Stair Construction The staircase, when carefully designed and built, adds dignity and charm to a home.

The quality of craftsmanship displayed reflects the character of the entire interior of the building. In general, stairwork is considered a special field of carpentry. The main stairway, which may have several artistic features that are difficult to make on the job, is usually made in a mill and assembled at the house. Stairs which are usually built by the carpenter on the job include the porch and other stairs on the outside of buildings, and less important stairs within a building. It is essential that every carpenter have the necessary information regarding the general principles involved in stair building, as well as knowledge of the layout and construction. Types of Stairs. The staircase in a building is one means whereby one may travel from the level of one floor to another. The ease with which a stairway can be traveled depends upon the proper proportioning of the riser and tread of each step and the number of steps in one series or flight. The design of the building and the space allowed for stairs will control the type of staircase which may be built. Straight- light Stairs. ! stairway commonly known as a straight- flight stair, shown in ig. "#, is the simplest to build, but not necessarily the most desirable. urthermore, the layout of a building does not always permit the use of a straight flight stairway. ! staircase with a long flight, consisting of more than fifteen steps, is tiring because it affords no opportunity for a pause in ascent. or this reason a landing should be introduced somewhere in the flight, usually at the halfway point, as shown in ig. "$. %andings also have another function, that of changing the direction of the stairs, as shown in ig. &'. The staircase returning on itself, as shown in ig. &(, is economical in space, especially when there are a number of floor levels to be connected. In this case the stairs continue to wind upward. )inder Stairs. Space limitations frequently demand a staircase with winders to bring about a change in direction. The three-winder stairway, illustrated in ig. &*, is frequently used. It is not considered dangerous as long as the treads are appro+imately the same width on the line of travel. ,eometrical Stairs. The most complicated and most e+pensive stairways are those that are curved, commonly known as the geometrical stairway. The geometrical stairway is a winding stairway, but it is so designed that the tread at the line of travel of all steps is the same width. These staircases may be circular as shown at A, or elliptical as at B, ig. &-, and often are designed with landings to insure ease in ascending them.

Safety Precautionsin Stairway Building Statistics compiled by the .ational Safety /ouncil show that stairways are the cause of the greatest number of accidents in the home, These accidents can be attributed to various

factors0 some, of course, are beyond the control of those who design and build the stairways. 1owever, there are far too many accidents due directly to faulty construction. The carpenter can make a worthwhile contribution toward accident prevention if he plans and does his work well. The Safety 2ngineering 3epartment of the .ational )orkmen4s /ompensation Service 5ureau has set up the following standards as suggestions to stair builders to help remove some of the causes responsible for many accidents. (. Stairways should be free from winders. *. The dimensions of landings should be equal to or greater than the width of stairways between handrails 6or handrail and wall7. -. %andings should be level and free from intermediate steps between the main up flight and the main down flight. 8. !ll treads should be equal and all risers should be equal in any one flight. 9. The sum of one tread and one riser, e+clusive of the nosing, should not be more than (# inches nor less than (& inches. 6Stair ratio.7 ". The nosing should not e+ceed (-:8 inches. &. !ll stairways should be equipped with permanent and substantial handrails -" inches in height from the center of the tread. #. !ll handrails should have rounded corners and a surface that is smooth and free from splinters. $. The angle of the stairways with the hori;ontal should not be more than fifty degrees nor less than twenty degrees. ('. Stair treads should be slip proof, firmly secured and with no protruding bolts, screws, or nails. Tread and Riser Relationship Stairs must be adapted to meet many special requirements to fit into a particular building and rules have been established to make stairs as comfortable to use as possible. <nfortunately, rules must be overlooked occasionally at times in order to solve a problem. This is particularly true in remodeling work, but is also true when a house has not been well planned. 1owever, a carpenter should know how to make choices which will result in the best stairs under the circumstances. 1e should be familiar with the building code which applies locally and should bend every effort to build stairs accordingly. The stair ratio is a relationship between the tread run 6width7 and the riser height so that as one increases, the other decreases, and vice versa. ! minimum tread run and a ma+imum riser height keep the stairs from e+ceeding the critical angle of the whole stair. See ig. &8 and Table II. The economical use of material is also a factor. ,ood design often requires wider boards for treads than the carpenter would like to use if economy were the main consideration. Some fundamental ideas on tread-riser relationships: 1. All risers in the same flight must be equal. 2.!ll treads in the same flight must be equal. -. or residences, the ma+imum height of a riser shall be eight inches. 6 .1.!. permits #= inches.7

