posted 02-05-2001 07:15 PM            

That step was cut from a piece of dimension limestone. We ordered it from the stone quarry in square form. It was then cut to the shape you see in the photo after being tooled to provide a textured finish.
The step weighed nearly 750 pounds and had to be winched up to the great hall. It was then moved on a dolly across the room to where the missing step was. Because the other steps had "sagged" over the years, It had to be shimmed with a thin slice of limestone around 80 mm thick. Once in position, it was pointed with pure lime mortar that was gauged with brick dust. Then the gap nearest to the camera in the photo was filled in with rubble, lime and capped with a cut piece of tooled stone. It is incredibly solid.

I think you will be very glad if you use real stone for your steps. It is immensely satisfying to see the finished job. I have another photo of the completed landing, but have run out of room on that small web site. We will re-do it when we get moved to Princeton in April and show the finished steps.