Hi all,
Hey, I’ve got a quick question about stair spindles and the code.
I am thinking about doing some fanciness on my stairs and wanted to know if the code gets very specific about spindles. My plan is to take 1 x 4 or 6 stock and route some fancy design in it (all the way through the stock). Each piece would then be a spindle for the railing although not really much of a spindle at all……. more like a slat. These would of course be set at the appropriate spacing (4″ sphere). My worry is that the code might specify some sort of strength of spindle or shape and my fancy slats would not comply.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Rob Kress
Replies
You can put up ANYTHING..to pass an inspection, cover with chicken wire..when the inspection is over..take it down.
I have had to resort to that tactic. The famous "Walton Staircase" I built being the prime example..lots of naturally shaped spindles of Laurel and Rhododendron..not even close to code spacings..passed with flying colors. Maybe her being the daughter of Sam Walton might have had a little influence.
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and of course you would be sharing a pic of the famous walton staircase...
sounds like a great example of the adirondack styleMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Ah, Mike...you saw it before..if I can find it again..I'll get it here..View Image
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yowzaa too big..lemme at it again..View Image
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Sphere: That is one cool stairway. Did it take you long to find the logs stringers curved just right? or did you steam them to the curve?
Stan, coming from you that is a hell of a compliment..you WERE joking about the "curved logs" right?..They are straight carriages splined at the joints with maple "butterfly" keys , and a few well hidden long lags. Basically a compound butt joint with help.
The hardest part was making it in NC, and then disasembling it for the ride to Ark, and remembering how to put it back together. Everything went well..even tho the rest of the house was still incomplete..at least the finish floor was installed under the stairs for my final adjustments.
months of work. and a good excuse for rumaging the woods for materials.
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Sphere: I was serious. It looks cool the way you did it. I always wanted to try something like that. Armin did an awesome one as well.
Ah, OK. The real trick there is TRYING it..lol. She gave the log home supplier (Jim Barna) a hard time over his "Standard" stair package..one of his dealers in NC knew of me and we met, I basically said I need artistic license to be "unusual"..she agreed.
When it was all said and done..I said if she did not like them, I would chainsaw it apart and burn it outside the house..her final inspection..(I was onsite four days)..she flipped..absolutly drooled all over..whew!
Never again. They were a royal pain.
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Wow, thats cool! Nice work
Mike
damn, duane.... you cud choke a horse with that .bmp file
how's dis ?...
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
ok... we're both on the same page... ya no who should be lookin at this, right ?
ruby... those are the "vigas" she needs..
hey nice stairs...
View ImageMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Thanks..curved log stairs..As far as I know, first ever. Man talk about some head scratchin...I pulled the pic from a previous post..why it came up so big I dunno..reposted with irfanview right b4 you.
They really were one of the most difficult things I have ever done..had to make the winder logs from 1/4 logs an a wedge glued in..arrgghh. That meant re-radiusing the bottoms for the look of a tapered 1/2 log..and the sliding dovetails to anchor the treads..that was gonna be patented..atty's wanted too much dough.
Being Alice is one of the wealthiest women in the world, it was an honor to hang out with her...she caught a striper and gutted it for me..way cool woman.
Shoulda proposed to her..she was single..
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dad always said... "marry a woman who can support you in the manner to which you would like to become accustomed to"..
but i never did listen to dad.....Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Yea, sounds cool, lets see it.
Mike
Most common interpretation is that you can do any shape as long as there is no place that a 4" sphere can pass through.
That brings us to the question, how big is that sphere on the mid in sphereamid's logo?
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You might model the overall structure on Arts 'n Crafts staircase designs (such as in FHB) where the cut out slats are a repeating pattern. Typically the gaps between slats are considerably less than 4" (more like 1-2). I'd be concerned that large gaps would lessen the impact of your design, making it look like you skimped on materials or time. The overall effect is going to become more like a translucent wall than spindles.
Solidity (which was the real reason for your post - not avoiding the 4" rule) of the overall hand-rail will likely not come from the decorated slats, but the upright structural members, so the strength of the 'spindles' isn't the issue. Your creative efforts would definitely be undermined by a handrail that felt at all flimsy or moved visibly when someone with hulking mass leaned with full weight - regardless of what code requires. And you should be careful with your cut-outs so as to not have corners and elements split off easily by passing todlers, vacuum cleaners or gymbags. Twinning the cut-out stock (even thinner) with a solid sheet of glass or lexan (scratches?) would permit a very lacy design, but would also be way over the top.
You might model the overall structure on Arts 'n Crafts staircase designs (such as in FHB) where the cut out slats are a repeating pattern. Typically the gaps between slats are considerably less than 4" (more like 1-2). I'd be concerned that large gaps would lessen the impact of your design, making it look like you skimped on materials or time. The overall effect is going to become more like a translucent wall than spindles.
Exactly what I am going for!
Thanks for the input
Rob Kress
I did one like you are talking about a while back. Used 1x6 pine. Made a couple patterns: one for flat runs and one for the stairs. Used a jig saw to cut away most of the extra and a pattern bit to cut each exact. The pattern was in the spacing, not each "spindle". I adjusted the pattern going up the stairs so the spaces between looked even, not each side of the spindle. The spindles were inserted into a dadoed rail and subrail.
At night the lights in the house created cool shadows on the walls. When laying out the spindles I made sure the spacings did not exceed 4". I think 1x4 would be to flimsy after cutting a design in it.
Seems to me (don't have the 2000 IRC in front of me) I remember some sort of comment that the "guard" must withstand an impact force of 50 pounds. Just remember you are on the hook if someone breaks it and gets hurt.