BEFORE THE ARCHITECT – HOME DESIGNING BACKGROUND – UNIQUE HOME DESIGNING ARTICLES
STAIRS HOME SAFETY
By Before The Architect Copyright 2007-2009 Before The Architect
Stairs are best taken one at a time, steadily, carefully
. As with rising to other levels in a lifetime, celebrate the passage. Before The Architect
Sometimes, stairs are not an option . . .
INTRODUCTION
This article is about home wooden stair design safety. In home design, stairs often rule in direct relationship to a home design's maturity. These entries involve both safety in designing per se and safety in use. (The safety guidelines could apply to any stair; however, most in homes are wooden stairs. This home designer guidelines amending stair framing to include steel and not wood for home fire safety considerations. Still, treads and risers and stringers and balusters and hand rails and panels will most usually be of wood.)
1) Interior steps numbering 2 or more risers
a) shall have luminaires tasked specifically to those
i) especially at foot landing
ii) mid-landing, and
iii) head landing
b) shall have 3-way or 4-way lighting switch control at the foot and head and perhaps more for those tasked luminaires as a group , notably among others
i) where entrance to the steps or stairs can be from more than one pathway or portal at head or foot or
ii) where entrance to the steps is in a landing or landings in the interim rise from foot to head
2) Exterior steps numbering 3 or more
a) shall have luminaires tasked specifically to those steps
i) especially at foot landing
ii) mid-landing and
iii) head landing
b) shall have 3-way or 4-way lighting switch control over all those tasked luminaires as a group at not less than each interior to a passage proximate to and accessible to those steps
3) A handrail
a) shall be sized and spaced to code
b) shall be applied to a stair with 1 or more risers
c) which handrail shall be fastened securely to structure, solid-blocked if needed
d) whether interior or exterior
4) Interior and exterior stairs
a) shall have fully closed risers
b) shall be dimensioned such that–
i) tread depth on the interior is not less than 10 linear inches
ii) preferably, tread depth on the exterior is equal to 11 linear inches
c) in all cases, tread depth plus tread width equals 17 ˝ linear inches
5) For other than the spiral staircase
a) sheathe underneath from outer stringer to outer stringer including header cleat with 1 layer, 5/8 linear inch Type-X gypsum wallboard.
b) where walls run below or immediately next to outside stringers
i) frame walls with lightweight, or cold-formed, steel and
ii) sheathe exterior with 1 layer-5/8 linear inch Type-X gypsum board
c) if continuous Type-X envelope cannot be applied on the vertical below a staircase then
i) frame with lightweight, or cold-formed, steel and
ii) sheathe the interior with 2 layers-5/8 linear inch Type-X gypsum wallboard and
iii) where applicable on the exterior of the wall sheathe with 1 layer-5/8 linear inch Type-X gypsum wallboard
d) where stairwell wall extends above a stringer or below a stringer as, for example, a mid-landing
i) frame the wall in lightweight, or cold-formed, steel and
ii) sheathe the interior with 2 layers-5/8 linear inch Type-X gypsum wallboard and
iii) where applicable on the exterior of the wall sheathe with 1 layer-5/8 linear inch Type-X gypsum wallboard
e) wallboard shall be –
i) screwed and not floated
ii) taped and not less than 3-times mudded
f) protrusions shall be sealed with firestopping materials conforming to not less than most recent ASTM E84 and E814 and shall not exclude tumescent sealant
Comment: Note well that electrical boxes attached to steel framing shall be metal only.
6) Treads may be
a) lighted (low-voltage, as below nosing, along stringer casing, at sidewall) or
b) treads otherwise distinguished one from another by color or
c) both
Comment: Tread plus riser may not be reduced as a total number. Tread and not riser may be increased slightly for occupants with larger feet – ask, they know who they are and what it’s cost ‘em over the years traveling common-depth treads.
7) Stairs wider than 3 linear feet shall have continuous handrails on both sides
a) whether interior or exterior
b) including winders
8) Landings shall be as wide and at least as deep as tread width
9) Increasingly, this custom home designer is, with client appreciation, designing-in interior stairway lighting in low-voltage
a) the luminaires are up to clients, e.g., wall mount, below-nosing mount, etc.
b) the voltage is low, not high
10) The notion is safety-focused
a) more often, interior stairs are not well-lighted naturally
b) 70fc task targets, possibly with motion-detector switching, should prove necessary and sufficient when the lighting circuit is closed
c) when high-light levels are not on, especially in low or no local lighting
i) a staircase seems to this designer as a potential physical hazard in-the-waiting
(1) approaching a staircase for use
(2) passing a staircase to somewhere else, whereat
ii) a visual cue – low-level, symmetrically presented illuminance could prove salutary
d) such low-voltage illuminance
i) goes on a UPS for extra-assured safety
ii) may be switched variously
(1) timed
(2) light sensored (designer’s 1st preference)
(3) motion sensored
(4) circuit always closed (designer’s 2nd preference)
11) This lighting design interest may extend to both
a) interior
b) exterior
. . . . . . .
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