I live in a house where female relative cut garage room off and made room addition - great first effort!. The interior stairs seem very steep (as well as narrow). I am now putting on 2nd story balcony (old one collapsed after 15 years)and wish outside stairway built. Want it better design? not as steep, easier to climb. Menards have pre cut step sides...possible to get pre cut in gentle slope?? really need better quality, easier to climb. Thoughts?
stair construction
- Thread starter bmwjohn
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I should have said cut garage ROOF off, to make ranch house from 1960's into 2 story house above garage. If the inside stairs were wider, lighter, not as steep, perhaps with midway platform, it would make a great granny apartment when it comes time to sell. I see no easy way to do that, although the outside stairs will help if done right. Deck is about 8' above ground, has a pre hung door underneath. All face south into direct sun, floor is a concrete slab with foam board underneath (called a horizontal Trombe wall, painted chocolate brown) maybe 35? feet of windows.
Call in a professional who can do it right. You're digging pretty deep into the structure, and unless you know what you're doing you'll get stairs that aren't up to code. A "relative" hacking into a roof as a "great first effort!" isn't going to be up to code, and when it comes time to resell the home you'll have a lot of issues with non-permitted structural changes.
Stairs can be tricky, lots of building codes involved. As a real estate broker I see them all the time that aren't built to code. I know of one landlord who lost a 30k lawsuit because a tenant fell because the stairs weren't up to code. I have a handyman do mine. I wouldn't use pre-cut stairs, they're only meant for a specific height, if they're off, you will have one that is either too high or two low. You're not suppose to have much variation in height from one step to another. If you measure everything right, you shouldn't have any. One big mistake is that people don't account for the height of the tread when cutting the stringers.
thanks for the input. I will say that professional is a vague term. Female who put roof on also moved gas lines and did electrical upgrade 100a to 200a. Local city insisted on professional (means paid for license) electrical, even after she passed the electricians exam. Expensive and plenty of errors. Gas company said she could do it but they would inspect closely. Looked and said it was much better than they usually see (I was there). Hits my Libertarian non-funny bone.
For things like stairs, you should be able to it yourself. But for things like electrical or gas/plumbing lots of cities require licensed electricians or plumbers. There's lots of specs on stairs, like maximum height minimum width etc. If they're too high because there's not enough room, consider putting in a landing and going the other direction.
I'd suggest doing some research over at Fine Homebuilding's site. I joined them while working on reshingling my roof.
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
I'd suggest doing some research over at Fine Homebuilding......
That's indeed a fine resource. And Journal of Light Construction.
Stairs are a real kick in the tail for me to fabricate because I get to use power tools, math/geometry/trigonometry,
and 'show off' my craftsmanship in their finished form.
And Jesus was a carpenter.
Remember that codes exist for solid safety rationale and too strong is just right!
I'd suggest doing some research over at Fine Homebuilding......
That's indeed a fine resource. And Journal of Light Construction.
Stairs are a real kick in the tail for me to fabricate because I get to use power tools, math/geometry/trigonometry,
and 'show off' my craftsmanship in their finished form.
And Jesus was a carpenter.
Remember that codes exist for solid safety rationale and too strong is just right!
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Call in a professional who can do it right. You're digging pretty deep into the structure, and unless you konow what you're doing you'll get stairs that aren't up to code. A "relative" hacking into a roof as a "great first effort!" isn't going to be up to code, and when it comes time to resell the home you'll have a lot of issues with non-permitted structural changes.
Yep, this is not a simple fence outside the house, its a staircase that could cause problems down the road.
Call in a professional who can do it right. You're digging pretty deep into the structure, and unless you konow what you're doing you'll get stairs that aren't up to code. A "relative" hacking into a roof as a "great first effort!" isn't going to be up to code, and when it comes time to resell the home you'll have a lot of issues with non-permitted structural changes.
Yep, this is not a simple fence outside the house, its a staircase that could cause problems down the road.
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