home floors

Make a staircase with your own hands to the second floor. Stairs in the house with their own hands: the choice of type. Calculation and project. Preparation of stringers and installation of wooden stairs. What kind of wood can be used to make stairs

If you want to make a staircase to the second floor with your own hands, the wooden option will suit you perfectly. It has many advantages over metal and concrete structures. Wood stairs are the easiest to build. This does not require special building skills, as well as many additional tools.

Remember that for those who wish to make repairs in their private home, it is not hastily, but high-quality and complete, it is better to contact a construction company and order a ready-made version of the stairs. Our company Ladders Master can help the client with this. Here are the lowest prices in Moscow and the Moscow region.

Calculating the dimensions of the staircase that will suit your home

One of the important stages in the construction of stairs is the calculation of its main parameters. If you decide to build it with your own hands, take this moment responsibly.

An important rule: it is best if the height of the step is 20 cm and the width is 30 cm (this size is ideal for an adult foot).

Let's say that the height of the first floor in your private house plus the height of the ceiling on the second floor is 3000 cm (3 meters). We calculate the number of steps that will be the most optimal for this height of the stairs. That is, for this we divide 3000 by 200. It turns out 15 pieces.

After you calculate the number of steps that is optimal for your stairs, we calculate the length of the projection of the stairs onto the floor of the first floor. To do this, multiply the number of steps by their width. That is, 300 by 15. We get 4500 cm. This is 4.5 meters. Try to calculate the length of the structure in your house yourself.

An important rule: remember geometry from school, as well as the Pythagorean theorem regarding a right triangle.

Let's assume that the angle of inclination wooden stairs on the second floor will be equal to 30 degrees. Therefore, in order to calculate the immediate length of the stairs (hypotenuse), you need to add the squares of the legs of the triangle and subtract the root from this sum. In the case of our ladder, we get 20250000 +9000000 = 29250000. The square root of this number will be 5410 cm (+/- 2cm).

In addition to calculations, a person who decides to engage in independent production of stairs needs:

some knowledge in the field of construction and strength of materials;
hands growing from the right place;
Confidence in your strength.

Materials for the manufacture of wooden stairs to the second floor

After you calculate the dimensions of the future stairs, you will need to draw up an estimate for the construction. Check out the set of materials that you will need to buy in building supermarkets:

bowstring (its length will be equal to the calculated length of the hypotenuse - 5410), plus a tooth allowance for installing stairs on the second floor;
steps, in our case - 15 pieces;
balusters;
handrails;
initial pillars.

An important rule: to build your first staircase, it is better to use glued beams. Oak and mahogany should not be used - they are very difficult to process.

In addition to the materials from which the staircase itself will be created, you will need a set of tools. Some of them may be at your personal disposal. But, as experience shows, most still have to be bought in addition. Basic set of tools:

drill;
wood drills;
mallets;
chisels;
hammers;
jigsaws;
saws (ideally hand-held circular with the ability to adjust the depth of cut).

Hand-held circular saw with adjustable cutting depth.

For processing and painting the finished structure, you will need:

sandpaper;
glue for wood;
putty for wood;
varnish and paint of colors suitable for the interior.

Ladder series "Solo", painted with dark varnish for wood, made by Stairs Master for only 78 thousand rubles. Its price, including installation, is 125 thousand rubles.

Evoles series - ladder price for a height of 2000 cm, without installation and painting of the structure

Construction installation: video and photo instructions

We offer you a video instruction for installing a wooden staircase to the second floor.

It is not so easy to install a wooden staircase yourself. To do this, you will have to invite one of your relatives or friends. And if you want, the workers of our company will always come to your aid, who will be happy to help you install the stairs.

The cost of a magnificent turning staircase from the "Solo" series is 78 thousand rubles. Even the inhabitants of the castle will envy such a design in your house.

Pros and cons of self-manufacturing wooden stairs

In fact, there are not so many advantages of self-manufacturing a wooden staircase to the second floor. These include some reduction in the cost of stairs due to free work. Although keep in mind that the price of materials when they are purchased on their own is much more than it costs to purchase for construction companies. So the savings on installation and installation of the structure is small.

Besides independent construction stairs allows you to learn a lot of new things, get acquainted with a previously unknown branch of work. Although for a person who has never encountered construction work before, this task will not be an easy one.

Not inferior in beauty to the series "Elegant" stairs "Solo". Take a closer look at the direct marching version of light wood. This staircase is made on monolithic metal bearing structures. Such a miracle cannot be done by hand. The price shown is for a staircase 2700 cm high, with 15 steps.

The cost of the stairs "Solo" with installation and paintwork.

Cons of self-made stairs:

loss of time;
a sufficient amount of effort is required;
in general, savings on self-production are not so big (our construction company manufactures stairs inexpensively);
purchase of additional tools is required;
it is extremely difficult to make a turning staircase on your own, if you want to build a wooden staircase yourself, the only option is the usual marching structure on bowstrings;
The price of materials in the supermarket will not be wholesale.

Ordering stairs from a construction company is the best choice

Do you need a ladder? But have you already wondered if you can build yourself good design, which will not be ashamed to show guests and which will not fall apart in the first month of operation. For such cases, our construction company works. We specialize in the manufacture of stairs and their installation in Moscow and the Moscow region.

An interfloor staircase is an important part of a private house. It should be comfortable for adults and children. In addition, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of lifting large items along it. The most popular materials for making stairs inside the house are wood and metal. In the article, we will consider how to make a staircase to the second floor in a private house with our own hands.

Requirements for interfloor stairs

For comfortable and safe operation of the stairs inside the house, it must meet a number of requirements:

high-quality lighting of all spans;
the width of the flight of stairs must be at least 80 cm;
a staircase with 3 or more steps is equipped with a railing, the height of which is not less than 90 cm;
the slope of the stairs is also regulated, the degree of rise is 38-45 °. The ascent to the attic or attic is allowed to be equipped with a staircase with a degree of inclination of 65-74 °;
for the convenience of lifting the number of steps in the span, it is desirable to make an odd number.

