So what kind of stairway does a stairbuilder have in his house? What do you expect? Just like a plumber who has a leaky faucet..an electrician who never gets his outlet covers on..I am no different. I did finally rip out my old stairway to the basement and gave my wife an oak stairway after all these years. !.25 inch stringers that are mortised for the treads and risers. The run is 10.125 inches…not bad….the rise? 9.625 inches….no..I didnt say 7.625..or 8.625 inches…but a full 9.625 inch rise!! I had no other option with my space constraints. She is happy and thinks nothing of an extra two inch step. I am long legged and usually take two normal steps at a time..so one of these seems small. What else did you expect. Ha. I beg for your mercy as you all shake your head in disgust…
Replies
I loved the basket too!
Never seen one like that.
Gabe
I think the rise had nothing to do with space constraints, but was set to match the basket....chicken and egg...
Look carefully grasshopper and you shall see the way...
There are two small "legs" in the front of that basket holding it up...
I'll betcha dollars to peso's those were added.. ;)
Stan, Very Nice as usual....
I know, but I wasn't gonna let something like that ruin my fun!
Cag: You are dead on observant about my cheater legs on that stair basket. I laughed out loud when I read that. I mean...where would you find a basket that would fit a 9 5/8 inch rise?
Tim: I just about did build some forms out of habit...lets see..what would the radius be? infinity! I then just thought about it a minute and decided to just use some mill run lumber.
Wow CAG - I just keep learning new things about you. All that reserve dementia and a basket case detective to boot! :-)>Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
I just keep learning new things about you
Momma always said I'd have a stalker, I was kinda hoping it would be some hot super model, none-the-less a candy pants archy will do for now
Hey, how did you know I was wearing my candy pants today?! You haven't been following me again have you?
If your momma doesn't come through with her promise this Christmas you're big enough to buy what you've been asking for all by yourself now. In fact, here's a link where you might just pick it up for a song. :-)> Stalker
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
In that case it makes Stan's work that much more impressive.
Gabe
I am so impressed by what I see of his work...consistent quality....one of my hopes is that I get a project in IL where I can call him and say, "I got this dynamite twisting staircase in mind...ya wanna build it?"
It's funny that you sent those pix! Thanks. It's so cool you built straight stairs! How did you do that? Are you in such a groove that you built a form and glued up laminations?
Nice clean work. But I have stupid question...is stair code the same everywhere? From my understanding the rise is too much. At least around here....
Or, of course, it's your house and hey...you can do whatever!
Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
Jake: Of course the rise is way to much..even if it was an inch shorter...but..its always been this way in my house...so it is grandfathered in. If it were new construction...and I was in an area where they have the codes enforced...it would have to be no greater than 7.75 inches of rise. In my area...I could have a ladder up to the second floor..and nobody would say a thing.
My whole point of this post was that I am no different than a plumber with a leaking faucet. I built a stairway in my own home that I would never have considered doing for someone else. :)
Edited 10/14/2003 7:18:11 AM ET by Stan Foster
nice to see you are human Stan
I'd just tell em the basket wasn't to code thanks
Stan
Have you heard of the "golden rule" for stairs? As I remember it, the sum of the rise and run should fall in a particular range – but I don't remember what the actual range is!
Ian
Oh, oh, oh - I know this one... can I answer? Can I answer... pleeeeeease?
Thanks...
The sum should fall between 15" and 19" but if you're looking for "perfect" you hit the magic "Golden Ratio" of .61804 to 1 with an 11" tread and a 6 13/16" riser.Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
I think if you want optimum slinky conditions, you need to switch your rise and run ;>
I don't know, I think that flip would make it pretty hard to "slink" down the stairs at all. It would be pretty cool for rappelling practice though. :-)>Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
As a veteran slinky on the stairs child, I can attest that steep and narrow is better. Maybe the modern plastic ones are different, but the old ones didn't travel much distance, and they really liked the extra oomph from a steeper drop, as long as it wasn't too steep for the length of the slinky. Where is Mongo with the calculus to explain slinkys?
I'll go with steeper and skinnier on that one too but the ideal slinky stairs would have to change pitch to accommodate the compounding momentum on the decent. We had 14 steps to the basement and no TV when I was a kid. I had plenty of time to figured out that you had to set books on the treads about halfway down. They slowed the momentum just enough to prevent the slinky from overshooting and derailing before it got to the bottom.
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Edited 10/15/2003 4:31:16 PM ET by Wrecked Angle
So Stan's 9.625 rise with a 10.125 run adds to 19.75. Huummm he just needs to shorten the run to 9.375 in and they'd be "perfect" stairs !
Miss, did I pass ?
Interestingly, in my 110 y.o house, the stairs have a 10" run with an 8.75" rise
Uh, yea - that'll work... for a slinky.
Perhaps I should have noted that the minimum tread width in that rule of thumb is 10". Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
I liked your story related to the old saying that the cobbler's children go barefooted. My grandfather was cabinet builder. Women would approach my grandmother and just go on and on about what beautiful cabinets he built. Grandmother's reply was always the same, "Yea, that's what they tell me."
Stan, NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE.
Are these not built to the same tolerances as those for your paying clients?
Did you not use the same quality of materials, regardless of species?
Then why the need to ask forgivness-----------?
The only stairs in my house are outside on the front and rear porches----
5 rise p/t stringer- 5/4x6 treads.
Of course I plan to build a radius stair for the back deck...........sometime in the near future------------
Your work speaks volumes..............
GEO
GEO: It was kind of a tongue-in-cheek beg for mercy n my stairway. The absolute truth is that I was so used to the original rise and run..and I did not have to make it to code...so I just built it they way I wanted to. I could have put another tread in..but chose to keep my run so it would have a wider tread. I just thought the numbers would be interesting to post.
OK, you got me!
Had to look twice at those rise #'s......................
I suppose the answer here is the same as when we are asked why we have done something "different"............
And the reply is "because we can!"
Stan, have you seen the back page of the latest issue of FHB?
Interesting use of a cedar log!
GEO