Seeking opinion from any inspectors or code junkies in BT concerning their interpretation of stair landing requirements.
I have a typical situation where I have no landing at the top of my basement stairs. This is allowed as per IRC 311.5.4 where the exception states that landings are not required for interior stairs provided a door doesn’t swing over the stairs.
I thought about rebuilding these stairs to accommodate a small landing, say 24″. My question is would this be considered a code violation. The code says a landing must be a minimum length of 36″. My interpretation is that this applies even in a situation where a landing is not required. I’m wondering what others think as I still feel a smaller landing is better than no landing in this situation.
Replies
Are you sure you have room for a landing? Any addition will take your stairs out the width of the landing. The framed opening in the floor could restrict your head room. If a door does not open into the stair, the floor in front of the door is your landing. It's quite common for utility stairs like those going into a basement. Of course, most of the time there just isn't enough room.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
There is some play in headroom but not enough to allow a 36" landing. I did a quick check and figured about a 24" landing would still give the required headroom. That's what got me thinking whether or not this is even an option.Yes, the floor serves as the top landing as you point out, but in my situation I'm often carrying things up and down the basement and having to open or close the door while standing on the top step. A minor nuisance I agree, but I thought about fixing this if I go ahead with a basement remodel.
Ask your building inspector. Only his/her interpretation matters.
Solar & Super-Insulated Healthy Homes
I was wondering the same thing as Hammer. Are you going to have enough head space (6'8" over the nose of the treads) when you move the stairs that much?
As mentioned, only the BI's opinion matters. Even if you are doing something that is 100% legal and up to code or better than code, if he doesn't like it...
I assume this is your house. If it is, then I tend to keep the BI out of it unless it is necessary. One of the worst things to me about the codes is requiring someone to bring something up to the new standard. Many times this will lead people to leave things as is even when there is an upgrade that is much better than status quo but bringing it up to code is not possible, or people will do it without inspections. I know in my area a decent amount of electrical work is done with out an inspection because reaching the new code is not possible.
I know the frustrations of working with the local building department when I remodeled my last house. Just like you mentioned, they were asking for changes to a couple things that were not even connected with my remodel in any way, like a wood stove in another room that had been put in 25 years ago by the previous homeowner and permitted at that time.For the most part the inspectors were reasonable and helpful. The problem was they were inconsistent. A different person would come out for a reinspection and focus on something else that the first person didn't have a problem with or sometimes the new inspector would sign off on something the other guy was making a big deal of.I'm in a different region now so I haven't dealt with the local Bldg Dept yet.
The usual landing depth dimension corresponds to the door width.
I was able to reduce the requirement to 24" by hanging a Bi-Hinged door of 2 ea each, 2-panel solid poplar cut to 17" width and swung into the stairwell.
This might let you squeak by the BI..............Iron Helix
Your reply got me thinking about the door instead of the landing. It occurs to me the best solution is to eliminate the door at the top of the stairs altogether since I'm going to make the basement a finished space anyway. It would also solve the issue of the flow of traffic in the hall being interrupted by the opening door.I can still install a door at the bottom of the stairs to isolate the space for sound and heat. I have plenty of room for layout options.This is good. Now I don't need to mess with the stairs at all. Thanks to all who responded to get me thinking about different ideas!
Thinking outside the box often requires that someone kicks us outside.
Glad I could be the "boot".
..........Iron Helix
Just call it an extra-deep nosing.
Jon Blakemore
RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
Can the door swing be changed?
Scott.