Staircase

Staircase is designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller

vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps. Special staircase
include escalators and ladders.
Basic components of a staircase:-
i. Tread; the horizontal surface we walk on.
ii. Riser; the vertical part between each tread.
iii. Stringer; a structural support that holds the treads in place and provides stability.
iv. Balusters; the vertical posts which support the railing of the staircase.
v. Handrails; the horizontal or rake member of a balustrade system. It sits on top of the
balustrade and is supported by newel post.
vi. Newel; larger and heavier than the baluster, newel are located at the bottom and top of
a staircase and at turns and critical support areas of balcony rails.
vii. Landing; an intermediate level area between floor levels connecting flight of stairs.
Functional requirements :-
i. Strength and stability; serves as much function as a floor which support movement
between floors, support residents of a building, supporting dead and imposed loads.
ii. Fire safety; stairs are the principle means of escape to the outside in case of fires in
buildings. Therefore staircase should be constructed of materials that are capable of
maintaining stability and strength for a period of time, sufficient to escape outside the
building. The size of steps (riser & tread) and width of the sufficient stairway should
be adequate for the safe escape of those in the building.
Safety requirements :-
1) Width
 Sufficient or at least 2 person to pass.
 Domestic staircase – 800mm – 1000mm width (measured from the face of enclosed wall
to the handrail)

2) Slope
 To ensure natural movement of flight, a staircase should not be neither too steep nor too
gradual.

3) Tread
 It should be wide enough for the foot to be placed on step (200-300mm)

4) Riser
 Should not be too high or too low (100-200mm). Must be uniform.

5) Flights
 Long floghts without landings should be avoided.
 Should be not less than 8 steps and not more than 16 steps in single flight.

6) Handrail & Balusters

 Handrail to help ascending and descending.
 Balusters is used to prevent fall (high must be 900mm), required at all exposed sides of
staircase & landing)
 Also, handrails should be of such size and shape that are easy to grip.

7) Headroom
 Sufficient headroom for safe ascending & descending.
 Normally not less than 2m vertically.
 Materials :-

1) Concrete;
Concrete has always been a prime choice for staircase construction, as concrete can
easily take any shape you desire. Curved and spiral staircases can be conveniently built using
concrete. Another factor which distinguishes concrete as a preferred staircase material is that
prefabricated concrete treads can be easily installed to construct a staircase. Also, the strength
and durability concrete offers as a staircase material are unmatched. Concrete staircase does
not
The only disadvantage is that concrete is not as visually appealing as other staircase
materials, hence marble or granite cladding is usually done on concrete staircase. Use of
wooden or metal handrail and balustrade with concrete staircase is common.
 2) Wooden staircase;
An extremely popular and evergreen staircase material is wood. The beauty of wooden
staircase is that it can adapt to any style of interiors; be it traditional, contemporary, rustic, or
any other. So, if you want to build a staircase and match it to the existing interiors, wood is the
obvious choice. The sleek and trim look of wooden staircase is widely adopted for modern
interiors.
Wood as a staircase material is most suited for space constrained interiors. Sleek
wooden treads supported by metal balusters practically take no space at all. Carved and
decorative wooden balustrade and handrails have been used to decorate staircases since ages.
 3) Stone staircase;
The other common staircase materials is stone. Stone offers variety in color and texture
and looks amazing as a staircase material. For interiors, stones like marble and granite are
widely used as a cladding material for concrete and brick staircase. It provide the interiors a
touch of luxury.
Also, stone is an excellent staircase material for exteriors like garden and patio. Place
a couple of stone blocks as steps and it will definitely add to the beauty of a garden. Stone is
extremely durable, resistant to moisture and pests, and easily maintainable. Stone can also be
carved into beautiful shapes to form staircase balusters. These can significantly add to the
elegance into interior or exterior of a building.
Construction methods :-
Jointing risers to treads :-
The usual method of joining risers to treads is to cut tongues on the edges of the risers
and fit them to grooves cut in the treads, as illustrated in figure below.

Another method is to butt the top of the riser under the tread with the joint between
two, which would otherwise be visible, masked by moulded bead housed in the tread, as
illustrated in figure below.

The tread of the stairs tend to bend under the weight of people using it. When a tread
bends, the tongue on the bottom of the riser comes out of the groove in the tread and the
staircase ‘creaks’. To prevent this it is common practice to secure the treads to the risers with
screws.
The nosing on treads usually projects 32mm. A greater projection than this would
increase the probability of the nosing splitting away from the tread and a smaller projection
would reduce the width of the tread. The nosing is rounded to add comfy when stepping up
and down on the stairs.
Jointing riser and tread to the string :-
The string is around 32 thick, the tread is around 25 thick, and both are of solid
timber. The riser is of hardwood plywood and is only 9 thick. The string is made wide
enough to enclose the treads and risers and its top edge projects some 50mm or 63mm above
the line of the nosing of treads. The width of the string above the line of nosings is described
as the margin.
The end of the treads and riser are glued and wedged into shallow grooves cut in
striing. The grooves are cut 12mm deep into strings and tapering slightly in width to
accommodate treads, risers and the wedges which are driven below them, as illustrated in
sketch below.

