stair ideas

[bjochman]

Building a 24' wide gambrel truss garage. For the stairs upstairs (room 14' wide), trying to determine a way to have them where they don't take up a lot of the back wall and so i can also have a patio door in the upstairs for a future deck. Building is planning on a quarter turn with two steps up then platform, turn and to upstairs, thinking 10 more steps. Ceiling height 9'. He's thinking it's going to take about 15' length along the back wall. I suggested the platform being after 3-4 stairs to shorten the long length but he said it wouldn't work (i didn't really understand why). Any ideas on this, without using a spiral staircase or something else funky or expensive?

 

[ddawg16]

How about spiral?

Takes up very little room.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Depends on what you are using the upstairs for. If intended for habitation (anything more than unfinished storage) then spiral stairs are not allowed if they are the only method of ingress/egress. If you have another way in and out, or the area is clearly for storage only, the spiral is OK.

Charles

 

[A_Pmech]

Depends on what you are using the upstairs for. If intended for habitation (anything more than unfinished storage) then spiral stairs are not allowed if they are the only method of ingress/egress. If you have another way in and out, or the area is clearly for storage only, the spiral is OK.

Charles

Charles,

Any idea why this is the case?

 

[ddawg16]

Charles,

Any idea why this is the case?

Yea....I was wonder the same thing....the only constraint here is that it has to be a "code" staircase....i.e., 30" wide treads....or something like that.

In other words, the ACLU has convinced the govt that the stairs need to be wide enough to accomondate really fat people....

 

[bjochman]

If you don't mind me asking, approx cost on something like that. I'm pretty much tapped out on budget...

 

[Mattlt]

Any way you could have the stair outside? Absolutely no room taken up inside that way!

 

[JMURiz]

Ever think of something like this?

http://www.arkestairs.com/kompact.php

Not sure on the price though.

 

[kbs2244]

The builder is probably thinking about head height above the stairs as the reason for the longer ramp.
If you do it your way you will lose floor space upstairs as he will have to cut away the floor for head room above the stairs,

Have you thought about putting the stairs at the other end of the garage?

If the planned deck is to be off the back, have the stairs go up the door end.

BTW: Most codes in the US will not alow stairs without a railing or with varying tread height or width.

 

[bjochman]

Any way you could have the stair outside? Absolutely no room taken up inside that way!

I think this is what i'm going to look into. The garage is detached so you have to go outside to enter it anyhow, so no real advantage to having the stairs inside?

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Charles,

Any idea why this is the case?

A spiral staircase is not the easiest thing in the world to navigate. I can see why, when looking at fire safety, they threw out the spirals. Once you get used to them, they are easy to go down quickly, but if you are not familiar with them, its smokey, dark, etc, they can be a real hazard. That is why, I see, that the code writers didn't consider them. There may be other reasons.

Charles

 

[Mattlt]

A spiral staircase is not the easiest thing in the world to navigate. I can see why, when looking at fire safety, they threw out the spirals. Once you get used to them, they are easy to go down quickly, but if you are not familiar with them, its smokey, dark, etc, they can be a real hazard. That is why, I see, that the code writers didn't consider them. There may be other reasons.

Charles

Not only that, but think of the fire/ambulance crew that would have to carry you out if you had the "big one" up there. It's bad enough when people have right angle stairs, small hallways, etc. A stair-chair works sometimes; a soft stretcher does too, but, 9 times out of 10 the person weighs at least 300 pounds, and your crew isn't as big as it should be. I digress...

 

[shmo]

I just went through this exact same battle not long ago. I considered doing all of the things mentioned here, and ultimately ended up building my interior staircase with a few design elements that I wasn't really keen on. My staircase worked out well, and I have no regrets. However, If I was in your position with a detached garage that you had to exit your home to get to, I would build an exterior staircase with a deck and french doors without even giving it a second thought. You will end up with more interior space for your garage, more space for your bonus room and ultimately end up with a deck to provide even more space. All wins, no losses and you're going to get cold and wet on the way out to the garage anyway. Why not build an exterior staircase.....

SHMO

 

[2fast4u2]

i have the staits that pull down from the ceiling in my garage cost about 160 bucks here in Canada