Reassembling the ladder

The Sikkens went on the ladder steps each day beginning on Christmas and by New Year's day, we were ready to reassemble the ladder. We don't know who designed this ladder but hopefully they weren't working by the hour. The construction and the way the steps are held fast to the stainless frame is really quite original.  Taking it apart was fairly easy.  Putting it back together was, well let's say, interesting.

Each teak step has two stainless end caps. Steps are held to the end caps with three stainless machine screws on each end. The underside of each end cap had threaded holes to accept the machine screws. Here's what one of those end pieces looks like.

 The end of each end piece accepts a small. rectangular piece of stainless stock, threaded to accept an Allen-head set screw. It tightens down against the railing with an Allen wrench.

Here's the end cap in place showing one of those little Allen-head fittings. You have to assemble this bottom down, or the little set screws fall out.

Slide the railing through (not easy) and it looks like this.

Eventually, we managed to slide the frame through all five ladder steps and their end caps and had half the ladder reassembled.

We should mention that when reassembling the ladder, we reversed the mounting of the steps: the old bottom step, which was more worn and weathered, became the top step where is gets some shelter from the cabin roof. We swapped them all so that only the third step was in its original position.

Sliding the other side of the stainless frame in place was definitely a two-man job and Frances took over here.  It needed only a few taps with a hammer to get the frame to slide through all five steps. We tightened up the Allen set screws and our ladder looks like it's ready to go.