8. or residences, the minimum tread run shall be nine inches e+clusive of nosing. 9. The stair ratio> The height of a riser plus the width of a tread shall equal not less than (& inches nor more than (# inches. ?inimum @ + T = (&A ?a+imum @ +T B (#A The formula T C @ B (& to (# is used by many carpenters because the calculations can be made mentally. %ocal building codes may have other tread and riser limitations and ratio requirements. Treads. ?aterial for treads is generally * + (' or * + (* inches 6actual si;e (D + 91/2 or (D by ((D inches7. See ig. &9. The run of the tread is the distance from the face of one riser to the face of the one which follows it and is the same dimension as the cut on the stringer. )hen a $ inch tread run is required, only D inch is left for nosing. )hen a larger tread run is required 6either by the code or by the use of the stair ratio formula7 a board wider than a * + (' will be necessary. The tread is often cut so as to e+tend beyond the stringers at each side the same distance as the nosing e+tends in front. @isers. Stairs without risers 6open riser7 are permitted for certain applications but are not considered good practice. @isers are usually made of ( + (' or ( + (* inch boards and are ripped to fit. The risers are placed behind the lower treads and snuggly fitted against the under side of the upper tread. See ig. &9.

It is very important that all the riser heights on a flight of stairs be equal in order to prevent the danger of tripping or misstepping. !lso, the riser height must be limited so that it is reasonably similar in all stairs. 1owever, the board 6not the unit rise7 for the top riser and the bottom riser in a flight of stairs may vary in height in order to make up the difference in thickness of flooring, etc. See ig. &9. Stringer. The stringer is the most important of the stair parts. This is the cut out support for treads and risers. If the carpenter has made the correct layout and made the proper

deductions, the stairs will he perfect when installed. The material used is usually a * + (' or a * + (* in order that 31/2 inches are left to carry the load after the cuts are made. 3eductions must be made at the top and at the bottom of the stringer so that the bottom rise and the top rise of the finished stair may be equal. The thickness of the tread material must be deducted at the bottom and is added at the top unless the flooring and tread thickness are not the same. urther additions and adjustments are required, depending on the problem. See ig. 76. !dequate bearing 68 inch minimum .1.!.7 against the header must be provided so that the stringer may be well fastened.

CalculationsNecessary for a Straight-Flight Stair Layout To help bring about a better understanding of how to go about laying out a stair stringer, let us consider laying out a stair which must have a total rise of # feet 8 inches. The stairwell, already established, is (( feet - inches, as shown in ig. &&. 5efore any stringer can be laid out a study must be made of the plans, or stair location if the building is in progress, to determine the type of stair required. The limitations or restrictions must also be considered, such as a beam which may cut down headroom, a door opening at the bottom of the stair, or windows along the stair flight. requently such restrictions will determine the place where the stairs will start at the bottom, and may necessitate the shortening of the total run of the stair, thus changing the standard proportions between the riser and the tread. )hen the principles involved in the layout of a simple stair with no restrictions are thoroughly understood, then problems which include variations can be solved satisfactorily. The straight flight stair shown in ig. && will be considered as a typical problem. Two methods may be used to find the e+act riser height. Ene in which a story pole is used is time taking but accurate and the other uses simple mathematics. Using The Story Pole to find the Unit Rise. F@E/23<@2 (. Take a story pole 6any piece of lumber ( G * preferred straight with square ends7 and set it on the finished floor in the stairwell on the basement floor. ?ark the location of the finished floor above, or first floor, as shown at (, ig. &&. The distance ( x will be the total rise of the stair, in this case # feet 8 inches. Then place the story pole on two horses. Note: If the finished floor has not been laid when the measurement is taken, a block of wood should be placed on the rough floor to establish the line of the finished floor, or allowance can be made for the thickness of the finished floor.

