My wife and I are having a hard time coming up with a good idea for the main stairs in our house. She’s the kind of person who doesn’t do well visualizing something, especially colors and wood species, and I’d like to be able to show her some pictures and maybe have her say “That one – but maybe lighter colored” or something along those lines. We are heading toward a closed riser, with hardwood treads and risers and a clear finished skirtboard, and painted walls. Haven’t found anything in the magazines so far that’s quite right.
Anyone have any pictures they’d like to share? You can e-mail directly if you don’t want to post them. Thanks.
Replies
I'd be happy to share a few but you need to get the Stair Yoda (Stan Foster) to chime in. Hey !! just look back thru the photo gallery and you'll find a ton.
Here ya go. These are done with red birch treads, and clear maple risers, skirts, and trim. The balustrade and accents are cherry. Flooring is all red birch.
View Image
Very nice. What's the boxy table thing in front of the wall hanging and what is the base made out of?
The "platform" at the elevation of the first step is done in the same as treads and flooring . . . red birch. The boxy thing is a piece of "art," an antique oriental rug upholstered onto a wood cube. A ceiling spot highlights it.
The pic was clipped from a collection of photos that appeared in a Fine Homebuilding article a few years ago. I got a tour of the place two summers ago, with some clients, and we are currently building a copy of the house.
Is this your work, design? If so amazing! please post more designs I can steal!
Check out archways.com lots of stairs to look at
I hope you find these interesting. The pictures are not the best, I take them when I am done with the job.
Wow you should feel quite proud. I love craftsmanship like that, very inspiring. Truly wonderful work!
Click on the link below and it will take you to the gallery section of my website,
http://www.northernsunwoodworks.com/custgali.htm
Most are curved but maybe you could use some of the details to help you get started. If you have any questions I would be more than happy to answer whatever I can.
I was going to e-mail you personally - but then, I'd like many people to know that I think you are very creative, clever, and talented!All the best...
To those who know - this may be obvious. To those who don't - I hope I've helped.
Thanks Piko, all the best to you as well.
I have seen some of Rivermans stuff in person and the pictures don't do it justice .
Jon, here is a set we just finished traditional red oak just glosspoly finish to match the floors.
A bit off topic. What is the height minium between tread and ceiling per code?
6'8 following a line connecting tread nosing to tread nosing. 6'6 for spiral.
cloud... i think irc is 6'9"Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Hey Mike, 6'8" 2002 IRC...but then you northerners are a bit taller<G> Hey, pocket doors can't come off the track if they're nailed open
Hey, speaking of the I.R.C., our State just adopted it a year or so ago. Are they going to republish/make changes every three years like the U.B.C.? Anyone know?
I'm pretty sure they made changes from 2002 to 2003, but I don't know how often they make the changes. If you don't have the 2003 for stairs you can go to LJ Smith, Coffman, Fitts, etc - they have a downloadable copy for you.What does this situation in my life ask of me?
Is 6' 8" comfortable? I would think if you were going up or down stairs wiht only 6'8" clearance you would be very congnitive of the ceiling?
Basement steps would be one thing but going up stairs in teh main living area would be another thing. Do builders try to increase that height?
Shaken
Usually there is the well area above the regular steps, meaning that often times the steps will be open all the way to the ceiling, which can be a wide open space above.
If you have your regular steps going to the upstairs and steps to a basement then you'd maybe incounter the minimun distance of 6' 8".
Most times you wouldnt have a problem with something directly overhead on your upstair steps unless you had another story above that one.
Doug
6'8" is the minimum allowed by our code. Like Doug said, it usually doesn't effect the whole run. Mostly at the header in the floor the stairs are cutting through.As far as comfortable, seems ok to me, but in this case, bigger is defintly nicer. Much better than some of 6'3-4" ones I've seen slide by some of the shorter inspectors<G> Hey, pocket doors can't come off the track if they're nailed open
2003 still is 6'8" and 6'6" for spiral, per http://www.arcways.com/IRC2003.pdf assuming that has it right.
To those who build stairs.
Curious. In a staircase open to a room on one side or the other, there is a diagonal trim board below the treads on the open side. This board is obviously cut in a saw tooth pattern. Now, where this board mets the risers it requires a miter cut for each riser. WOW!!!! That has to be precious work!! How is that done so that all the risers miter in beautifully?
Brackets are not too hard, when measuring your riserboard length you just add 1/4 inch and let it hang out there to recieve your 1/4" bracket.
What brakets?????
Brackets are the thingys your asking about.
allen:
Excuse me for being confused, but I am talking about the large saw-tooth like board which is cut like the actual support stringers but used to finish the exposed edges of the risers and covers the sheetrock up to the treads. ARe you calling that a bracket?
Teh thing I am talking about is akin to the skirt board, but is on the outside edge of teh stairs not the inside.
now I'm all confused, I really have know idea what that is . Here's what I thot you where talking about........
Now that would be the easy way to do it. No problem cuting a miter on each one of those.
Now, imagine that you had twelve to fifteen of those "brackets" all linked togather. Or think about it as if you cut all the brackets from one board.
To be honest with you, what you have shown here I have only seen in hundred year old houses. All new homes have the one continuous board of which I speak.
if you find a pic of one show us, I'm curious
Well, allen . . we just got our first digital camera . . . and . . how the heck do you hook the do-hookus up to the thingy on the computator? AH. LOL!
Actually, people post pictures of stairs on breaktime all the time. If I get around to looking at them maybe I can find a good example.
I think the other guy responding to my question understands what I am talking about, but maybe he does not either.
Thanks again.
Shaken
I think trimcarp and I are talking about the same thing.
The sawtoothed looking thing, the skirt board with all the risers mitered, right!
As I said earlier, I cut the skirt board out and miter all the risers with my circular saw.
Doug
Allen,
If I understand Shaken, he is wondering how the stringer is cut on open tread stairs. You posted a bracket that covers the stinger where it meets the riser. He was interested in the mitered cut for where the riser meets at the stringer. What does this situation in my life ask of me?
It is layed out with a framing square, same as the closed one that goes against the wall. The closed stringer get routed and the open gets cut with a circular saw or sliding miter saw (I like the mitre saw) and finished off with a pull saw. It makes sense once you do it...try it on a small set, like exterior steps for practice first.What does this situation in my life ask of me?
Thanks trim! It seems like that requires a high degree of precision, as you are cutting those miters (12 to 15) into one piece of wood and all must line up with the risers.
Am I making this too difficult? Missing something?
And what was the other poster talking about with brackets?
I have seen a set of stairs with what I would call end caps on the exposed ends of each riser. NO miters. Looked ok, but when they are mitered in . . . WOW! The craftsmenship!
Shaken
When I do it I do so like trimcarp said, lay it out, cut it with a circular saw.
Yea, if you screw up you gotta do it again! Call it practice.
I dont know what "brackets" someone is refering to either???
Doug
6'-8".
Jon,
Here are a few of the stairs I have done. EDIT: Sorry a couple are big for viewing.
What does this situation in my life ask of me?
Edited 12/24/2005 1:51 pm ET by trimcarp
those look familiar........any of those in the St. Louis area? nice work!
Nope, All in Western NY and thanksWhat does this situation in my life ask of me?
Thanks to you guys who have posted pictures. Beautiful work, all.