What Are The Most Comfortable Stair Step Measurements For The Average Person? - Building Design Tip 

thanks for getting straight to the point 👍

Absolutely right, in consideration of my old age I planned for plenty of space when constructing our stairwell including a finish width of 4 ft. A straight shot for my nautilus stairlift. Of course with other accommodations as well, Lol.

Great video! I think my steps are going to be just fine now

Verry helpful, thank you

Great Information and illustrations

I did build some steps for a garden bank that I measured had a rise of about 9 inches and a run of about 15 or 16 inches (the treads were only about 9 inches but there was a space between them and it was safe because the staircase was only just above the bank on wooden rails pegged into the ground). Surprisingly they actually felt okay to climb although I was making quite big steps, but I did like that my knee was directly above my heel when I stepped. I think that staircase would be better with 4/3 as many steps so having a rise of 6.75 and a run of 12.

I prefer a tread of around 11 or 12 inches and a rise of about 7. I find shorter treads make me use the quads more and the glute muscles less. It's nice to have a more even distribution of effort although for only a few stairs it doesn't matter much. I've used stairs of 7 x 9 inches at my brother's house and the tread felt a bit diddy, and when I was on the winder portion of the stairs I found myself taking a longer stride. Stair machines are usually 8 x 10 inches and feel quite steep but then it's supposed to be hard work. They are similar to the stairs to my friend's flat. You're in a gym after all! Then escalator steps are similarly steep to the stair machine but with a longer tread. Then there's double decker bus stairs - usually risers of up to 10 inches, but they always ascend in the forward direction of the bus so you don't fall down them when the bus brakes.

Awesome video, I am building pool deck stairs, and we want them wide, to sit on , stand on, and walk on when wet or carrying stuff, or when impaired.... this give me some better understanding of what is reasonable

another great video from you. "7/11" is easiest to remember for me. Personally I feel like treads less than 10 inches deep are sketchy. and risers taller than 8 inches

I have 7/11s in my current house and while they aren't BAD, they could be better, especially for my 5'1 mom. I'd say something closer to 6/13 would be the most comfortable. At my old house, I made some 5/16s for my outdoor deck (only 3 steps) and they were beautiful. Could blitz up and down those wonderfully, it honestly felt as fast as just walking forward.

Steepness goes hand in hand with the width of stairs and the possibility to grab a hand rail. In a workspace enviroment people may carry things from floor to floor not having a free hand to grab a rail and may encounter on stairs. Think in a household someone carrying the bedding not beeing able to look at its own feet. That's when someone may trip.

Thank you.

Thanks for the great advice - I can now go ahead with confidence and build future proof steps from the pavers up to the deck for my Australian project - length 600 mm and height 420 mm so I will have two steps at 140 mm depth and 300 mm long for tread which will help for future step-challenged folk - I will also use the same decking timber which has longitudinal groves to assist with grip especially on wet days - John in SA

Thank u for educating me on the stairs, sinds I need a new one.

My basement stairs are 9 x 8 it feels like they were built by a mountain goat. I hate them

Thank t

Have you ever built any straight run stairs with bowed treads and risers? If not, I personally don't recommend them...at least not with a 9 or 10 inch rough cut. I found them to be uncomfortable and even dangerous. I've done quite a few bowed circular stairs, and they were comfortable.

Thank you ❤

I'm replacing the stairway in my tiny home in the country soon. It has a rise of 9" and a tread of 9.25". Yikes!

My porch step is 9 inches high it hurt my hip to walk up and down the steps only one step.the one that go down to my wash room is 10 inches high and bottom is 7 it's hard to get up my steps again only one step.would like some ideas I can use to fix this.would like to have steps 5 inches high.

Thank you

My stairs are Stairs Depth 9 Width 41 Height 8 I find it very uncomfortable there are 9 steps then a landing then 4 more steps with 11 depth. Ugh

Im over here trying to make my steps smaller so they won’t be so close to The front door. 😭😭

Seems banal, but stairs are a serious issue as you age. I've noticed stairs with wider steps are much easier on the knees.

Hi, where are you based?

Thank you.