I do not have the room to make a longer staircase on either end. There is a doorway I cannot move at the bottom and a wall to the outside at the top. The treads are 6" to 7". How do I fix that?

Everyone presumes that you’re going to follow the building code and fix your stairs accordingly. But guess what, not all older houses offer that option because they weren’t constructed by the code. So therefore we need resonable options to fix our problens. The solution has to be outside the box

Hi there, @gregvancom, is it possible to change the treads on a staircase with short treads and just increase the depth of the nose and if so by how much is it possible or what depth of nose is safe and not a trip hazard? We have a staircase that has 9 inch treads but we are not in a position to move it or remove walls etc, I am not sure exactly how long the nose is currently as it is carpeted but I think it is less than an inch. Even an extra half inch would improve the safety of these stairs coming down them 😐

Could you turn to the left or right 2or 3 steps up from the bottom? Add a platform there as well ?

@gregvancom

Жыл бұрын

Most of the time you can if you have the ceiling headroom after making the turn in the stairway.

Know this: in many older homes with shore basement ceiling height code stairs are not possible. I'm doing some right now where the rise is 77" but the run is only 55" leaving only 24" to the concrete wall. And a platform and 90 degree turn is not possible because the ceiling height at the bottom of the stairs is only 70" so the platform height would only be about 50" or so. The stairs will have a proper rise but the treads will be less than 6". The only way around this that I see is for a spiral staircase when the wall to wall width is only 27 1/2". It may be easier for the person who lives there to grow longer legs.

@gregvancom

2 жыл бұрын

Good point. If you can't change the floor opening or redesign the stairs, then you won't be able to use current building codes.

Greg, in the case where you do not have enough clearance at the bottom of the stairs (in your example 3’1”) a good solution would be to replace the last step (or second to the last step)with a landing to achieve the clearance.

@gregvancom

6 жыл бұрын

Excellent idea and it might not work in a hallway, but could work in a variety of other situations, including at the top of the stairway.

@LyonsArcade

6 жыл бұрын

I was thinking the same thing, but I was thinking putting a landing halfway up. Putting it at the bottom for the bottom step or two would look really good though I think.

@larrylewinski3086

3 жыл бұрын

If there isn't legal head room going down or coming up you have no choice. You cannot move an I-beam at the bottom step, and at the top it's at the minimum 36" to the wall. Minimum headroom is 6'-8" for residential, sometimes 6'-4"

Nice video, nice job explaining all the information. I have these super steep basement stairs and they are almost deadly. 7-11 is standard now and these are 9-9 and that is a huge difference and older knees will let you know about, it is safer to go up and down them in socks so your shoes can't maybe get caught on edge but it is just for storage so not a big deal but I wanted to check. The stairs to the attic are 8-9 and they feel a lot safer and easier so an inch or two makes a big difference! By the way, this home was built in 50s. For a minute I thought about adding a board to each step but that wouldn't accomplish anything. lol. Thanks for video.

@gregvancom

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing.

What about turning the stairs at the end instead of just extending the length? Is that a huge undertaking?

@gregvancom

3 жыл бұрын

It all depends on the design, but it's possible.

I do not understand if you add 1 inch to the stair treads. I don't see the stringers are still fixed so I don't see how it'll move 67 inches at the bottom. You're just adding one inch to the stair trip if you could explain.

this is what i've been looking for, my basement stairs are horrible. the runs are so narrow and the rise is too high it is as though it was installed backwards.

@0110rroberts

3 жыл бұрын

my biggest concern is trying to keep the ceiling 84" from each tread near the bottom of the stairs. but there is just a closet above it.

@gregvancom

3 жыл бұрын

Here is a link to our website that might be helpful www.homebuildingandrepairs.com/stairs/index.html Iif there was a question in their that I missed, feel free to ask it again and provide more details.

Hello I'm replacing a basement stairs built in the 60's. The neither end of the opening can be changed without major work. The original risers were 7.75 and the treads were between 7.75 and 8". I tried making the new stringer 7.75 and 9.75 and it wont fit because of head room at the bottom. So can I just replace the stairs with the 7.75 and 8" treads and put the treads first so i only have 1in overhang?

@gregvancom

Жыл бұрын

It sounds like you would need to check your local building codes and if you don't have any, then you can usually match existing.

