Tyler, the destructo-monkey, went to work on the spiral staircase this weekend. The staircase was comprised of 15 steps, a railing and center column all out of cast iron. Needless to say, Tyler was fairly tired by the time the staircase was out in the front yard. With my wrist, I was of little help. My only contributions were to throw the smaller pieces of the railing out in the yard and to watch Tyler prying the treads of the staircase apart as the whole thing teetered back and forth. At this rate, I'll definitely have my first gray hair by the time we're thru.

My parents in MN leant us another helping hand. Tyler purchased an angle grinder to help cut thru the metal column of the staircase. Unfortunately, he wasn't too sure how to attach the cutting wheel. He gave my dad a call and got everything straightened out. Unfortunately, when we saw how many sparks it sent flying onto the wood and insulation, we decided it might not be a good idea to use it.

Based on local accounts, the staircase was determined to not be original to the house. Rusty, my hay guy, told me how Ed purchased it from a local feed mill. Ed installed it because he was tired of his teenage daughters having to go thru his bedroom at all hours of the night to get to their rooms. The spiral staircase allowed them to have their own stairway up to their rooms.