*. Set a pair of dividers to & inches 6a permissible unit rise per step7 and step off the total rise on the story pole, dividing the distance 1X into equal parts. If upon the first trial you find there is a remainder, adjust the dividers and try again. If the remainder is less than - inches set the dividers to a setting larger than & inches. If the remainder is more than - 1/2 inches, set the dividers to a setting smaller than &. /ontinue adjusting the dividers and stepping off the distance on the story pole, until the last unit is the same as all of the others. The dividers are now set to the unit rise which should be within the allowed

riser height requirements. 5e careful not to disturb the divider setting. <sing ?athematics to find the <nit @ise. The unit rise per step can also be obtained by dividing the total rise in inches by & to find the number of risers 6drop the fraction if any7, then divide the total rise by the number found, to obtain the e+act unit rise per step. Total @ise #4-8A or ('' inches, ('' 7 = (8 *.# risers. )e must choose either (8 or (9 risers> ('' :(8 B &.(8- inches or & (:# inches. Finding the Unit Tread. The stair ratio is used to find the unit tread. There is a little leaway permitted the Hcarpenter because he should choose a tread width which falls between the limits of the ratio> T C @ (& to (#. The riser height has been determined as & (:# inches. ?inimum tread ratio> T C & (:# B (&, T B $ &:# inches. ?a+imum tread ratio> T C & (:# B (#, T (' &:# inches. ! midpoint would be (' -:# inches. @eferring to Table II it will be noted that these dimensions, @ B & (:#, T (' -:#, fall within the range of preferred angles. Note: In laying out the stair, the nosing of a step is not considered a part of the tread and does not enter into stair calculation.

Finding the Total Run. To find the total run of the stair, multiply the width of the tread by one less than the number of risers. The reason for this can be found by studying ig. &#, which shows that there is one less tread than the number of risers. In the foregoing problem, the width of the tread was found to be (' -:# inches and the total number of risers (8. Subtracting ( from (8 leaves (-, the number of treads0 and (- G (' -:# gives (-8 &:# inches, or (( feet 2 7/8 inches 6inches7, the total run of the stairs.

To find the starting point of the stairs, locate point X, ig. &&, on the basement floor by plumbing down from the header A in the stairwell. Then lay out the total run of (( feet inches 6* &:# inches7 of the stair to locate the starting point as shown at 2, ig. &&. Finding the eadroo!. In this particular stair the length of the stairwell is equal to the total run of the stair. The actual headroom would be the finished floor to floor height minus 6(7 one unit rise, 6*7 the thickness of the joist, and 6-7 the thickness of the flooring components> inished loor B 3/4 loor urring B 3/4 @ough loor = 3/4 Ioist B&D @iser B 71/8 (" &:# or (4-8 &:#A #4-8A J(4-8 &:#A = "4-((4:#A ! "4-(( (:#A headroom is very adequate. Stairwells and eadroo!. The length of the stairwell is usually determined by the designer of the plans so that a certain arrangement of partitions will result. 1e also fi+es the location of the foot of the stairs so that the proper amount of space is provided between the lowest riser and adjacent walls or partitions. The carpenter must work within the limits shown on the plans. 1eadroom should be measured vertically from the front edge of the nosing to a line parallel with the stair pitch. The dimension should be "4-#A minimum for main stairs and "4-8A minimum for basement or service stairs. 6 .1.!.7 ! headroom of &4-EA is preferred. )here a soffit develops, as shown on ig. &$, particular attention must be given to provide adequate headroom in order to overcome the illusion of being crushed by the ceiling above. )hen the carpenter runs into difficulty in making the stairs work out he should consult the owner and the architect. If he is on his own on remodeling work he may be able to change the header at the end of the stairwell or may be able to change the unit tread, unit rise, or number of risers to achieve a shorter total run.