Tip: before you make the stairs to the second floor in wooden house, you need to calculate the bearing capacity of interfloor ceilings. Most often, light metal or completely wooden structures are installed.

Wooden staircase. Material Features

The leader in popularity for the manufacture of interfloor stairs in country houses and multi-level apartments is wood. It has been used for many centuries. But in order for the product to be durable, it is important to observe a number of nuances.

Wood has a beautiful appearance and does not require expensive finishing. Depending on the type of wood, it has a different pattern and natural shade. All this can be beaten and preserved by covering the material with a transparent varnish. Thanks to the ability to artistically process wood, real masterpieces are created from it in the form of carved balusters and other decorative elements. In addition, a wooden staircase creates additional comfort in the room and is indispensable for design solutions country style.

A wooden interfloor staircase is especially preferable if the floor is made of logs. The low weight of the structure in this case is an important argument. In addition, no equipment (crane, automixer) is required to mount it. But it is worth considering specific gravity different types of wood, so the oak construction is almost similar in weight to a metal one of the same size.
It can be installed even if the finishing repairs in the flight of stairs are completed. Since there is no dirty work that is inevitable when welding a metal staircase or pouring concrete steps.
Relatively low price compared to others. Wood is optimal with a combination of price and quality. The cheapest will be from pine, but it can release resin. From budget options it is better to give preference to birch.

The choice of wood for interfloor stairs

Premium wooden stairs have a higher price. This is the staircase that becomes the central decorative element of the house. For its manufacture, only expensive and especially beautiful wood is used, such as oak, ash or beech. It is performed in carved technique, supplying the design with a large number of decorative elements.
In the ranking of beautiful and durable, beech and oak share the first place. But in terms of the beauty of the pattern, ash is superior to them, while not inferior in density.

In a cheaper price category are larch, birch and pine. They have lower strength characteristics. But the main argument in their choice is the lower one, and as a result, affordable price most home owners.
Pine is the softest wood, so it is more often used for temporary stairs. But beautiful balusters are made from it, which will decorate the structure for for long years. But to create steps and a frame, you should choose a birch.

Do-it-yourself wooden staircase to the second floor

Materials and tools for wooden stairs

It is best to buy ready-made steps, but if there is no possibility, then a beam with a cross section of 40 mm is purchased for their manufacture;
a board with a thickness of 40 mm in an amount equal to the calculated one for the project;
beams 30 mm thick for treads;
beams 25-30 mm for risers;
bar for bowstrings and stringers 50x250 mm;
balusters and handrails;
wood screws;
jigsaw;
screwdriver;
chisel, hammer;
level, plumb, square, tape measure, pencil;
sanding paper, brushes and finishing material.

Calculation of interfloor stairs

First you need to decide on the angle of inclination. As stated above, the preferred angle of inclination is approximately 40°. But most often the calculation has to be made from the already existing dimensions allocated for the flight of stairs and the height of the ceiling.
The minimum width of the flight of stairs is 80 cm, but 125-150 cm is considered convenient.
Now there are many online calculators calculation of stairs. There it is enough to score the desired ceiling height and the desired height of the steps (15-20 cm). And the program will produce a 3D model with all dimensions.

The design of the stairs to the second floor of wood photo

How to make a straight staircase to the second floor

Consider the example of building a simple straight staircase without winders and platforms.

Installation of stringers. They take a beam, measure the total length and cut it off. You also need to immediately cut off another width of the tread (the thickness of the step itself, usually 4 cm). In the general calculation, the width of the steps was not initially taken into account, and if in the future this does not play any role, then for the first step this is an important point.
Cutting openings for steps in the stringer. This is done with a square. It marks the height of the riser and the width of the step. The marks are transferred to the kosour and cut out with a jigsaw. The saw cuts are ground or milled, rounding the edges. Then the stringers are put in a permanent place, fastening to the floor from below, and from above to the opening in the ceiling with the help of anchors. Well, if the ladder will be attached to the wall along the entire length.
Setting the bowstring. Bowstrings are measured along the length of the stringers. Apply to the stringers and mark the attachment points of the steps. Deepenings are made under them in the titive.
Riser fixing. They are made from a beam of the appropriate width. It is sawn into separate elements, sanded and fastened to the kosour with self-tapping screws. So that the fasteners are not noticeable, you need to tighten them slightly deepening the hats in order to putty in the future.

Installation of steps. Beams or boards are laid on the risers, and after fastening they are polished. But there is a high risk that the tree will shrink, which will lead to cracks and creaking. Therefore, it is better to buy steps ready-made, made of glued wood.
Railing fastening. Then balusters or other railings to the steps are fixed to the studs. Handrails are placed and screwed on top.

Do-it-yourself installation of stairs to the second floor video

Finishing wooden stairs

Wood is a complete finishing material. Finishing work often come down to emphasizing the pattern and applying a protective layer.

If the material is damaged, cracked or chipped, they are puttied to match the color of the wood. After coating with tinted varnish or stain, these defects become invisible.

Stages of work

Upon completion of the assembly of the stairs, all wooden elements skins. Then wipe with a damp cloth to completely remove all dust.

In the presence of defects, they are immediately puttied and left for a day until the composition is completely hardened.
Then you can go in two ways: first, tint the stairs with a stain, and then apply a protective transparent varnish, or ask the store to tint the varnish. The second option is preferable, since the work will be faster, and the color will be the same on all elements.
The varnish for treads is chosen very wear-resistant - floor or deck. After applying 1 layer and its complete drying, the steps must be sanded with a fine-grained sandpaper. Then a second layer of varnish is applied.

