Plan and Build Stairs With Landings
- Step 1 – Measure Rise of Stairs Measure the entire height of the completed staircase. ...
- Step 2 – Calculate the Number of Steps and the Tread ...
- Step 3 – Determine Height of the Landing ...
- Step 4 – Build the Landing ...
- Step 5 – Cut the Stringers ...
- Step 6 – Complete Bottom Stairway ...
- Step 7 - Attach the Top Stairway ...
- Step 1: Finish Decking First.
- Step 2: Make Lower-stair Stringers.
- Step 3: Install Center Stringers.
- Step 4: Attach Stringers to Pad.
- Step 5: Attach Toe-kick.
- Step 6: Attach Stringers to Toe-kick.
How many stairs can you have without a landing?
For buildings other than dwellings, the maximum number of risers between landings should be 16 for utility stairs and 12 for general access stairs. There should not be any single steps.
How to build and frame stairs with landings?
we can build the landing and stairs first to make things easier. Next we can hang the upper stringers in place. Once that is done, we will need to frame in the landing with plywood. After that, we can put the treads on the stair stringers. That is all there is to making stairs with landings.
How to make outdoor wooden steps for beginners?
- Always use treated lumber for your stringers and treads and cedar for the riser. ...
- You may need to add extra height to each riser if the ground around the porch slopes away. ...
- You may find it necessary to drill pilot holes to keep from spitting the wood when screwing them down. ...
How to build deck stairs with landing?
Build the landing platform using the same techniques you would use for a deck (the platform is, in fact, a miniature deck). Install and plumb the posts, build the perimeter frame, hang joists in joint hangers, and attach the decking-with the same orientation and pattern as the deck, if possible.
Can you have steps in landing?
But the answer is yes. You can have that single step in the landing. You can have that single step in the landing and yes, we do regulate that height.
What is the formula to build steps?
You divide the height by 7 inches; if, say, the floor-to-floor distance is 8 feet, 10 inches (or 106 inches), then you'll need 15 treads (106 divided by 7 equals 15.14). Next, you divide the height by the number of treads (15 into 106), producing the exact tread height (7.06 inches).
Do you put stair treads on landing?
The best way to cover your landing is to install a "landing tread" at the front (or along the edge) of the landing. Once you install the landing tread you can install our 3/4" tongue and groove flooring that matches your stair treads and landing tread.
How do you calculate stairs for a landing?
0:132:18Easiest Way To Calculate Height Of Stair Landing When Both Sides ...YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd that will be to simply divide the overall height or the total rise of the stairway. Or theMoreAnd that will be to simply divide the overall height or the total rise of the stairway. Or the distance. Between the top of the lower level.
How do you build deck stairs with landing?
There are 6 steps to completing this project:Step 1: Finish Decking First.Step 2: Make Lower-stair Stringers.Step 3: Install Center Stringers.Step 4: Attach Stringers to Pad.Step 5: Attach Toe-kick.Step 6: Attach Stringers to Toe-kick.
What is the ratio for building steps?
An “ideal” ratio is 7 in. rise and 10 in. tread. These dimensions may vary slightly if the rise and/or run of a stairway must be held within certain limits.
Does landing need nosing?
The greatest stair tread nosing projection shall not exceed the smallest nosing projection by more than 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) between two stories, including the nosing at the level of floors and landings. A nosing is not required where the tread depth is a minimum of 11 inches (279 mm).
What is a landing step?
Landing, or platform: A landing is the area of a floor near the top or bottom step of a stair. An intermediate landing is a small platform that is built as part of stairs between main floor levels and is typically used to allow the stairs to change directions, or to allow the user a rest.
What type of wood is used for stair landing?
Oak is a common type of wood for stair treads. It has a lot of positive qualities that make it a good option. Oak matches virtually any home style and is among the most durable of wood species.
How thick should a stair landing be?
A minimum landing depth of 36 inches is specified in most building codes. In general, a landing need not be deeper than 4 feet, no matter how wide the stairs are, if it's at the end of a straight run of stairs.
How long should a stair landing be?
36"The minimum recommended stair landing length is 36" (or a length and width sufficiently greater than the swing of the door if a wider door is present). This stairway landing or platform dimension is often also expressed as "a minimum of 36 inches in the direction of travel."
How much does it cost to build stairs with a landing?
The type, size, and materials have a big impact on the total cost. The national average cost for interior staircase installation is between $2,000 and $5,000, with most homeowners paying $3,563 for a red oak straight staircase with 10 risers and two handrails, professionally installed.
How do you calculate steps for a plan?