Greg, I have this problem as well of short treads. 12 steps/13 risers with 8.25" treads and 7.75" rise. I have no room at the top or bottom for modification. The math keeps making my head hurt :). I wanted to ask this question which I haven't seen posed in your videos (unless I missed it): Would rebuilding the stairs and removing a step allow for a better run/rise? I feel like you would have covered this as a non-option. To be more clear, I would like to remove a step, increase my rise, in order to increase my tread depth. Totally new stringers would be required. My brain says this would work but I simply can't find a video of yours that covers this idea.

@gportka8410

3 ай бұрын

This seems like the only option if you have narrow treads and no space to expand into at the top or bottom. I'm currently buying a house with steep stairs. He mentioned a tread of 9 inch minimum, do you know what is standard, or limits, for the rise? I'd rather go a bit over standard rise than a bit under standard tread.

I have a steep stair way that ends at the front door. We were thinking since the living room is plenary big enough that we could add a landing and turn the last few stairs to come into the living room area away from the door. Have you seen this done before? Is it possible? Also is there a way to add the extra inch or so to the existing stairs without ripping the whole stairway out and starting over if planning to cover the stairs with flooring?

@gregvancom

Жыл бұрын

Just check to make sure your headroom will work and I have more videos on that at our website.

My dad just bought a house really really old, he wanted to fix and flip. His stairs going up the steepness isn't the issue it's the size of the rungs, you can only walk on the balls of your feet they are so small! Is there no way to fix that? You video said about extending the stairs but it would be impossible. The house is too tight and the bottom step already has a largeish platform type thing as the bottom. What would you suggest if anything?

@gregvancom

Жыл бұрын

Here's a helpful link and look for steep stair modifications www.homebuildingandrepairs.com/remodeling/stairs/index.html

We have the space in the bottom, but what is the best way to extend tread from 9.5” to 11” or so ? The existing 9.5” tread has a lip. Thank you

@gregvancom

8 ай бұрын

I like to remove and replace with wider tread.

@hazemsider

8 ай бұрын

@@gregvancom but wouldn’t this makes the nose longer? Do i need to support under the nose for each tread?

@gregvancom

8 ай бұрын

@@hazemsider Check out some more stair building videos where they use 3/4 inch thick plywood for treads with a one inch nosing. It's pretty sturdy, but I've seen them break off before.

Mine to my dug out basement soo steep and a room is above it but i wanna trim that board hanging grr

Very helpful. Thank you.

@gregvancom

4 жыл бұрын

You're welcome and I'm glad you liked.

So does this help make stairs less steep?

@gregvancom

3 жыл бұрын

Longer steps and smaller riser heights will make them less steep.

my knees die a little every day over these stairs.

How to make and when to use a wrap around landing?

@gregvancom

4 жыл бұрын

www.homebuildingandrepairs.com/books/index.html here's a link to our stair building books if you're looking for that type of information. If not feel free to rephrase the question and provide us with a little more detail.

Why not just add a block to the top of each step? At the bottom step, add a platform to prevent the drop-off on the bottom. Bout $50-100 in lumber and a couple of hours. Boom. Nice easy stairs.

I have no brain when it comes to this, the steps are also very close together, the rungs I guess, no way to adapt that to create room?

Greg your voice is really low, you may want to amplify your voice track to 125% to 150%, or bring the mic a little closer to you. Great info ty!

@gregvancom

6 жыл бұрын

You're not the first person who mentioned this, but everything sounds good on my end and that's all I have to compare it to. I will try boosting the sound as you're suggesting. Please let me know what device you're using.

@LyonsArcade

6 жыл бұрын

It's a little low, the problem comes when people watch on a phone. Using a phone speaker it's hard to hear, using a desktop you usually have bigger speakers and can turn them up farther. You're not the only video like this, about half the videos on youtube are a little low on an iphone.

@gregvancom

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, I had my wife playing on her phone and it was turned up all the way and even though I could hear everything I was saying, I wasn't completely satisfied with the volume. I've actually found a way to raise the volume and hope it helps in the future. The only problem is that I don't remember to do it on every video. Anyway, thanks for sharing with us.

@angelas.9717

4 жыл бұрын

I agree, very low voice and hard to hear--and the info is great.

Remove that wall, and keep an open toilet.

Can barely hear.

@gregvancom

2 жыл бұрын

Sorry, not much I can do about that.