House of Stairs

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Handrails & Guards/Guardrails: A handrail is a railing that runs up a stair incline for users to hold when ascending or descending a staircase. A guard is "a building component or a system of building components located near the open sides of elevated walking surfaces that minimizes the possibility of a fall from the walking surface to the lower level." Guards can include rails (guardrails), but can be any number of other constructions such as walls, half-walls, or even a bench. The stairway is not just about rails and spindles. If there is a wall along the staircase, it is a great place to add family photographs and art. They provide a nice distraction from the arduous journey up. When upgrading or building a home, critical measures such as standardstairway width, riser height, and tread depth are not left to chance. Staircase dimensions are regulated by common practice and building code, which is frequently influenced by commonly accepted norms. These guidelines are intended to make staircases as safe as possible. Thus, they should never be disregarded or ignored.

She is also a 16 year old who, one month before her arrival, lived a life of privilege and excellent food, which she has lost partly, I assume, because of her attitude (and the results of whatever testing done on her, tests that undoubtedly revealed her mean streak), but also partly because her parents died. As her inner monologue reveals, she needed, desperately needed, something to hate, since she has not been allowed to grieve, or blame whatever killed her parents. (The text doesn’t say, but I get the distinct impression the death was not as accidental as Blossom claims.) Lola is not a showgirl. Sorry, had to put that in. Lola is a tough, street-smart girl who has no tolerance for stupidity or cruelty. She's had to learn a lot in her time, and doesn't look to others to decide what she should or should not do. Barbara Vine is the pen-name of Ruth Rendell. She has written fifteen novels using this pseudonym, including A Fatal Inversion and King Solomon's Carpet which both won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award. Her other books include: A Dark Adapted Eye; The House of Stairs ; Gallowglass ; Asta's Book ; No Night Is Too Long ; In the Time of His Prosperity ; The Brimstone Wedding ; The Chimney Sweeper's Boy ; Grasshopper ; The Blood Doctor ; The Minotaur ; The Birthday Present and The Child's Child. Read more Details The traditional overhead light is often not possible either because there is another staircase above or the ceiling is too high. If you are looking for a way to flood the entire staircase with light, install a fixture on the wall of the stairway landing. Make sure it is bright enough to extend up to the top or bottom of the stairs. As Lola notes, Blossom is not originally as helpless as she appears; indeed, she may be one of the most clever of the group. She does what she can to survive. The terror is seeing what she’s willing to do to achieve those goals—and how easily a group of scientists can enable her to do so.Full Carpeting– covers every inch of the stairway floor. It comes in handy if the stair flooring is not too appealing. If your stairs have a bit of wear and you don’t want to do a full remodel, full carpeting will cover the aging. On the downside, a full carpet is harder and more expensive to install. Talk about the costs with your contractor before you begin. A YA writer who specializes in science fiction, Sleator has written his fair share of strange, fantastic and sometimes disturbing books. Of all the ones I've read, this book is probably the one that creeped me out the most.

Sleator shifts from viewpoint to viewpoint in each chapter, creating five distinct personalities. The five kids are introduced as stereotypes, but none stay that way: even Blossom the mean girl turns out to have unexpected depths. Abigail and Oliver begin a strange, twisted relationship that is half pure teenager, half terror. Blossom, Oliver and Lola vie for control of the group, Blossom with lies and gossip; Oliver with force; Lola with desperate logic and intelligence. Lola manages to detox from cigarettes and get into shape through jogging on the stairs. (Since first reading this book, I have now had the fun of living with someone quitting smoking cold turkey, and let me tell you, a good half of the kids’ problematic issues can probably be blamed on Lola’s nicotine withdrawal alone.) Peter retreats more and more into his fantasy world, the only small comfort he has, beyond the food. And that if they do the right things—whatever the right things are—the machine will reward them with food. Otherwise, they will starve. With such anelevated place within the home, staircases demand just as much decorative thought and polish as the rest of the house. Staircases, for example, are perfect places for trendy wallpaper or a splash of unexpected color. Unique lighting, an artsy collection, and eye-catching runners are other excellent ways to bring life to a staircase. Finally, hand-forged iron or bespoke fretwork banisters can transform steps into sculptural works of art. A more common strategy is using recessed lights. You can install recessed lights along the wall of the stairway. Stagger the lights in a way that lights up each tread properly. You can also have a continuous LED strip recessed along the wall to ensure each spot on the stairs is illuminated. A joiner:An experienced joiner or carpenter should also be able to design and fabricate your staircase. This is often a more affordable option than using a staircase specialist. You could also come up with your own design and take it to a local joiner. Staircase Sizes ExplainedSet in London The House of Stairs London opens in 1980s when Elizabeth—protagonist and narrator—glimpses Bell, a woman who has been recently released from prison. Seeing Bell is the catalyst that makes Elizabeth recount her story (transporting us to the late 60s and early 70s) but even if she knows the identity of Bell’s victim she does not share the details of this fateful event with the readers, preferring instead to play her cards close to her chest. This dual storyline creates an apparent juxtaposition of past and present. We can hazard guesses through brief glimpses of her present, her ambiguous remarks, such as ‘Bell’s motive for asking those questions was outside the bounds of my imagings’ and ‘[A]s they wished me to do, I was seeing everything inside-out’, and through her carefully paced recounting of those events. If you are going for the wow factor, there are a few stairs lighting ideas to borrow from. A unique one is to use multicolored LED strips that light up in different hues up the stairway. But be careful with this one as it can create a gaudy nightclub feel. And then the machine encourages them to turn on one another. Hit, betray, lie—and be rewarded with food. Refuse, and starve. I first read the synopsis for this a few years ago and the concept immediately caught my attention. Set in an unknown but clearly dystopian future, we follow five kids in their early teens who are suddenly dumped alone on a never ending room of stairs. There is a machine that spits out food but only when the group perform certain actions which they have to determine by trial and error. When the machine starts rewarding violence of the physical and psychological types the kids are pushed to either follow directions of take a stand for what they believe in.

Make sure you follow local code on safety when deciding the stairway design. Your contractor can help you with this.Cons:Very few, hence it being such a popular material. Though dark and heavy wood can, in some cases, be overbearing when used for such a central feature.