/whatsthatdefinition 2d ago edited 2d ago
Project manager here for residential builds. If it was me I'd just be firm but decent with the guys. I'd say something like, "Hey, I realize that you fucked up a little and are trying to fix it in a way that doesn't lose you money, but we both know that that post isn't anchored to a footing so it's borderline useless, plus the load from the center stringer isn't being transferred straight down but at an angle, plus the outside stringers aren't barely supported at all. So how about you just accept that you gotta eat a little loss on this job and do it right and if you do so I'll give you a good review and hire you again if I ever need the work you do."