Tip: it is rather difficult to apply tinted varnish evenly, even when using a brush with a very thin bristle, traces of strokes will be noticeable. It is recommended to use a spray gun.

Metal interfloor staircase

To make a ladder out of metal, you need to have welding skills. In addition, this design is more complex and expensive to implement. But it has a number of significant advantages over a wooden counterpart:

high strength and more long term services;
technical characteristics provide resistance to heavy loads;
reliability of connection points;
the ability to create various designs;
allows you to stretch the installation process. Yes, during repair work so as not to pollute the steps, you can only climb the frame. And after finishing, install the steps;
the metal frame of the stairs will guarantee that over time there will be no creaking.

Types of metal interfloor stairs

The appearance of the stairs depends only on the imagination and interior design, in which it must harmoniously fit. But its design depends on the location.

Installation location. Inside the house, it is convenient to use the stairs all year round and it becomes a decorative element. The outdoor location allows you to save living space, often they are placed to climb from the balcony to the attic floor.
Manufacturing methods. Most often, welded stairs are made. They are easiest to do with your own hands right on the spot. Forged designs are more elegant, but are made in workshops in advance.
Finishing. In unfinished stairs, it is provided that the frame will be visible, which means that it must be made very high quality from an aesthetic point of view. With finishing, the flights of stairs are closed completely from all sides, it is not uncommon for them to equip a room with a door for storing things or products under it.

By build type. Whole, they are sold in ready-made sections and assembled on site. In this case, its exact dimensions must be known at the design stage of the house. Prefabricated ones consist of a large number of parts and connecting elements, which allows you to create a structure of the required height.
Design difference. Marching, this is either a staircase with a platform for turning, or with winder steps. Spiral staircases are the most compact, as the march is located around one central pillar-support.

Do-it-yourself metal interfloor staircase

Before you assemble the stairs to the second floor, you need to prepare everything necessary tools and materials:

welding machine;
grinder, drill;
square, level;
electrodes, metal screws, cutting and cleaning discs for grinders;
channel, metal pipe;
metal corner;
sheet metal.

Tip: the amount and characteristics of the material depend on the type ladder construction, on the number of steps and finishing. So, stone is much heavier than wood, and when finishing with it, the frame of the stairs should be more durable than when facing with wood.

Theoretically, the stairs can be made in two ways: welded in advance and installed in the finished form on site or made in stages directly in the installation area. The second option is preferable, as it allows, if necessary, to make its own adjustments.

Stages of work

First, they are determined with the type of frame. If winders are present, what will be their location (90° turn or 180° turn).
Using the program and known dimensions, a sketch is created. This stage is recommended to be entrusted to a professional designer.
In accordance with the project, the right amount of metal is bought, if necessary, it is immediately cleaned with a grinder from scale and rust. Drawings of elements are transferred to it and sawn. At this stage, it is important to mark all parts of the structure.
If there is a platform, then its frame is first made and installed in the flight of stairs. Further from the floor to it, beams are mounted that act as stringers.

Further, the required number of identical fillies are immediately produced - these are triangular elements that will serve as a support for future steps. They are welded along the entire length of the stringer. It is very important to place them correctly, so at first it is enough just to grab them pointwise in a couple of places, check the evenness with a square, and only after that make a quality seam. They can also be welded to the frame, or fastened with bolts. The work is done from the bottom up, setting the lower fillies, they put a board on them and stand on it, and so they gradually move up to the top.
If you need to achieve greater rigidity of the steps, then a steel corner is welded between the filly, which also acts as a support for the step.
Then comes metal processing. All seams are cleaned, then treated with acetone, a rust preventative and primed. After that, it is painted.
Attach the steps to the bolts from below. After that, railings and decorative elements are installed.

Scheme of stairs to the second floor in a private

Finishing metal stairs

Tiled metal stairs:

Start laying tiles from the bottom up. First, it is attached to the riser between the floor and the first tread. Then the tile is laid across the width of the entire first step, and only then the next step is attached. This method allows the most rational application of glue and the absence of sawn edges of the tile;
since the metal staircase will vibrate when walking on it, the tile adhesive must be special, high strength;
in one stage to complete the entire cladding will not work. Since on the edge you will have to leave a place for walking until the tile adhesive is completely seized in the remaining areas.

Wood cladding for metal stairs:

fastening a wooden tread to a metal step from below would be the best option, since the place of fixation will not be noticeable. To do this, the metal step is pre-drilled in 8 places (4 on each side of the center, at a distance of 25 cm from each other). A wooden step is placed on top and from below, through the holes, it is attached with self-tapping screws;
if it is impossible to fasten from below, you will have to drill a wooden step from above through and through along with the metal. To do this, it should be firmly fixed to the metal platform. To hide the heads of the self-tapping screws, a 5 mm deepening is drilled from above with a larger diameter drill. The tread is fastened with metal screws, and the cap is puttied. Or use special wooden lining.

Interfloor concrete stairs

Concrete stairs are very heavy and can only be built in houses with reinforced concrete floors.
They are built immediately after the box of the house with the roof is ready.
Once the solution has set, it can be used.
Over time, concrete stairs will not begin to creak like wood, and when stepped on, vibrations will not form like iron ones.
Due to their solidity, such stairs are considered safer, and if the cladding is damaged, it can be easily repaired.
But it will not work out of concrete to make a staircase in a small opening.

Step-by-step instructions on how to make an interfloor staircase out of concrete

When all calculations are made, according to the project, the formwork of the entire flight of stairs is made. It is made from a board with a thickness of 20-30 mm.
Reinforcement is laid inside the future steps. It can be connected from a metal or fiberglass rod.
The lower stage is poured first. While the solution is soft, it is pierced with a metal trowel to remove air bubbles and compact as much as possible.