Sample calculation of a staircase that should be 2.60 meters highCalculate the number of steps that will be needed. Considering an ideal riser of 18 cm, the height of the space is divided by the height of each step. ... Calculate the height of each riser. ... Calculate the width of the tread.
How do you calculate rise and run for stairs?
1:242:31Stairbuilding Rise and Run Calculations - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWe have an overhang here call the nosing of an inch and 1/8. Which is measured from the front ofMoreWe have an overhang here call the nosing of an inch and 1/8. Which is measured from the front of this riser to the edge of this tread. So our run of 10 inches. Plus a nosing of 108.
How do I calculate my step size?
Divide the number of feet in your measured distance by the number of steps you took from the first mark to the second. Distance in feet/number of steps = step length. For example, if it took you 16 steps to cover 20 feet, your step length would be 1.25 feet (15 inches).
How do you calculate concrete steps?
THINK IN RECTANGLES For instance, to measure stairs, break the individual stairs into rectangles and calculate the volume of each individual rectangle. The volume is determined by multiplying the length x width x depth. Once finished, add up the rectangle volumes to find the total volume.
How big is a standard tread?
A standard tread size is 10 inches. This fits two 2 x 6 pieces if you are using decking boards. They can be larger, but should not be smaller under any condition. Check building code in your area, since stairs are highly regulated.
How many risers are needed for a step?
The standard rise on steps is seven inches, so normally the total rise is divided by seven (12.1), so you know that the steps will require 12 risers. Since the number was rounded slightly, you will need to divide 85 by 12 to get the exact height of each riser, which is 7.08 inches. A standard tread size is 10 inches.
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Can you go straight on a staircase?
You can either go straight or have an L shaped staircase. Fasten the risers and treads, and enjoy your stairs with a landing!
Is it easier to build stairs with landings or stairs with stairs?
Although stairs are among the more challenging home projects, building stairs with landings are not a great deal more challenging than a regular staircase. If you think of them as two (or more) separate stairways, the process is simpler. Just follow these seven steps.
How many inches is a mid level landing?
The horizontal positioning of the mid-level landing is determined by the number of treads on the stair run. In this case, it is 7 (7 x tread depth (10.5) equals 73.5 inches).
How high should a flight of stairs be?
International Building Code states that a flight of stairs shall not have a vertical rise greater than 151 inches (3835 mm) between floors or landings.
How high is a landing?
In this design, since it is half way from the top level, it is 8 steps high (8 x height of each step (6 7/8) equals 55 inches).
How many steps are there between C and D?
You could have placed the mid-level landing (C) at the same level as the third step, leaving 5 steps between (C) and (D). It all depends on your terrain and design requirements. If you have any questions about building stairs with landings, don't hesitate to contact us for more information.
How high is the deck between the lower slab and the upper deck?
The height between the lower slab/landing (A) and the upper deck/landing (D) is 58 inches. Enter this number in the Total Rise field. Accept the other default input values and press Calculate Stairs.
Do stairs have the same treads?
Both upper stair stringers and lower stair stringers have the same number of treads. It doesn't have to be this way, you can place a landing anywhere along the stair run that serves your needs. You can move it to where you have one more step at the top and one less step at the bottom.
Do stairs have landings?
Stairs with landings. Stairs with landings are very common when designing and building stairs. There are several reasons why you would need to add a landing, or series of landings, to your stair plan.
What is a landing made of?
It is made up of posts, rim joists (bands), joists, flooring, and guardrails.
What is a deck made of?
It is made up of posts, rim joists (bands), joists, flooring, and guardrails. It is important to realize this before planning is started. For our purposes anything over six feet long will be considered another level of the deck. Proper planning and a good visualization of the landing is essential for a smooth project.
How much headroom do you need for a deck?
Landings and steps that pass underneath the floor of the deck must maintain 6′ 8″ headroom. If there is more than 12′ from the deck to the ground, then there must be additional landings. Landings must be sloped no more than 1/4″ per foot. If there is a ramp instead of steps, then there must be a landing or floor at the top and bottom of the ramp.
How big should a ribbed shank be?
It should be fastened together with approved galvanized ribbed shank nails with a minimum size of 3 1/4″ x .131″. It should temporarily supported by tacking a 2 x 4 on each outside edge to the side of it. There will also have to be a brace to hold the frame square.
How wide is a landing?
The minimum width and length of a landing is 36″ . This is measured from the inside of the guardrails. Any landing over 30″ from the ground must have guardrails. They should be code compliant. The landing must be bolted to the deck. For a 36″ wide landing, two bolts will do fine. Place each one one foot off the center.