"aying #ut a Stair Stringer. In laying out the stair stringer illustrated in ig. &&, the following method can be used. F@E/23<@2 (. Select a straight piece of * (* of sufficient length and lay it on a pair of sawhorses. .ote: The required length can be found by taking the unit rise per step (7 1/8, inches7 on the tongue of the framing square, and the unit run per step, or tread 6(' -:# inches7, on the blade. %ay the square on the edge of any straight stick at these measurements and draw the lines

A$ and $B, ig. #'. The distance AB will be the bridge measure per step. ?ultiply this bridge measure 6(* -:8 inches7 by the number of risers 6(87. The result will be (8 feet (' inches, the appro+imate length required for this stair stringer. !llowance must be made because the board must be longer to connect to the header at the top. *. 5egin at the bottom of the stringer, lay the square in the position shown in ig. #' 6use framing- square clips if available7. Take the unit rise (7 1/8 inches7 on the tongue and the unit run, or tread 6(' -:# inches7, on the blade. 3raw the lines %&2 and 2&'. -. @everse the square and draw the lines %&( at right angles to %&2. The length of the line %&( is equal to the unit rise of the step (7 1/8 inches7. Shorten the rise of the first step from the bottom an amount equal to the thickness of the tread to be used. 3raw the cutting line 9-" parallel to (-*.

4. Continue to lay out from point 3, along the edge of the 2 x 12, the balance of the steps required for the stairs. Great accuracy is required in laying out the steps. Therefore, use a sharp pencil or knife and make the lines meet at the edge of the 2 x 12. 5. )hen the point & at the top of the stringer has been reached, e+tend the line 78 to point $, making &J$ equal to the thickness of the first floor above 6joist and flooring7, at the stairwell. ". The thickness of a tread was removed from the first riser at the bottom of the stringer0 this will drop the stringer. Then this tread thickness 910 must be allowed at the top, if the stringer is to fit up tightly against the joist header of the first floor. 6 The cut will be made on line ('-((. 7 &. ,reater nailing support of the stringer at the top can be obtained by fitting the stringer around the header joist. Therefore, draw lines ('-((, thickness of joist0 also ((-(*, height of joist0 and (*-(-, top cut of the stringer. Stair )idths The width of staircases is determined by the necessity for two people to be able to pass comfortably on the stairs, and the fact that furniture will have to be carried or down. If two people are to be able to pass on the stairs, the width should be three or three and one half feet. The minimum set by some codes is * feet # inches for main stairs clear of handrails. The width of stairs necessary for the passage of furniture depends upon the shape of the stairs and the kind of furniture which will have to be taken up or down the stairs. The straight flight stairway permits the movement of objects more easily than does the winder or platform type of stairs. )hen winding or platform stairways are open on one side, including open-well stairways, they will afford a better chance for moving large pieces of furniture, because such objects usually can be raised over the handrails and newel posts unless the articles are e+tremely heavy. Handrails 1andrails should be provided on one or both sides of a stairs. The height of handrails should be -* or -- inches from the edge of the nosing to the top of the rail, or -" inches from the center of the tread, as shown in ig. &8. Winding Stairs )inding stairs perform the following functions> (. They change the direction of travel of a stair. *. They save room in some cases because not only is the direction changed but a rise is achieved at the same time. -. They are used to provide an interesting architectural effect particularly when used for finished stairs. See ig. #(. )hen a plan requires that a stair start from one floor and make a quarter turn or half turn before reaching the floor above, either a platform or winders must be introduced. )inders will help conserve space because the turns are used to raise the level also. )inders are not considered as safe as straight stairs or straight stairs with a platform. The main reasons why they are less safe is because the tread width varies from almost nothing

