From the beginning there was a rough concept of a special stair detail. Always in rough form (imagination) and never detailed out. As we get closer to winter, its time to get this done because we need to seal the house up from water. This front porch included. 

Problems I face are good flashing techniques for some special curves. Getting the strip lighting in place. The threat of galvanic corrosion due to the desire to have a copper detail. Supporting the bull nose. Lets not forget the timing of all things and the ever pleasurable argument of who is going to actually do the work (forget about design it)

I spend a lot of time on sketchup modeling the project at night and using layers to identify the different stages of the assembly or even how it would come together. Its been helpful in identifying the “aha! crap I didn’t see that coming” before any piece is cut, nailed, or wasted.