After the treads and risers have been put together and glued and wedged into their
housings in the string, angle blocks are glued in the internal angles between the underside of
treads and risers and treads and risers and string. Angle glue blocks are triangular section of
softwood cut from say 50mm square timber and each 120mm long. Their purpose is to
strengthen the right angled joints between treads, risers and strings. Three or four blocks are
used at each junction of tread and riser at one junction of tread, risers and string. Angle
blocks are shown in sketch below.
Type of staircase
1) Straight staircase
Straight staircase is the most basic type that we found in both residential and
commercial properties.
Advantages of straight stairs:
1) Straight stairs tend to be the easiest way to go up and down from any particular level of
floors.
2) They are typically the easiest to build however this depends on the level of detail in the
design.
3) Straight stairs only need to be connected at the top and the bottom (no intermediate
supporting structure is required).
4) No landing is required if the number of risers are kept under 16 or the overall vertical
height is less than 12 feet.
5) Its easy to build railings and handrails for straight stairs.
6) Measuring for railings is simpler also.
Disadvantages of straight stairs:
1) Straight stairs use up a fair amount of linear space which had to be planned for in your
design.
2) A stair of 12 feet high requires a landing to break up the span. The addition of a landing
will use up allot more space and therefore these types of stairs are seldom used in
residential construction. You will see these more frequently in large commercial
buildings.
Other types of straight stairs:
1) L shaped stair or quarter turn stairs.
2) U shaped stair or half turn stairs.
2) L shaped stairs
The L shaped stair is a variation of the straight stair with a bend in some portion of the
stair. This bend is usually achieved by adding a landing at the bend transition point. The bend
is often 90 degrees. However it does not have to be. If the landing is closer to the top or
bottom of the stairs it is sometimes referred to as a long L stair.

Advantages of L shaped stairs.

1) L Stairs can be more visually interesting.
2) Some believe they are safer than straight stairs as the central landing reduces the
number of treads one could fall in a given flight.
3) The landing can provide a place to stop and rest while ascending.
4) They can be located in a corner of a room if this works better for your design.
Disadvantages of L shaped stairs.
1) L shaped stairs are a bit more difficult to build.
2) A support is typically required for the landing in a L type stair. Often this is built into
the surrounding wall so it goes unnoticed. In modern dwellings however, it is usually
desirable to open up the space leaving the stair structure visible. In these cases the
supporting structure can be visually minimized by taking advantage of the strength of
steel to create slim supporting members. Through careful engineering,it is possible to
eliminate the landing support all together.
3) Handrails for these types of stairs require more skill and planning to construct.
4) In climates where basements are used, stairs are typically stacked over each other for
efficient use of space. Since basements are often used for storage, large items can be
difficult to move in and out of the basement.
3) U shaped stairs
U Shaped stairs are basically two parallel flights of straight stairs joined by by a landing that
requires 180 degrees turn in the walk line. This type of stair is mostly used in residential
building.
Advantages of U shaped Stairs:
1) U shaped stairs can be easier to fit into an
architectural plan.
2) They offer some architectural interest.
3) The landing(s) can offer a resting point part
way up the stairs.
Disadvantages of U shaped stairs
1) These types of stairs are a bit more difficult
to build.
4) Spiral stairs
When viewed from top, this type appears to follow a circle with a single center of curvature.
The spiral stairs are provided where space available. This is sometimes provided at the rear of
the building and in the shop. These are made up of concrete, stone or cast iron. The cast iron
spiral stair can be easily intalled anywhere.

Advantages of Spiral Stairs:

1) One of the key advantages of spiral stairs is their compactness. They are very popular
on beach front decks where space is at a premium. They are also used extensively on
city lofts for the same reason.
2) Spiral stairs can be attractive and there are may variations on railings styles which can
have a major impact on the overall appearance of the stair.
3) Since the center pole and landing typically provide the structural support for the stairs,
they do not need much in the way of extra support structures making installation
easier than many other types of stairs.
Disadvantages of spiral stairs:
1) Spiral stairs are more difficult to navigate than other types of stairs. It is for this
reason that codes do not allow them to be used as the primary access to a full second
floor of a home. Walk ability improves as the outside diameter gets larger so if you
have the space, you may want to consider going a bit larger. We recommend going 5
feet in diameter if you can.
2) It is difficult to carry large items up spiral stairs.
3) Only one person can go up or down the stairs at the same time.
5) Bifurcated stairs
Bifurcated stairs are commonly used in public building at their entrance hall. This has a wider
flight at the bottom, which bifurcates into two narrower flights, one turning to the left and other
to the right, at landing.it may be either of newel type with a newel post or of geometrical type
with continuous stringer and hand rails.

Advantages of bifurcated stairs:

1) Provide an exclusive appearance.
2) The stairs could be used by more people at one time.
Disadvantages of bifurcated stairs:
1) This stairs used up a lot of spaces in a building.
2) It requires more cost to build this stairs.