I am building my first set of straight run stairs in my old house renovation project. I am pretty good at carpentry, but I just have never had a need to build full stairs until now. My questions are what is the minimum headroom needed above the stair run so that one does not naturally want to duck as they walk up or down? My local Home Depot doesn’t have diddly squat for tread or balluster material. No prefab stuff either. So any suggetions there? I plan on painted risers and railings with natural finishes on the treads. Is there a website or link that can address these issues? I give thanks in advance for any tips or ideas!
Bud
Replies
Your local building code will specify minimum headroom clearance. Here in MA, it's 6' 8". Try a real lumberyard or millwork supplier for more choices of balusters and railings. Or, if you want a simple and clean look, you can make your own out of stock materials. Pay attention to code requirements. Stairways are one of the more demanding things to build correctly.
Al Mollitor, Sharon MA
The state of NC requires 6'8" headroom also. We use a flavor of the IRC 2000. Some other code requirements are 31 1/2" finished width, max riser height is 8 1/4" and min tread depth is 9". Closed riser stairs require a tread nosing of between 3/4" to 1 1/4". All risers need to be the same height within 3/8" except the bottom one which can be shorter than the rest. All tread widths must be the same within 3/8". Handrails have a min height of 30" and a max of 38, but if you go to either extreme, it will look funny. Ballusters (pickets) must not be more than 4" apart.
Check your local codes which are probably state wide (assuming you live in the states). Even if you can't build completly to code, based on the existing home's space constraints, at least you will have something to shoot for. Steps not built to code can cause people to trip, fall and get hurt - ie risers of significantly different heights.
I'm surprised that your local HD doesn't have stair parts. Ours has at least all the basics.
It helps to draw out a profile picture of the steps before you build them.
Here is a important hint: Cut your first stringer and then tack it up in place to see how it fits. Get some scrap pieces of your risers and treads and hold them up there to make sure you have all your riser heights, etc, right. Then cut the rest of your stringers and proceed.
Edited 12/3/2003 9:00:12 AM ET by DIRISHINME
" max riser height is 8 1/4" and min tread depth is 9". Closed riser stairs require a tread nosing of between 3/4" to 1 1/4""
It looks like your local allows for the older methods.
With a tread of 9" the layout run would be only about 8" for an 8/8 dsign layout. Lots of old ones here are built that way but scare the bejeebers out of me..
Excellence is its own reward!
Not entirely sure what you mean by "8/8 dsign layout" but I think I get the gist of it. I hate steep stairs too. I'd say average in these parts for interior steps is maybe a 7.25/10.5 or 7.75/9.5 stringer layout. Nosed 5/4 tread material comes in ~11" and ~12".
For exterior steps I like something less steep. Maybe a 6.5/11 stringer layout.
There was an article in FHB some years ago that discussed the ratios of "Comfortable Stairs" that the person who started this thread should read.Matt
Bud, do you have a local lumber yard? That would be the best place to go. They will stock stair parts, treads in oak, yellow pine and luan. May have other suitable tread stock depending where you live.Usually poplar or pine for risers if painted. They could also supply you with a set of stairs already made if you give them the total height from finish floor to finish floor. When you take this measurement, take it from the floor at the point of the bottom riser to a line leveled out from the upper finished floor. If this is your first time building stairs and they are not basement stairs, I would reccomend buying the stairs made up.Rails, volutes ( the turned piece at the start of the run of the rail) balusters etc. will be found at your local lumber yard also.
mike
We are DIY homebuilders and we were planning to build our staircases, but decided it wasn't that much more to go ahead and have them built. We bought them through our local lumberyard who gets them from somewhere else. It was awfully nice to have them show up on a truck! LOL! We have one more set of stairs in our garage. I imagine we'll do the same again. The cost in our overpriced part of the world was about $700 for 4 staircases. (There are two flights of stairs in an "L" shape, that is why there were 4).
Look through magazines to get interesting railing ideas. Also, you can pick up a special order brochure from HD that has a lot more available profiles, or use a local lumberyard.