Choosing staircase construction in the wooden home

Choosing staircase construction in the wooden home
Staircase between the stireys of a private glulam house is not just the means of communication of your log house floors. This is an important and integral object that always catches the eye, and reminds that you do not live in the apartment. What you need to know before you create the stairs in your wood home? Which type of stairs to choose?

We live in the time of plenty of choices. When you start your wood home project, you start thinking about the stairs in your private home. A huge number of possible options may pop up in a head. When you have a huge selection, it is difficult to focus on something specific.

To make it easier, first think what you specifically need. Do not take into consideration that someone recommends a certain kind of stairs, and someone on the contrary leaves a negative feedback about the same stairs. Do not forget: the tastes differ. Moreover, everyone has his own interior, and therefore, not all will choose the same option.

The first thing that has to be solved during the process of stairs design choosing in a wood home will be the main material choice. More often you will have to choose between concrete, metal and wood. Every material has its advantages and disadvantages. It is hard to say which one of them is better or worse. It all depends on the specific factors. One thing is clear: for comfort and warmth in a private wooden house it is more common to built the stairs of wood.

But regardless the material you will choose to construct the staircase in you wood home, first of all they should have sound design and bepractical. For this you should take into consideration that, it is important to know its features of construction and consider all the specialities at first.

After reading this article you will understand

- what kind of staircases is believed to be the most practical and why?

- differences between the stair types?

- what is a string, baluster, bridgeboard, step plate, tread rises?

- calculations when constructing stairs?

- what important information you should consider when installing the stairs in a glulam house?

The speciality of stairs project

When you start staircase project you should consider some important components:

- wooden homes designs

- space left for stairs construction;

- remember to have in mind aperture dimension to the second or third, etc. floor, the thickness of the floor as well as room height.

- the material from which the house is planned to be built.

It is a very common situation, when in the pursuit of design creativity, home builder forget about the crucial task of the stairs –to ensure practice and be safe.

Therefore it is important to think beforehand:

- how the stairs will be constructed in the space of a house

- the material type of production;

- what area size will be left for staircase in the glulam house.

The worst variant is to "insert" the stairs in the already built wooden house. Very often it is a balancing act between utility and easy to use. In the result you may get the stairs which are inconvenient and unsafe to walk.

If you start calculation along with the glulam house design project making, virtually it will be possible to make some changes in rooms’ layout, door and windows location or make some other important changes in the house planning thus successful install the stairs in the glulam house.

It is believed that the best position for the stairs is the simultaneously connection of several rooms, but it is not recommended to place it into a corner or in a closed space.

When making the project of the staircase, you should remember some important moments:

-it is not recommended to exceed the lifting angle by 45°, for the walking comfort up the stairs;

- you need to think beforehand about the opening size in the floor if it is made of concrete, when the stairs will be in the hall, or about the position of the support and bearing beams, if the house is made of glue laminated beams or shaped timber.

- sometimes you have to postpone the construction of the stairs for some reason, for example you are not sure in the stairs project you need or that will surely fit you wood home design. In this situation it is important to know the minimum dimensions of the opening. They should be the following:

the width - 100 cm.

the length - ceiling height plus the thickness of the bridging of the second floor.

Floor beams in the house should be start up along rather than across the intended stairs opening.

First of all you need to have the finished project of you wooden house with a staircase inside it in your head, before you proceed to the calculation, it is crucial that your house and stairs design fitted together one singe interior of the house.

To get the most convenient staircase, before its calculation you should know:

- height from the finished floor of the first floor to the finished floor of the second floor;

- the length of the opening of the stairs;

- the width of the opening of the stairs;

- bridging;

- the direction of the movement on the stairs;

- the material from which it is planned to be made, because there are some moments when the material determines the final design of the stairs.

The main and most common parts of the stairs
There are several main types of staircases:

Saddled stairs – the type of stairs, the steps of which are supported by the stringers (bottom beams) on both sides.

Stairs with goose-stepping. This kind of stairs has risers with a non-standard form – it has cutouts of oval or slanting form. Because of their form they can fit only one foot of one leg. This stair is suitable for installation in tight spaces.

Winding stairs – is a type of a circular, vertical staircase which has a turn of 270° or even more. The newel post is the main carrier part in it, to which spiral stages are attached. It is considered that this staircase is most compact among the types of stairs, but at the same time it is evidently the most uncomfortable, since it is difficult for the elderly to go up and drag oversized cargo.

The main elements of the stairs:
Stringers - a main beam of the flight of stairs. The risers lean on the top of stringers.

The bow-string staircase - its stages are supported by the bowstring both in the bottom and in the end.

Tread run - horizontal part of the stage without overhang.

Bowstring - is a main beam of the stairs flight, which is adjacent to the side of the stairs.

Baluster - support column railing, made in the form of a columnar shape. It is produced by turning, concrete or cast into a mold.

Balustrade - railing staircase or balcony over the stairs.

Risers - the vertical element, on which the stage is based. It is used as additional support for the tread. It increases stiffness of the structure and helps to visually distinguish the gap between the stages.

Stairway - straight staircase without winders.