Do you double rim joists on a landing?
The only discrepancies here are the direction of the joists, which determine the direction of the flooring, and whether or not the rim joists are doubled. There is no need to double the rim joists.
Do guard rails need to be bolted?
The guard rails should match the guard rails of the parent deck. They should be able to support the load of a falling person without allowing them to go overboard. In order to make the rails solid, it becomes much easier if the posts are long enough to extend up through the landing. If this is not the case, then the corner posts for the guardrails should be notched so that they extrude down into the frame of the landing. They should be bolted into the frame.
How Long Should My Stair Stringers Be?
Learn how to measure the height of your deck and use our Decks.com Stairs Calculator to determine your stair stringer lengths.
Do you need to cut stair stringers for a low deck?
Learn how to build a set of box platforms to act as stairs for a low deck. You don't need to cut stair stringers.
Is it safe to have windows on deck stairs?
It can be dangerous to have windows near deck stairs. Learn about options that you can use to make these areas safer and code compliant.
How to measure for landing floor?
Set a tread on the top step cut out and measure from the top of the tread to the top surface of the landing floor. The distance should be exactly the same as the distance from the top of one tread to the top of the next on the upper set of stairs. Remove the bottom tread and measure between the stringers.
How to build a landing?
The landing is a rectangle made from strong materials built to fit under the stairs to support them and extend in front of the stairs to the floor of your landing. Build the landing frame with 2-by-8 lumber much like a regular floor.
What is a landing on a staircase?
Staircase Landings provide a place to stop and rest or change the direction of a staircase. In most cases, adding a landing in the middle of a stairway is not very difficult and the average homeowner with some DIY know-how and basic framing skills can easily manage the project.
Can you add a landing to an existing staircase?
Whatever the reason, you can add a landing to an existing staircase. An important factor to remember is that each step on a staircase must rise the same amount as the others. You can’t have a rise of 7 inches on one step and 8 inches on another step.
Do stairs have to have a landing?
Some building codes specify that a landing is required on staircases that rise above a certain height.
What are deck stairs made of?
First, you must learn the parts of deck stairs. A landing pad is a flat surface made of concrete, pavers or gravel at the bottom of the steps. If a stairway will not be used often and the lawn is flat, a landing pad can sometimes be omitted. Stair treads are the horizontal boards that you step on. Stair treads may be made of a single 2x12, but are often made of two decking boards or 2x6s. A stringer is a wide board, usually a 2x12, that runs at an angle from the landing pad to the deck framing and supports the treads. An “open” stringer has notches that you can see, while a “closed” stringer is a solid board with cleats for the treads, or an open stringer with a solid board attached to the side. Risers are boards installed on the ends to cover the vertical spaces between the treads. Risers are often made of 1-by material, fascia board or decking.
How should a deck stairway be planned?
A deck’s stairway should be carefully planned so that all the stair rises (the vertical height of the steps) and all the tread depths (the horizontal length of the step runs) are equal . If the bottom or top step is noticeably different in height or length from the other stairs, it will be a tripping hazard. Also, the stairs and its railing must ...
How big should a stair railing be?
The stair railing should include a graspable handrail in most cases. Openings in the railing should be no larger than 4 3/8 inches between balusters, and 6 inches between the bottom rail and the tread, as seen in the illustration. Stringers should be spaced close enough to adequately support the treads.
How wide should a stair tread be?
The stair treads should be at least 36 inches wide. Despite these minimum requirements, we recommend that stairs should be at least 48 inches wide so they don’t feel cramped. The maximum allowable stair rise is 7 3/4 inches, and the minimum stair rise is 4 inches.
What is stair tread?
A stair tread is the width (or depth) of a single stair run. A stair rise is the vertical distance from the top of one tread to the top of the next tread. The total run is the overall horizontal distance traveled by the stringer. The total rise is a stairway’s overall change in height, from the landing pad to the top of the deck’s decking.
What is a landing pad on a deck?
First, you must learn the parts of deck stairs. A landing pad is a flat surface made of concrete, pavers or gravel at the bottom of the steps. If a stairway will not be used often and the lawn is flat, a landing pad can sometimes be omitted. Stair treads are the horizontal boards that you step on.
What is an open stringer?
An “open” stringer has notches that you can see, while a “closed” stringer is a solid board with cleats for the treads, or an open stringer with a solid board attached to the side. Risers are boards installed on the ends to cover the vertical spaces between the treads.
What is a Stair Landing?
Landings in a stair is a level floor or platform constructed at a location where the direction of stairs changes, between flights of the stair, or at the top of stair flight. The locations of landings in a stair is shown in Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3.
