Proper Stair Design and How to Spot Stair Hazards

Stairs are composed of stringers, stair treads and stair risers. The stringers are the slanted members on the sides of the stairs which sit on the floor and are tightly attached at the top of the staircase. In most stair construction, there are two stringers installed on each set of steps. The stair treads are the sections in which you step on to travel up and down the stairs. Stair treads are usually made of wood.

Proper stair design has a maximum rise of eight inches, a minimum run of nine inches and a minimum tread width of 9.25 inches. A safe and properly configured stairway should be at 34 inches wide. As a rule the wider steps are safer then narrow stairs. There needs to be adequate headroom above the set of stairs. The required headroom is at least 6 foot 6 inches.

When there is a door at the top of a set of steps, it should open away from the stairs for safety reasons. If a door opens toward the stairs a landing is needed so a person opening the door will not be able to push someone on the stairs.

Curved stairs are not as safe as a strait set of stairs. Curved stairs get very narrow on one side. A curved set of steps may be difficult to negotiate in an emergency or fire situation.

Handrails should be installed on at least one side of the stairs that has two or more risers. Properly configured stair handrails should 34 inches high and they should be designed to comfortably accommodate a person wrapping their hand around the rail.

Guardrails also should accompany a handrail system on a properly configured set of steps. The gaps should be only 4 inches wide so that the body of a child can not fit though the openings.

Stairs may be inadequately supported if the flooring is weak or if the stringers are improperly designed or are damaged. Where a side stringer is damaged the stair treads may loose their support and dislodge. Stairs can be loose, inadequately supported, and worn. All of these are considered safety issues that require correction in order to make the stairs safe.

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Stair Parts Contribute to Sturdy Stairways

One of the most noticeable features of a house would be having a grand stairway to welcome you as you enter the homeowners place.

For many people who grew up in a house with at least two floors, the presence of a stair case often lead to reminiscing childhood memories when one joyfully slides down it. For many, a stairway is often an integral part of the house as it contributes to the aesthetics of one's home.

Staircases are often times situated where it lands directly to a main door. This makes it one of the first things that people see when they get the chance to visit our homes. Be it our relatives, friends or spying neighbors, a staircase often gives the impression of grandeur.

Stairways are built by carpenters whom we contract to build our house as well. Often times, experts are not hired to make this for us. Many people do not see the need of getting a stair maker or even a craftsman in building our stairways or even adding those designs either.

There are two stair parts: the steps and the rails. The look and feel of the stairs would showcase how these stair parts are put together. Stair parts can be made of different materials. Some people use stone, others use marble. Some people prefer wood while others like metal stair parts more. The same stair parts may be used, or the home owner may also decide on mixing them. Some have wooden steps with a metal rail, while others may have stone steps and marble railings. The choice of what to use, really depends on your preference based on the design of the house of course.

A flight of stairs may be crooked; it can be straight and it can be spiral as well. Just the same, selection on what it would look like would really depend on the over-all look and feel that you would like to create for your home.

Aside for its aesthetic purposes, it is important to keep in mind the true function of a staircase. This is to provide members of the home a means to access rooms and parts of their house - be it to go up or go down the flight of steps. With this, it is equally imperative to ensure sturdiness of this system. First on the list is to invest in the right quality of parts to use. Secondly, checking the design to make sure that they are comfortable and safe, examples of which are to make sure that the steps are not too narrow that one risks into an accident tripping down.

Indeed, a good staircase is always a sight for sore eyes in any home. We just have to make sure that it is as sturdy as it looks well.

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Eliza Maledevic Ayson writes for Jump2top.com - SEO Company

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