After that, the filled step is covered with a film and a board longer than the steps is placed on top so that it rests on the formwork, and it can be stepped on to fill the next step. Thus, the entire staircase is erected.

Finishing concrete stairs

After parsing the formwork, the staircase has a massive and unennobled appearance. Finishing will require careful not only all elements (steps, risers), but also all junctions with the walls.
The choice of material depends on the configuration of the stairs. If it is straight, then there will be no problems, but if there are winder and rotary steps, the facing material should be easily cut.
Also, the coating of the treads themselves must be non-slip and resistant to mechanical stress.
IN Lately it became popular to finish the flights of stairs with the same material that was used on the floors of both floors.
The degree of noise is also important. If wooden or carpeted steps almost completely absorb the noise of steps, then stone or finished tiles, on the contrary, can enhance it.

Using roll material, it is worth gluing it very carefully. If even a small fragment of it moves away, it can cause a fall. Most often, this is a carpet with a high degree abrasion resistance (wool carpets for stairs will not work). It is allowed to line the steps with cork, but not rolled, but with a greater thickness in mats.

The tree is always popular among owners of private houses. This malleable material is suitable for any construction work. The potential of wood is revealed especially brightly when arranging stairs to the second floor. Let's talk about how to correctly draw up a project, calculate dimensions and choose tools.

There are the following types of interfloor stairs:

Single-march.

Single-march with a platform.

Two-march.

Screw.

Spiral.

Circular.

Combined.

The final choice depends on the dimensions and geometry of the room. Most simple option - single-march, and most difficult- combined.

A detailed sectional drawing of the stairs is shown in the picture below. Before manufacturing structural elements, it is necessary to determine its dimensions.

Since a staircase to the second floor will be constructed, the height is known in advance - this distance between floors.

Need to measure the distance from ceiling to floor depending on the thickness of the overlap. In our case, this 2700 mm:

At the stage, a horizontal plane is distinguished - tread and vertical (lift height) - riser. There are stairs with and without risers.

Practice has proven that the optimal step height is calculated based on the indicators 150-200 mm. For example, the size of the stairs we have is 200 mm. Then 2700 mm is divisible by 200 mm, and it turns out 13 steps.

IN SNIP precisely defined dimensions:

For residential and public buildings: riser height - 148 mm, tread width - 300 mm.

For basements and attics: riser height - 171 mm, tread width - 260 mm.

Often steps lean on cutouts in bowstrings, inserted or crash in inner part their surfaces.

Further it is necessary project the structure stairs to the floor of the room in order to determine how it will be placed in the room. The width of the tread of the stairs lies within 250-300 mm. We have it 250 mm, and after multiplying the value by 13 steps, the projection size is equal to 3250 mm.

The last thing to do - calculate length stairs. It is defined according to the Pythagorean theorem. This value corresponds to the square root taken from the sum of the squares of the legs of a right triangle.

In our case, the hypotenuse is 3260 mm. That's what it is desired length.

Next stage- production of parts and elements of stairs. Need to take wooden beam section 140×60 mm, from which they will be made stringers.

Kosour- the supporting structure of the flight of stairs, in the form of a beam (bar) with a comb along the top, on which steps are installed.

Need them two pieces, and they are made of boards with a thickness 30-40 mm - 13 steps, and from boards thick 25-30 mm turns out 13 risers. The length of the step should be chosen based on the size of the room.

It should also be taken into account that with a width of a flight of stairs less 1 meters there will be certain inconvenience during the construction and operation of the stairs.

Buying wood for the construction of stairs, pay attention to the quality of the material. It should be uniform in color, without grayish areas, deformations and cracks.

Humidity wood you will not be able to determine without special instruments, but too a large number of"Water" is felt by weight - such a board will be much heavier than you expected.

planed wood(namely, such wood should be bought) should be smooth, without roughness, without knots and other defects. Especially avoid knots on the beams for stair stringers.

On one linear meter of lumber there shouldn't be more than one.

If it was not possible to find boards of the required width, then you can make steps from several narrow boards by connecting them furniture dowels on glue:

In order to connect the boards with dowels, in side faces recesses equal to half the length of the dowel are drilled, and a wooden nail is driven in with a hammer until it stops. Further, its ends are smeared with paint, and the boards are shifted towards each other by the side faces.

In those places where a trace of paint remains, holes are drilled a little more in depth than protruding dowels.

And boards, and wooden nails in the places where they will dock, must be glued and assembled. To avoid leaving marks on the surface from hammer blows, you need to enclose a wooden plank. Nagels need to be fixed every 150-200 mm.

Such a step, assembled from several boards, completely replace made from solid wood. Flaw this stage - miniature gap, because the lumber cannot be combined absolutely exactly, so the surface will need to be finalized with a planer in order to finally level it.

Before assembling the stairs into a single structure, you need try on all the details and, if necessary, adjust them to fit. After that, the elements should be cleaned with a sandpaper. Pay special attention to end surfaces.

Connect all the details it is necessary with stainless screws with pre-lubrication of surfaces with glue PVA, wood glue or Bustilat.

Then all the elements of the stairs stained, and after it several layers of transparent waterproof varnish are applied. If there is no stain, then it is allowed to process wooden surfaces heated drying oil 2-3 times. The composition is better to apply before assembly parts so that the screw heads do not get dirty.

To protect places, on which glue will be applied, from varnish and drying oil, their sealed with masking tape.

If you want your staircase to look like sleeker and more elegant, you can use the scheme with mortise steps. The markup of all elements in this case is performed in the same way as before.

To cut grooves in stringers for rigid fixation of the steps, a chisel is also used along with a hacksaw:

The assembly of this design is best done not screws, and fasten the steps with bolts with a rounded head, which is equipped with a slot for a slotted wide screwdriver.