at the newel to a very wide space at the far end. To overcome this fault as much as possible, a line of travel with a radius which would appro+imate the line where a person would walk, is established. !fter the line of travel has been drawn, the risers are put in place in such a manner that they are spaced equally and also appro+imately equal in width to the spacing of the risers in the straight flights above and below. The carpenter must not only bear in mind the need for safety but also the problems of cutting out the parts, assembling them, and fastening them to the posts or supports. Stringers can either be nailed to the side of the posts or butt against them. )hen risers converge at posts they should be arranged so that good nailing is provided. 5locks may be used to back up or support the risers for nailing on carpenter-made stairs. The newel post is routed out to receive the risers on mill-made stairs. Eutside stringers usually must be made in more than one piece, joining where the straight stair ends and the winders begin. See ig. #*. Three-)inder Stair. It is advisable when building a winder stair to first draw a full si;e plan view layout on the floor, showing si;e and shape of the treads, length of risers. and all angle cuts of both treads and risers. The stringers may also be laid out easily from the plan view. The following method may be used when building winders. F@E/23<@2 (. 3raw a square 124--6 equal in width to that of the stair as shown in ig. #(. 3otted lines show the thickness and location of the outside stringers. *. <sing an (# inch line of travel, swing an arc with center at 1. -. 3ivide this arc into three equal parts 2a3a, -aJ9a, and 5a6a and through these points draw the riser lines 13 and 15. 3raw in the back of the riser with a dotted line. 8. The width of the treads at their narrowest point is obtained by drawing the full si;e newel post in position. 9. The angle of the cuts for the stringer cutouts is obtained by laying the framing square on the layout as at A. The framing square held as at B will give the angle cut for the risers. %ayout of Stringer for )inders. The winder stringer is in two parts aJ8 and cJe, ig. #(. The layout of each part is different and both stringers have a different angle of rise from that of the main stair as shown in ig. #*. The layout of the stringer is made along the edge of the board with the framing square, in the same way as shown in ig. #'. The rise per step is the same as that of the main stair, but the run of each tread must be taken from the full si;e layout. ig. #(. 3imensions ab, b4, ccl, and de, in ig. #*, are taken from the layout, ig. #(. The angle cut for the riser on the stringer should not be laid out until the hori;ontal cut for the tread has been made on the stringers. The angles for these cuts are taken from the full si;e layout by laying the square as shown at A, ig. #(. .ote> The cut for the upper winder will be different. <se the square in the same way on stringer ce to get this cut. The shape of the treads is obtained by laying out lines representing the nosing on the full si;e plan layout (= inch in front of the riser face. The e+act si;e, angles and cutout at the newel will be shown on the plan layout. @iser lengths and angle cuts are also obtained from the layout0 their heights are the same

as the risers of the main stair. Finished Interior Stairs The job of making finished interior stairs and rails is generally that of a speciali;ed carpenter called a stair- builder. 1owever, every carpenter should have some knowledge about this part of the building of a house because he must prepare the stairwells, supports and walls for the stairs and under some conditions may be directly involved in assembling a stair. See ig. #-. /areful measurements must be taken at the job by the carpenter who will do the work. The stair parts are then usually made in a shop so that accurate woodworking machines may be used. )hen the stair parts are ready a stairbuilding carpenter goes to the job and installs the stairs making minor corrections as he proceeds. Two distinct types are used> Ene type is the open or mitered stringer stair which is used where the side of the stair is e+posed to view. See ig. #8. The other type is the closed stringer stair which is generally used along a wall. See ig. #9. ?any stairs have a closed stringer along the wall and an open stringer on the side toward the room. See ig. #-. ! closed stringer is used occasionally on the e+posed side also to provide a special architectural effect. In first class stairwork nails are used sparingly. !ll joints are housed or concealed in some way. /losed stringers are routed out to receive the ends of treads and risers. Treads are often routed out to receive the top edge of the risers. )edges are glued and driven in place to make the stairs solid. 5locks are glued to the underside of the intersection of treads and risers to keep the joint from opening up. See ig. #9.

1. Landing 2. Raised. panel dado 3. Closed stringer 4. Riser 5. Tread 6. Tread housing 7. Cove molding under nosing 8. Gooseneck 9. Landing newel post

10. Handrail 11. Baluster 12. Volute 13. End nosing 14. Bracket 15. Open stringer 16. Starting newel post 17. Bull-nosestarting step 18. Concave easement

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