Many people do not take into account space/landings top and bottom. Also how much head room needed. Very important. Your 10' stairs then requires an additional 6 feet.
What are your thoughts on renovating *OLD* houses where if you try to bring the stairs up to current code, you are forced to renovate the entire building because of layout issues. I find this extremely frustrating where we are told that we can't "touch" the stairs, but in some cases to leave them as they are is even more dangerous than at least building them solid with a good handrail. Or is your average homeowner just supposed to foot the 200K+ bill to gut their house when all they wanted to do was make their stairs more solid.
The only opinion I can offer will be to avoid redesigning the home and stairs if you can't afford to. You're right, some of these stairways can't be rebuilt in tight spaces. I do have more videos at my website in the remodeling stairs section.
@@jackfarrell4727 this is what I mean. A lot of these old buildings really crammed it in there, with stacked stairwells, to a point where you end up forced to move almost all the walls, which ends up meaning moving a huge amount of plumbing and electrical, not to mention all the finishes. It's just not feasible, affordable, or realistic. This is when you start to consider all the other stair factors, headroom, landings and stairwell width.
Hi, I have a house built in 1915 with the first floor ceiling height at nine feet. There are 14 steps to the second floor. The rises are about 7.5 inch but the treads are 8 inches. I have about 6 feet downstairs from the last step to the wall, but when I tried to add an inch I loose head space by the time I get to the 4th step from the bottom. I do have 20 inches upstairs from the last step which is the beginning of the hallway to the bedroom door to the right. If I can steel 10 inches and make a step in the hallway and increase the risers to 7.75 or 8, my problem will be solved, Any comments will be appreciated. Thanks Sam
You would need to find out what the maximum riser height can be in your area. I've still heard of some building authorities allowing for 8 inch risers and if that's the case then your problem might be solved.
What if the staircase is in the basement? The basement is 6' 7 3/4" height. Currently have 12 steps but for some reason the staircase gets very very tight going downstairs. Upstairs the entrance height is 6' 4" . When going down its 6' . Please help?
Question: what about a pre-existing stairway in which the stairs were removed? I would like to put them back in, but I believe it wouldn’t be up to current code...? The house was built in 1915
You will need to check with your local building department, but most of the time if you remove something it will need to be built with new building codes.
I have an are that is 7feet high and 10length. Can I use this same method. 7inches by 10 inches? I have more length space would another measurement fit better?
Thanks for sharing and when I first started in 1978, the maximum riser height was 8 inches and the run was 9 inches. Don't forget to check with your local building departments to verify all of the information on our channel.
Thanks for your clear explanation. I do have a question, How can pass the inspection if I use a preassemble staircase . The IRC or SMA do not tell about use 2x12 kd . I live in Massachusetts and Iasked a building inspector about prefabricated staircase without 2x12 stringers and he He said no way. What do you think..
I've never heard any problems about pre-assembled staircases not passing inspections as long as they meet local building codes. I would go down to your local building department and have them provide you with more information. I've had problems with building officials and inspectors telling me that I could or could not do something and then another inspector or building official said that I could. I would also suggest getting something in writing, if the information they're providing you with doesn't sound right.
This isn't easy, because most of the time you need more room to build a longer stairway and that means having the stairway extend at the top or the bottom or both, but if you don't have the room, then it's probably not gonna happen.
@@stairbuilding Thank you for replying however what I am wondering is if I replace an existing but dilapidated set of stairs with a new flight exactly the same will it be "grandfathered" or am I obliged to make structural changes to meet current code?
@@markbernier8434 If the homeowner is ok with it, I would replace them as they were built and I wouldn't bother to ask what mr inspector thinks. It should be grandfathered in but I typically find inspectors like to wield their power as most tyrants do.
@@stairbuilding It has to be defined by some other code. I would find it interesting to find out what code as I have worked on boats/ships a good portion of my life.