Connection is done like this:

After sampling the grooves for the steps in the stringer, you need drill holes diameter 10 mm in the central part of the groove.

Step inserted into groove, and through drilled hole a mark is made. Then a hole is drilled in this place so that the threaded insert can be screwed in.

Screwdrivers are best used for threaded bolts M8 long 40-50 mm.

Insert needed screw into a step, which is then inserted into the groove and tightened with a bolt. This method of installation will provide excellent reliability and good strength. You can also fix it with furniture screws.

screw head need sink into a drilled chamfer, which will then be closed with a decorative plastic plug.

All fasteners and wood drills buy in construction stores.

It is impossible to build a wooden staircase to the second floor without reliable fixation. But, if the design is small: for a country house in 5-6 steps, then additional fastenings for steps not necessary to arrange. A solid frame will withstand the load.

Everything is clear with the drawings, design and process of assembling a wooden staircase with your own hands. BUT instruments the following are required:

To drill holes, you will need a manual or electric drill, in extreme cases - a brace.

To cut boards and other wooden parts, a hacksaw is needed. For small items, you can use a hacksaw for metal with large teeth.

For fixing bolts, screws and screws, you will need screwdrivers with the appropriate set of tips or an electric (battery) screwdriver. You can also use an electric drill, but it is too heavy.

To make grooves, you should stock up on a chisel. Useful and light hammer. Masses in 200-250 grams will suffice.

When grinding and leveling lumber can not do without a planer and sandpaper of all sizes: large, medium and small.

For marking and measuring you need to take with you a tape measure, a locksmith's corner, a simple hard pencil and several rulers long 50-80 cm.

fine paper definitely need clean up all the details, otherwise, after the varnish dries, the wood fibers will become bristling, which will adversely affect appearance the entire staircase.

Instructional video

At the end of the material, we suggest watching a video with the manufacture of a wooden two-flight staircase:

One-story buildings in the private sector are built only to support economic activities, and are used as ancillary buildings. A full-fledged residential building with at least 2 floors. Therefore, one cannot do without such a functional element as a staircase to the second floor.

The problem of moving from one level to another can be solved simply - buy a ready-made kit and install it yourself.

Its cost starts from about 33,000 rubles (pine, 14 steps, a turning staircase with two spans). Do-it-yourself installation is easy. The problem is different - how will it fit into the interior, will it be necessary to adjust individual elements or partially reconstruct the 1st floor?

Many firms provide services for the manufacture of kits according to customer drawings, but as practice shows, such stairs cost 1.5 times more. That is why most often the most acceptable option is to make a wooden staircase with your own hands, from scratch.

How to do it, what to pay attention to - this is what this article is devoted to.

Terminology

Before proceeding to review design features, it is necessary to "decipher" some specific definitions. The main elements are shown in the diagrams.

Step. Its horizontal part is called a tread, the vertical (it may not be) - a riser.
Support beams. If the steps are adjacent to them with end parts, then this is a bowstring. If they are "superimposed" on the beam and their edges protrude beyond it, then it is called a kosour.
Railing supports. They are often called balusters or pillars. For screw construction, the term rack is used.
Fasteners. In some types of stairs, the steps are fixed directly on the adjoining wall with special bolts - bolts.

Types of staircase designs

For self-production, the simplest are marching ones. For a private house, they are installed with one or two spans. Spiral staircases for self-assembly are much more complicated (this is discussed here). In addition, the production of the necessary calculations for them has its own specifics.

Features of calculating the parameters of the stairs

Further given general recommendations, which it is only desirable to focus on when designing an internal staircase. Since all houses (and premises) differ in architecture, dimensions, layout, there can be no single template in principle.

steepness

The optimal slope of the spans is in the range from 35 to 450. It is much more difficult to climb the steeper stairs (especially for people with disabilities, the elderly or small children). Yes, and carrying large, heavy things from floor to floor will also be complicated.

A flatter design is inconvenient in that more space will be needed for its installation, as the length of each span will increase. And what specific angle to choose is at the discretion of the owner.

Width

It is unlikely that anyone in a private house will move from floor to floor as part of a “group of comrades”, therefore, when drawing up a diagram, it is advisable to focus on the dimensions of one person. A staircase with a width of about 1.2 - 1.5 m for a private house is quite an acceptable option. And walking on it, and even carrying furniture will be quite convenient.

Step parameters

Tread. A person's foot should completely fit on it (based on the 45th size), therefore the optimal step width is within 250 - 300 mm.
Riser. In order to make it convenient for people of any height and age to move, its height is taken within 150 - 200 mm. Quite enough, regardless of the design.

On a note! All indicated dimensions are exactly the same for each step of one staircase. Otherwise, there is no need to talk about the convenience of moving.

Ladder height

Defined as distance from floor covering the lower floor to the ceiling + ceiling thickness. For example, 270 + 40 - 310 (cm).

Number of steps

The height of the structure (310) is divided by the sum of the riser value and the thickness of the tread board, after which it is rounded up to a whole value (up). For example, if "magpie" is used, then 20 + 4 = 24 cm.

Total - 310: 24 = 13 (steps).

Recommendation - for stairs with more than 18 steps and a steepness of 450, special platforms should be installed. Depending on the purpose, they are called differently - rotary, viewing, intermediate. Consequently, the staircase itself will already consist of separate flights (flights). They can be of the same type, or made according to different schemes, since the site is not necessarily located exactly in the center of the structure.

Ladder length

It is easy to determine it, knowing the number of steps and the size of each tread. These values are multiplied. If the steps have protrusions, then they are not taken into account.

Sometimes calculations show that such a design "does not fit" in a particular room. In such cases, either the number of marches is increased, or the so-called winder (turning) steps are equipped.