The flight of stairs is the distance between two landings. The recommended number of steps in one march – 14 - 15 steps.

Stairs with winding quarter
Staircase with turntable. It has spacer elements (rotating platform) between flights of stairs, which are arranged horizontally and serve for the entrance or exit from flights of stairs.

The last two stairs designs will be described in detail, because they are the most popular.

Many experts consider dancing steps to look more beautiful than the staircase with turntable. As well as it saves space.

Space saving is obtained on step levels, because one turn usually fit in three stages. Stairs with turntable are much more convenient and comfortable to use according to the views of other experts.

The thing is that the dancing steps radiate from the stairs rotation, which means that they are respectively neck to the center, they are narrowed, and this initially presents some inconvenience. You will have to get used to this fact. The staircase with turntable does not have such a "flaw".

There is a number of special formulas, which can determine the convenience of the stairs.

You should remember some numbers when working with them:

- tread width should be between 25-30 cm;

- step height should be between 15-20 cm.

When parameters of the stairs are different, it may be uncomfortable or even dangerous!

When there is enough space, and the steps in the above-mentioned parameters fit the norm, it is better to make a staircase with turntable.

Comfortable and safe width
As you move up the stairs in either direction, you should not feel discomfort because the space is narrow and dangerous. The distance the handrail and the partition wall or between the two rails is the width of the staircase. There are some standard parameters that are used in the construction: 1,25 m width is projected if you want to achieve enhanced comfort; 1,1 m, if the construction will be located between the two walls; 0,9 m, if the structure has two balustradings or borders on the one side of the wall; 0,8 m is permitted with one balustrading, if the stairs are not planned to be used to carry large items; 0,7 m are appropriate in the garden houses and residential buildings. Width of the stairs should provide an easy access. The stairs should not create discomfort and instill a sense of danger.

Trend run of stairs
Trend run of stairs is a parameter interrelated with an area of projected construction and the dimensions of steps. Staircase that is steep takes up little space, but it is uncomfortable, and vise verse low angle staircase is convenient, but a lot of usable space will be taken away. People select dogleg stairs if they wish to make the movement comfortable and safe combined as well as face minimal loss of the useful space. The range of 23 to 37° is considered the most comfortable stair lift angle, the bigger the lift angle is, the more dangerous the stair climbing becomes. Instead of making a slope of 23° it is better to construct a low angle ramp. The most practical stair lift angle is between 23° and 37°. The slope of 45° makes the stairs into the construction coming down of which can only be made by facing the stairs. The slope over 50° can only have a straight ladder.

Stage dimension calculation
The most convenient instep height is considered to be no more than 0,32 m, but the most comfortable step height is 0,15 m. The risers above 0,17 m are considered to be inconvenient and are not recommended to be done. While designing stairs of any material (timber, concrete, metal), it should be remembered that 10-15 risers in one flight of stairs is the believed to be the most convenient variant. The tread width should be selected depending on the purpose of the staircase. At least it should be 0,2 m, 0,32 m - is a standard size, and 0,4 m is a recommended limit. It is acceptable to make overhang of the tread on the riser, if the dimensions of the structure do not allow making sufficiently wide tread. In winding stairs construction, the width of the stairs should be not less than 0,1 m in in their narrowest part.

Features of stairs
The material from which the home is manufactured directly depend on the design aspects of the staircase. According to this moment it is recommended to choose the material for your future staircase. If the house is built of timber, then the staircase should be made of this material as well.

Wooden house has almost one disadvantage, as opposed to brick or concrete, - it shrinks with time. The shrinkage may be up to 0,1 m. The specialists will recommend you to necessarily "untie" the stairs with the support elements in a house constructed of wood. As well as to avoid the deformation of the stairs, their construction can be secured by using slip connection.

The wood that will be used for the manufacture of stairs should fit special requirements:

- the degree of humidity: the timber should be dry and have no more than 10% moisture.

- when manufacturing the staircase, especially steps, you should use solid wood, for example, maple, oak, larch, or beech. Pine or linden is considered to be a soft material. Since while climbing the stairs the riser are used daily, they experience the increased abrasive loads, and quickly come into disrepair.

For a greater reliability straightgrained and knotless timber is used in the construction. But, in some cases, you can use wood with "defects" (knots or cracked wood), but the main thing in this case is to observe wood processing technology. This technique is popular for the interior in the country style or "Provence".

After the production of all wooden elements of the stairs, off-line edit is carried out. During it, there is a final check of all fittings and adjustment of all components as well as the geometry of design. At this last stage of stircase building it is also important to test ease of movement up and down the stairs. Then the stairs are dismantled and paint to finish the assembly. It is important to apply special varnishes and oils while finishing the work, as not all paints are suitable for these process. You should take into consideration that the main selection criterium is hardness and resistance to abrasion.

It is not obligatory to cover the wooden parts of the staircase with antiseptic, if the house is heated all year round. If the stairs are properly designed, manufactured and installed they stairs will serve a long time and will enrich the inner design of any wooden house. To conclude we would like to say that the ideal stairs must match the wooden house interior and your needs. Also it is very important that it should be comfortable and safe in operation.