Print Page - Cottage stairs

Title: Cottage stairs
Post by: chatycady on March 18, 2007, 05:58:13 PM

I am going to put in an L shaped stairs with a landing half way up. I could make the first half of the stairs to code, but I can't make them all to code.

Would it be okay to do this? First 6 steps to code, then landing, then steep steps to the loft? Or is this confusing to the feet and people would trip? THought I put a sign at the landing that the rest of the way is for experienced climbers only.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
Chaty

Title: Re: Cottage stairs
Post by: John_C on March 18, 2007, 06:08:53 PM

Yes, it would be a hazard. Most people adjust to the height of the risers in a step or two and deal with changes poorly.

An inspector probably wouldn't pass such a staircase (he might well trip going up). If you don't need to pass an inspection you could use a steeper staircase or Jefferson staircase.

Title: Re: Cottage stairs
Post by: chatycady on March 18, 2007, 07:08:26 PM

Ok. If I keep the risers the same, can I fiddle with the treads? Will that cause tripping also?

Title: Re: Cottage stairs
Post by: John_C on March 18, 2007, 07:29:43 PM

Why do you want to do a 'freeform" stair? Do you have plans for one or more types of stairs?

Title: Rules for stairs
Post by: John_C on March 18, 2007, 07:40:07 PM

There are several rules for stairs but this is the most basic.. The rule of 25

The staircase will be safe and easily walkable if the height of two risers plus the width of one tread equals 25.

If you are building to code there will be max riser ht., min. run, min width and more, but the rule of 25 works even for stairs that don't quite meet code. It's been around a long time and is probably the result of a lot of people tripping on a lot of stairs. Hope it helps

Title: Re: Cottage stairs
Post by: jraabe on March 19, 2007, 06:41:11 PM

The risers on any stair should not vary any more than necessary. I think code Max is 3/8". Better to do winders at the landing and keep all the risers and treads the same.

Use this rule of thumb to keep the stair proportional - [highlight]Rise + Run = 17 1/2"[/highlight] (So an ideal stair is 10" tread with a 7.5" riser. A steep cottage stair might have a 9" riser and a 8.5" tread.) Note that this rule of thumb gives you very much the same stair that John C's rule of 25 does.

Also see the photos and links in this thread elsewhere on the forum:

http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1168456265/14

Title: Re: Cottage stairs
Post by: chatycady on March 20, 2007, 05:22:30 PM

Thanks for the advice and links! Great stuff and I will use it.
:)

CountryPlans Forum

Plans Support => Plans Support => Topic started by: chatycady on March 18, 2007, 05:58:13 PM