Winder steps - top view

Height of spans relative to the floor

It is necessary to focus on the height of a person + a small margin. The design is considered optimal, in which the distance between the extreme steps and the ceiling is at least 2 m. Otherwise, a tall person at the end of the span will have to bend his head.

materials

In most cases, a wood species such as pine is chosen. It is inexpensive, but it is not characterized by durability. Larch - in many ways preferable. The presence of a special resin in its structure makes the material even stronger when absorbing moisture. And this is important for a home staircase, given the specifics of its operation. All other options, for example, oak, cedar, maple and a number of others, cannot be called budget.

Before you start working with wood, it must be properly dried. Further shrinkage of the material (including twisting) will cause the staircase to literally fall apart.

The order of work on the installation of stairs

Consider the simplest example - single-flight stairs. This option can be considered basic, since the algorithm of actions is the same, regardless of the number of spans.

Preparation of structural elements

Kosoura. The main requirement is that they must be absolutely identical. The board is only solid, without defects, not less than "forty". Accordingly, cuts are made under the steps in advance.
Steps. The edges must be rounded, as sharp edges increase the risk of injury. The board is selected absolutely flat, carefully processed (polished). The length is calculated so that their edges protrude beyond the stringers by no more than 2 - 4 cm. Thickness - in the range of 300 - 400 mm.
Riser. They do not experience significant load, since it falls mainly on the support beams. In order not to increase the total weight of the span, a board of 15 is enough for them.

Tip - it is better not to install risers for a private house, since it is much more difficult to clean on a staircase of this (closed) type.

Handrails, balusters. It is unlikely that it will be possible to make them on your own so that the staircase becomes not only a means of transportation, but also a decoration of the house. Therefore, these structural elements should either be purchased in a store or ordered in a workshop.

Ladder assembly

Wall marking

According to the installation diagram and drawing.

Fastening of support beams (stringers)

The fixation of the upper part of the march is done in different ways (as convenient). Option number 1 - cuts are made in the floor beam. Option number 2 - metal stops are used, which are fixed on the beam with anchors. In any case, the junction structural elements should be as reliable as possible.

To fix the bottom of the stringers, a support beam is mounted on the floor. To the wall - fixation on anchor bolts.

Installation of risers

If they are mounted, then they are screwed to the stringers.

Laying steps

They are fixed both on the support beams and on the risers (at least at one point, in the center).

For the convenience of work, the installation of steps begins from the bottom. The options are shown in the diagram.

Installation of balusters

First of all, the extreme ones are fixed - above and below the march. A “bowstring” is stretched between them, focusing on which, you can mount the rest of the racks.

Handrail Installation

They are fixed on each of the racks, which are located on the march. They can be made from almost any material - metal, plastic, and not just wood.

Treatment

The article only presents general order actions and key recommendations. Having decided on the specific design of the stairs, you should study all the available material on this topic, since for different models there are some nuances and installation, and calculations of individual components. For example, rotary steps, which can be either rectangular or segmental.

You can watch a video instruction for making a wooden staircase:

But the general rules of work are described in detail, and the author hopes that this article will help the reader in the matter of self-design. Good luck!

Samples of finished stairs

The staircase is one of the most complex building modules. In more or less reputable construction organizations, special specialists are engaged in the design of stairs, and only them. But now, with ever-increasing prices for construction works, incl. project, and building land, many individual developers prefer to build their home on their own, starting with the project. And the cost of land plots in places with a fairly developed infrastructure immediately inclines to the choice of a two- or one-and-a-half-story house. In which there must be at least one staircase. Yes, and in a one-story house or country house you need to go up to the attic, go down to the basement. And it's best to do it in a more comfortable and safer way. That is, in any house you can’t do without a ladder.

In this article, we will talk about what you need to know in order to make a staircase completely with your own hands or choose a typical purchased one according to your personal needs. And also - so that the reader can correctly assess the advantages and disadvantages of step-by-step and video instructions from other sources. Behind the apparent simplicity of the stairs lies a very solid natural foundation, which can be seen only with certain knowledge. And the constant use of stairs, which look the same as the others, but designed a little bit wrong, can lead to chronic health disorders.

In construction manuals and rules about stairs, it would seem that everything is described to the smallest detail. But they are focused on public stairs in apartment buildings; take into account all the diversity individual features and requirements by any general norms is impossible. Regarding stairs in private homes, both domestic SNiP and "foreign" DINs are limited to the most general instructions. We are also not going to output some universal recipe for building stairs. But we'll tell you:

How to choose the right staircase for your home.
How to calculate it for your specific family.
In what ways can you “compress” the stairs so that, without losing convenience, it takes up a minimum of usable area.
What are the features of the construction of stairs of different types.

The article uses materials received from the most experienced designers and builders of stairs; most of them are unique. Designing and building stairs in a house with their help allows you to gain 3-7% of the total area of the building relative to what comes out when “squeezing” standard stairs into the project, taking into account the payment for consultations. Knowing how much it costs to build one common square in your region, you yourself will be able to calculate how much of your hard-earned or mortgage money, which must be paid at least twice, now you don’t have to let it go to the wind, that is, bury it under the stairs.

About spiral staircases

The fascination with spiral staircases is not just a tribute to fashion, although they are really elegant and allow, as designers express it among themselves, to “turn on crazy creativity” using almost any materials suitable for construction in the most arbitrary combinations, see fig.

A spiral staircase not only saves floor space. Its main, invaluable advantage is that it allows you to stretch yourself to any height given in advance, limited to the same, and minimal, area under the stairs. No less important is the fact that you can make a spiral staircase yourself, without any builder skills, and ready-made kits for assembling them (see fig.) are several times cheaper than any custom-made staircase and go on sale in a wide range with a design for any taste.

