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Homeowner Forum / Construction / August 2008Adding stair - can one tread be on other side of door?
Hi all: I've been planning a bonus room addition to my house for years. This will require the installation of a stairway from the first floor to the new room. When I designed the addition several years ago, our building code specified a minumum tread depth of 9 inches. I was just able to fit the stair into the plan with about 10 inches to spare. Construction is about to commence, and I just learned that we have adpoted the 2006 code, which specifies the minum tread depth at 10 inches. Now my stairs won't fit in the space allotted. I cannot move the top of the stair more than the 10 inches because there is a structural beam in the way. The bottom of the stair ends at an interior wall which will get a new door. Can I place one tread on the other side of the door, moving the door opening up by the height of one riser? Do I need a landing? I hope not, because the foyer on the other side of that wall is not big enough. I'll put a call in to the inspector this afternoon, but I'm curious as to how others have solved this. Thanks in advance, John. I guess it was implied, but the stair will have 12 treads, requiring 12 more inches of total run - more than I have. Would an inspector really fail a stair with 9-13/16" treads? Regards, John. yep, and they all have to be within 3/8" of being the same. both vertically and horizontally. s >I guess it was implied, but the stair will have 12 treads, requiring > 12 more inches of total run - more than I have. Would an inspector > really fail a stair with 9-13/16" treads? > > Regards, > John. The original plan calls for a kneewall on one side of the stair in the bonus room. There is no room for a landing or turn in the stair. So it looks like my options are: 1: Leave the door out completely. 2: Fully enclose the stair at the top so that a door can be installed, swinging into the bonus room. Either way, the lowest stair tread will protrude into the foyer. Thanks for all the replies. If I've missed a potential soluiton, please let me know. Regards, John. >The original plan calls for a kneewall on one side of the stair in the >bonus room. There is no room for a landing or turn in the stair. > >So it looks like my options are: > >1: Leave the door out completely. Personally I think this is the only option... >2: Fully enclose the stair at the top so that a door can be installed, >swinging into the bonus room. If you can get that past the building inspector (I'm not saying you can't!) it would be one awkward door. Odds are the inspector will want a landing at the top even if the door swings into the room. (and a larger landing if it swings towards the stair.) >Either way, the lowest stair tread will protrude into the foyer. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >Regards, >John. > If you can get that past the building inspector (I'm not saying you > can't!) it would be one awkward door. Odds are the inspector will want > a landing at the top even if the door swings into the room. (and a > larger landing if it swings towards the stair.) My first point of negotiation will be to see if the inspector will allow 9-13/16" deep stair treads. The door at the top should be fine, because I see it done all the time around here. We'll see what he says. ... > ... The door at the top should be fine, > because I see it done all the time around here. We'll see what he > says. I don't suppose the door could be either a pocket or folding??? -- >> If you can get that past the building inspector (I'm not saying you >> can't!) it would be one awkward door. Odds are the inspector will want [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >because I see it done all the time around here. We'll see what he >says. Oh, it may be 'all right' in that respect, but they are awkward IMHO. > The bottom of the stair ends at an interior wall which will get a > new door. Can I place one tread on the other side of the door, > moving the door opening up by the height of one riser? Do I need a > landing? Having a door in the middle of the staircase certainly isn't allowed by the building code. You can't have a door at the bottom, either. A door at the top is allowed for an interior residential staircase as long as the door swings out over the landing. Perhaps you could omit the door at the bottom of the staircase and just have a door at the top, in the new space? Cheers, Wayne > I've been planning a bonus room addition to my house for years. This > will require the installation of a stairway from the first floor to [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > inspector this afternoon, but I'm curious as to how others have solved > this. Here's an on-line calculator for stairs: http://www.blocklayer.com/stairs/StairsEng.aspx Input your total rise and total run, then tell it your 10" step rise. It will do the rest. 10" is an awfully large step. Are you sure that's what's required?  SignatureSteve Bell New Life Home Improvement Arlington, TX interesting calculator. But it won't let me do what I'm about to do in real life. 107" run with 107" of rise. No choice. s > Here's an on-line calculator for stairs: > http://www.blocklayer.com/stairs/StairsEng.aspx [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > 10" is an awfully large step. Are you sure that's what's required? > > Here's an on-line calculator for stairs: > > http://www.blocklayer.com/stairs/StairsEng.aspx [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > interesting calculator. But it won't let me do what I'm about to do > in real life. 107" run with 107" of rise. No choice. It will accept 8' 11" for total rise and total run if you choose the "Use Total Run" radio button in the box under the "Calculate" button. What it _won't_ do is let you use 10" for a step rise. I'm still suspicious that someone gave you faulty info. A typical stair tread has a rise of 7 1/2" to 8". SignatureSteve Bell New Life Home Improvement Arlington, TX > > > Here's an on-line calculator for stairs: > > >http://www.blocklayer.com/stairs/StairsEng.aspx [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > New Life Home Improvement > Arlington, TX I was talking about the stair tread depth, or "run", going from 9" to 10". The riser depth will be about 7-3/4" in my case. Here are a couple of old carpenter truisms: Rise + run should = 17 to 18 Rise + rise + tread should = 25 Good comfortable normal stair 7 rise, 11 tread Your R+R at 7 3/4 should use a tread of 9 1/2. Some inspectors are thoroughly stuck on a full 12" tread, measured nose to nose. I would be more concerned about the inspector not accepting a 7 3/4 rise. I think the current code book maximum is 7 3/8. Signature______________________________ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) dgriff237@7cox.net On Aug 20, 11:15 pm, "SteveBell" <resp...@online.newsgroup.invalid> wrote: > Steve Barker DLT wrote: > > "SteveBell" <resp...@online.newsgroup.invalid> wrote in [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > New Life Home Improvement > Arlington, TX I was talking about the stair tread depth, or "run", going from 9" to 10". The riser depth will be about 7-3/4" in my case. > Hi all: > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Thanks in advance, > John. IRC 2006 & common sense say no door in the middle of the stair run and no door swing over the stairs. Are there walls on each side of the run? Can the stair run direction be turned 90º? T Update: I spoke with my inspector last night. He said they still allow 9" deep treads, so the stair will fit. I asked about having a door at the bottom of the stair, and he said as long as there is 6'8" of headroom above the first stair nosing it wasn't a problem. I guess it pays to ask. Thanks to all who replied. Regards, John. |
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