I have always intended to have an Oak stairway.
Now I am having second thoughts and leaning toward carpeting the treads.
It is an 8" x 8" rise and run and carpet will not be as slippery.
My wife has had both knees replaced and feels that it would be safer.
WHAT DOES EVERYONE THINK???
Quote from: OldDog on August 29, 2008, 07:46:43 AM
I have always intended to have an Oak stairway.
Now I am having second thoughts and leaning toward carpeting the treads.
It is an 8" x 8" rise and run and carpet will not be as slippery.
My wife has had both knees replaced and feels that it would be safer.
WHAT DOES EVERYONE THINK???
I think your going to be unhappy either way as your rise is about 1/2" to tall and your run is about 2" to short.
Redesign your stair system , add a landing , or a few winders to get the two straight runs closer to 7 1/2" and 10".
Good luck , and really theres no reason to shout at us ;)
I agree on the rise and run. There's a reason for the standard numbers and that is that stairs become easier to climb, more natural movements are used when the numbers stay within the formula. And they are safer.
You might be able to get away with the 8 inch rise, but not coupled with the run of only 8 inches. If a person has problems with their kness sometimes reducing the rise can help, but then the run should be extended.
I read someplace, IIRC, that 2 rises plus one run should add up to about 24 to 25 inches.
Here's a stair calculator http://www.blocklayer.com/Stairs/StairsEng.aspx
As for wood vs carpet, bare wood may look nice, but I'd put the wood someplace else and use a tightly fitted carpet on any indoor stairs. Or do the oak treads and install a carpet runner up the center.
The old rule of thumb that I have used is that the total of the rise and the run should equal 17 1/2". For an 8" rise that would be a 9 1/2" tread.
The newer IRC code stair: http://www.stairways.org/pdf/2003%20Stair%20IRC%20SCREEN.pdf
It has a max rise of 7 3/4" and min tread (run) of 10". However the old chestnut above still works for the IRC with a comfortable 10" run and 7 1/2" rise.
I don't want to hijack this thread, but I have not yet built my stairs in my universal 2 story and have questions also. I keep putting it off, because I have never done stairs and the fact that varied the floor heights from the plans. I think John told me in a past thread that I would be ok if I added some winders to help with the U shaped stairs, but I am having a hard time getting my head wrapped around just how to do it. ??? I understand the straight run to a platform, then a couple of winders, then another straight run, but whats the best way to go about buildling the platform and winders?? Sorry for the questions I probably should start my own thread, but I definately have stairway confusion. d*
I'd build a platform first at the desired level, twice as wide as the stairs plus a few inches - about 6 for handrails then land the bottom stairs on the platform. I'd put the winders starting at the halfway point of the landing making the turn - watch code widths -- and continue up from there.
I'd make the landing self supporting.
Probably not a lot of help.
Watch for others to find something wrong with this suggestion as there may be. hmm :)
Hmm... I'm probably not a lot of help here either. I hate carpet, so I'd say go with an elevator. ??? d*
I hate carpet too. But wives have alot of say so in design decisions.
I'm not a carpet fan either... none anywhere in the present home, none planned for the cabin.
I don't see it so much as a design decision. I am totally uncomfortable with the idea of bare wood tread stairs as a safety concern. We are in socks most of the time indoors. I know I would be an accident waiting to happen. Don't like that idea. OMMV.
Of course we are all on one floor so there are no indoors stairs. :)
I saw some stick on tread traction pads at lowes the other day.
Rdzone:
I'm not a framer, but if I were building the universal stair and needed an extra riser I would start with a finish floor to finish floor measurement. All stairs start with this and a count of the risers. I show 14 risers in the Typical Cross section where the stair details are found. If you divide the above measurement by 14 and it is under 7 3/4" your stair should be fine with that as the number of risers. (That is the IRC max height, otherwise 8" max is standard). Build the platform at the middle riser height.
If you need an extra riser (15), then build the platform at the 7th riser height and then build a box on top of this for the 8th riser and start the horses for the upper run off of this.
Both the Wagner and Nash books have good information on stair layout. If you need to, ask a local carpenter for some layout help. No dishonor in asking for that. Not everything can be learned by typing and not all carpentry can be shown in architectural drawings.
The only stair simpler than the stair layout in the Universal cottage is a straight run stair. This is well documented in Wagner's, House Framing (http://www.countryplans.com/books.html). A U-shaped platform stair like the Universal is just two short 1/2 length straight runs going to and from a sturdy mid-level platform that is built first.
I have found that in my RV garage going more risers on the bottom interfered with head clearance so I put the landing at 2 steps (actually it was a 90 degree turn rather than scissor stair) then continued up from there. Head clearance would not likely be a problem with an extended loft or upstairs wall.
The trade-off is that the stair goes farther out into the middle of the room, but that also gives more clearance in a loft only type setting.
I have constructed several stairways using a little book I acquired many years ago. Don't know if it is still available, but the info on it is:
Stair Builders Handbook, by T.W. Love, 1974
Craftsman Book Company, 542 Stevens Ave., Solan Beach, CA 92075
It is 8" x 5" x 3/4", and has 413 pages. The first 53 pages cover Stair Fundamentals, Stair Layout and Construction, and Newel Posts and Handrails, including many good diagrams and step-by-step instructions. The entire rest of the book is a series of Stair Layout Tables. One just measures the floor to floor rise to the nearest 1/8", and then goes to the appropriate column to find a host of other relevant information such as # of risers, # of treads, height of each riser, width of each tread, total run of stairway, max. run with 6'-8" headroom, angle of incline, length of carriage, well opening for headroom, and even framing square settings for carriage cuts.
I have found it to be an excellent resource to demistify the often complicated task of laying out a good stairway.
Steve
I recently built a set of outdoor stairs, with a landing. Things were so variable (where the landing would be for different rise/run, height total at different end locations), that I got myself totally confused. When I get confused, I start drawing pictures. Simple pictures, that help me to visualize the number of risers needed, where the landing goes, etc. Like John said, figure out where the landing will fit in the run, and put it at that stair height. Don't forget to account for your finished floor. If you don't want the landing split, maybe the lower stair run could just have one more tread at the bottom, with the ends wrapped around returning to the walls?