Manzanita
We're Building a House
Episode 15: Why Math is Important
Kay and I never thought we would have a spiral staircase in our house. It never entered our minds until our architect came up with the idea. It is the central feature of our home - a spiral staircase centered around a massive tree that we had to take out during construction.
The section of the tree is more than thirty inches in diameter, is thirty-four feet tall and weights A LOT !! Slots are carefully chiseled into the tree trunk by hand. Every cut that our contractors make has to be exact. There can be no mistakes because the tree cannot be replaced.
The treads are being cut from Glulam™ sections that are four inches thick. Lindsey and Chris measure, measure again, consult with one another, and, when they are sure of what they are doing, they turn on the saw and make the cut. It goes together like an elaborate, very heavy, jigsaw puzzle.
This is where math and really good carpentry comes into play.
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