However, spiral staircases are not without serious drawbacks:

The size of the walking part of the step - tread, see below - is optimal only in one place and just where they never step, exactly in the middle of it.
The angle of inclination of the stairs within the width of the step changes three times or more.
Spiral staircases for left-handers and right-handers must be carried out in mirror reflection: for right-handers, twisted clockwise (to the right), and vice versa for left-handers.
Furniture and other bulky items on the upper floors will have to be lifted as you like, but not up the stairs.

Let's give some additional explanations. To item 1: it is common for a person to walk with his legs slightly apart, otherwise the body strives to fall to one side. Fashion models work out the podium gait with long workouts and walk with it only at shows (and even there, it happens, they fall), but in life - like everyone else.

To item 2: on steps with a variable inclination, the right and left legs have to step over with different scope and frequency, for which the tactile sense (natural muscle memory) is not adapted. In addition, the center of gravity of the body at the same time experiences jerks not only up and down, but also sideways. This leads to increased fatigue and increases the risk of musculoskeletal disorders, see below for more details.

To point 3: left-handers start climbing stairs with their left foot, and right-handers with their right. On the stairs, twisted in the wrong direction, the tactile feeling and the actually required rhythm of movement turn out to be acting out of sync, in antiphase. This exacerbates the effect of the negative factors described in the previous paragraph.

All of these impacts have a cumulative effect, that is, until a certain quantitative threshold is exceeded, they do not affect, and then they affect immediately. That's why a spiral interfloor staircase can only be used in residential buildings with clear zoning by floor: the first is residential, where the family spends most of the time, and the second is sleeping, where they go up / down no more than 3-4 times a day.

Video: an example of assembly and installation of a spiral staircase

Where do we start?

Taking on any ladder without a project is a waste of time. But the design of stairs without continuous consideration of the properties of the material used is impossible. That's why already at the stage of the preliminary design of the house, it is necessary to choose the material for the stairs. Building / altering it in an existing house also gives some freedom of choice, so the question of material should be considered first. In the course of the presentation, we will also touch on the essential features of technologies, give examples of designs. And you can expertly customize them for yourself by reading the section on design, it is at the end of the text.

Material selection

In private homes, homemade stairs are most often made of wood, metal or reinforced concrete. All of them without problems hold the required SNiP load of 150 kg, and most types and increased, of 250 kg, like the flooring.

Wood

according to technology, the simplest and most affordable option for a do-it-yourselfer. However, with the price, everything is not so simple. Stairs made of straight-grained coniferous wood quickly dry out, begin to creak and stagger. This drawback is largely compensated by the fact that the wooden staircase is weakly connected in terms of load with the building structure and can be repaired or remade without starting overhaul, but these are periodic extra costs and work, and commercial wood will not become cheaper in the foreseeable future.

For 100-300 years or more, ladders made of thin-layered dense hardwoods serve: oak, beech, walnut, maple, ash. But the felling of these trees is strictly limited by law, the wood is sold only well seasoned and treated with pest control, so hardwood is expensive, and long lumber is very expensive. Elm and eucalyptus stairs are practically eternal, but the biocenoses corresponding to these trees are extremely vulnerable ecologically, therefore elm and eucalyptus wood is harvested in minimal quantities and all goes to the needs of the shoe industry (elm, for blocks for elite shoes) and mechanical engineering. Commercial elm and eucalyptus are not widely sold.

Note: hardwood is very fond of fungus, worm and bug. Therefore, with the independent manufacture of stairs from them, the first production operation is the limiting one.

However, in everyday life stairs made of ordinary coniferous wood are applicable in the following cases:

Attic stairs, especially folding or retractable, see below, at the end. The microclimate of the attic will provide her with a service life no less than that of the rafters.
Stairs to a seasonally inhabited attic or to the one and a half floor, in the cold season separated from the living quarters by a tight door and unheated, according to the same principle.
Staircase in a one and a half to two-story cottage, inhabited only in the warm season. The microclimate of the room also decides here.
Staircase to the sleeping attic or mezzanine. It is easy to impregnate such stairs with a water-polymer emulsion, varnish or paint over them, which will protect them from drying out for a long time. And in which case it will not be very expensive to replace it, because. such stairs are small-sized, see below.

About fancy stairs

Modern computer-aided design technologies make it possible to immediately print pattern templates for the details of wooden stairs of the most bizarre configuration, see fig. A project ordered on the Internet or developed independently online costs very little. It is not much more difficult to build a staircase on it yourself than an ordinary one; the technology is the same, see below. The use of such stairs allows you to save up to 1.5-2 square meters. m. of area, which can decide the fate of the project as a whole.

But the physiological and ergonomic requirements in the programs are general, averaged according to SNiP or DIN, and for the sake of economy, the limiting values \u200b\u200bof the parameters are used by default. That's why, when ordering a project or setting up a CAD system, determine personal/family parameters first, as will be described below, and inform their developers or “kill” them yourself by selecting an online program that allows you to do this.

About stairs-furniture

Wooden ladder “3 in 1”

Wood is an extremely flexible structural material. It allows, showing a certain amount of fiction, to build a staircase that does not take away usable space at all. For example, in fig. on the right - the product "3 in 1": a staircase to the sleeping mezzanine (bed - attic), it is also a closet, it is also a storage rack. If you attach blind railings to it, then you won’t say that this is a staircase. And for construction, you need the most ordinary boards, a saw, a hammer, a drill and a measuring tool. Without any high-information technologies.