What are the cases in which stair landings are needed?
Stair landing should be provided at the top and bottom of each flight of exterior and interior stairs.
What is the dimension of landing in the direction of travelling?
The dimension of landing in the direction of travelling should be at least equal to the width of the stair and it should not surpass 1219mm where the stairway is a straight run.
Can a landing stair be neglected?
Landing stair can be neglected at the bottom of an exterior stair provided that there are no obstruction within a lesser of stair width or 900mm for stair serving single unit and 1100mm for stair not serving a single dwelling unit.
Is landing required between stair and door?
If a doorway that located at the top of a stair in a dwelling unit is swing away from the stair, then landing is not required between the stair and the door. It is possible to omit landing at the top of a stair serving a secondary entrance to a single dwelling unit provided that the stair does not have more than three rises and ...
Do wheelchair spaces need to be located on stairway landings?
If wheelchair spaces are required on stairway landing, it should not be located with the required dimension of the landing and doors must not swing over the wheelchair space.
What is a nosing on a tread?
Nosing: The nosing is the protrusion at the edge of a tread that hangs over the riser below. Not all steps have a nosing, but when present, the nosing is included in the length of the tread. The main purpose of nosing is to improve safety by providing extra space on which a person can place their feet.
How high should a handrail be?
Similarly, handrails must be between 34 and 38 (96.52) inches high measured from the top of the treads, with a diameter between 1.25 inches (3.18 cm) and 2.675 inches (6.79 cm). Stringer: A stair stringer is a structural member that supports the treads and risers of a staircase.
What is headroom in stairs?
Headroom: Headroom is the height measured from the top of a tread to the ceiling above it. While building codes for headroom are primarily intended to ensure enough room for people to comfortably use the stairs, the codes typically require far more room than the average height of a person to allow for moving larger objects such as furniture.
How wide should stairs be?
Stair width does not include handrails. Building codes generally suggest that stairs be at least 36 inches (91.44 cm) wide.
How long should a tread be?
Building codes generally suggest that the minimum length of a tread be 10 inches (25.4 cm). Rise/Riser: The rise, or height of a step is measured from the top of one tread to the top of the next tread.
Where is the nosing measured?
Its length is measured from the outer edge of the step, which includes the nosing if it is present, to the vertical portion of the stair called the riser. Both nosing and riser are discussed below. When measuring total run of a staircase, the length of the tread above the last riser is not included in the measurement.
What is a guardrail?
Handrails & Guards/Guardrails: A handrail is a railing that runs up a stair incline for users to hold when ascending or descending a staircase. A guard is "a building component or a system of building components located near the open sides of elevated walking surfaces that minimizes the possibility of a fall from the walking surface to the lower level." Guards can include rails (guardrails), but can be any number of other constructions such as walls, half-walls, or even a bench.
Step 1 – Measure Rise of Stairs
Step 2 – Calculate The Number of Steps and The Tread
- Next you will decide how many standard steps will be needed to cover that distance. The standard rise on steps is seven inches, so normally the total rise is divided by seven (12.1), so you know that the steps will require 12 risers. Since the number was rounded slightly, you will need to divide 85 by 12 to get the exact height of each riser, which is 7.08 inches. A standard tread size is 10 in…
Step 3 – Determine Height of The Landing
- Now that you know exactly how much rise each step will have, you can calculate the height of the landing. It will need to be at exactly the height of one of the stairs. Since we have 12 stairs on this sample staircase, we will divide them in half and have six before the landing and six after. This means my landing needs to have a height of six risers, or (6 x 7.08), which equals 42.48 inches.
Step 4 – Build The Landing
- Create a square or rectangular box that is 42.48 inches off of the floor, including the subfloor or decking surface. Place the landing in the proper place.
Step 5 – Cut The Stringers
- Since you know the rise and the tread size, you are ready to cut the stringers that hold up the stairs. Use 2 x 12 boards for this purpose. You need at least two stringers for each section of staircase, but using more is perfectly acceptable, especially for wide steps. Use a carpenter’s square with a carpenter’s square that has a stair gauge attached. Mark the rise on one side of th…
Step 6 – Complete Bottom Stairway
- Attach the stringers to the landing. Add the boards for the risers and the tread boards with wood screws. Be sure to secure them firmly.
Step 7 - Attach The Top Stairway
- One the bottom stairs are aligned, attach the stringers to the top stairway. You can either go straight or have an L shaped staircase. Fasten the risers and treads, and enjoy your stairs with a landing! When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commissions at no cost to you.