Wooden ladder technology

All wood products are made in general according to the usual "wooden" technology and the same tools. However, a wooden staircase, in essence, is a piece of furniture fastened to the structure of the building. But it has perfectly even walls and exactly right angles only in theory, even without finishing. And the wooden staircase, due to its low weight, lightness and purity of technology, is attached to the finished flooring in a fully finished room. Therefore, in relation to it, some features appear:

A template for a supporting beam adjacent to the wall (strings, see about design) is drawn on the back of the wallpaper tape or printed on an A3-A2 printer first of all, on a scale of 1: 1.
The pattern of the bowstring is temporarily attached in place to the walls, following all their kinks with bends.
The bowstring pattern is verified and corrected exactly in size in place to zero gaps at the top, bottom and along the wall.
With the help of slats simulating steps, aligned horizontally in level, the template of the second carrier beam is corrected. For this, it is convenient to stick it on a strip of packaging cardboard.
According to the fitted patterns, the horizontal dimensions of the steps and platform details are adjusted. The height of all steps must be strictly the same, and the platform must be horizontal!
The exact heights of the supports are determined.
According to the dimensions of the upper opening, the height of the railing and their posts - balusters - is specified.
Stair details are cut to size and assembled into one; then a clean finish.

Note: a free ladder, not attached to the wall, is much easier to make. According to the results of measurements on the spot, it is assembled immediately completely. The upper support areas of the beams (most often vertical - shoulders) are cut exactly into the plane. Then the ladder is put in place and the heels of the beams are adjusted along the floor. But only attic stairs and sleeping nooks are made this way. An interfloor wooden staircase must be fastened to the wall.

Video: installing a wooden staircase

Metal

Metal stairs in private construction are most often used in combination with other materials:

Frame - welded metal, left pos in fig.
Steps - wooden (middle position) or concrete.
Decorative finish - any to taste, means and skill, right pos.

The total labor intensity and cost of a combined metal-wood staircase is approximately 65% more than a wooden one. But her the metal frame is eternal, and the finish can be repaired or changed without starting a major repair indoors and without interrupting the use of the stairs. A metal staircase can also be mounted on an already built building, but after its construction, a medium degree of finishing repair will be required. The general installation technology is as follows:

Prepare 2 beams under the platform from the channel 60-100 mm. Entry of beams into the carrier concrete wall in addition to finishing at least 80 mm; in brick and wood at least 120 mm. It is undesirable to mount a metal staircase in walls made of PGB or aerated concrete; if nevertheless necessary, then the beams should lie in the wall for its entire thickness, but not less than 150 mm without finishing. These considerations must be taken into account when determining the length of the beams.
Nests are punched in the walls under the beams; in the one that is thicker - a depth of 2.3 beams. If the walls are made of PGB or aerated concrete, through holes are punched instead of nests.
First, the far and then the near beam are brought into the nests.
The beams are brought horizontally along the level along and across, and the entire site is drawn into a rectangle with a cord along the diagonals. To remove the beams in the nests, wedged with scraps of sheet metal from the bottom and from both sides. The wedged beam should sit tight in the nest so that it cannot be moved horizontally by hand.
Beams in stone wall, sprinkling nests with water from a spray bottle, cement. In wood, they are sealed with a compound of sawdust, thickly (to the consistency of dry cottage cheese) mixed with liquid nails.
They remove the flooring and the screed to the overlap where the heels of the beams fall.
After 2 weeks, the site is again checked for horizontal along and across and squareness.
They take the dimensions of the inclined beams, prepare them.
The beams are welded to the site, and their heels are attached to the floor anchor bolts M12x90.
The screed is restored, and while it dries, the frames of the steps are cooked from the corner.
The vertical shelves of the frames of the steps for concreting are oriented upwards; under the wooden steps - down.
Sheathe or concrete steps.
Do the final finishing of the stairs.

All-metal stationary stairs are not very aesthetic and therefore rarely used in everyday life. For an example in fig. on the right is a spiral welded metal staircase. On both floors, upper and lower, steel thrust bearings with a diameter of at least 180 mm are required under its rack. They are attached to the floor slabs with 4 M8x120 anchor bolts each.

This staircase can be somewhat ennobled by sticking on the steps from below to hide the struts, wood or XPS and rounding the overlays according to the pattern. After mounting the railing (preferably stainless steel) and painting the stairs, corrugated rubber, linoleum or carpet are glued to the tread of the steps.

Video: combined metal-wood staircase

About ladders on the rails

Bolzen is German for bolt. Foresters call bolts power, bearing the operational load, ladder bolts, in contrast to fixing bolts. A staircase on the bolts means - a staircase without support beams, only on bolts, see fig. on right.

Boltsevye ladders are among the combined metal-wood. Their important parts are vertical bolts in spacer clips connecting the hanging edges of the steps. They distribute the load over the steps, so the ladder on the bolts is no less reliable than the beam.

There are no less sets of parts for bolt stairs on sale than for spiral ones, and they are even cheaper. When designing stairs on the rails yourself, you need to consider the following:

Installation of stairs on bolts is possible only on load-bearing concrete or brick walls.
Steps - a board made of durable small-layer deciduous wood with a thickness of 40 mm or more. Substituting wood for MDF or VDF (High Density Modified Wood, HDF) is not permitted.
Wall bolts - M8x (120 + finishing thickness), in metal collet anchors, 2 per step. Do not use self-tapping screws in dowels!
Vertical bolts - M12x (riser height, see below + 2 step thicknesses + 35 mm).
Balusters from pipes with internal thread under the bolts they can play the role of nuts, but the railings themselves do not carry the load, it all falls on the bolts.

Video: assembling the stairs on the bolts

Concrete

Reinforced concrete stairs are most of all used in mass standard construction. There is practically no alternative to them here: all the others need to be assembled on site, and concrete ones are brought ready-made with reinforced concrete structures and mounted on a par with other parts of the prefabricated structure.

In private houses, two types of concrete stairs are built: combined with metal (not to be confused with reinforced concrete!) And monolithic. In the first step and platform slabs are made by pouring concrete into the same frame as for a metal-wood staircase, reinforced with reinforcement. Horizontal surfaces, less subject to wear, are finished in any other way.

The combined concrete staircase is quite affordable for self-production. Its labor intensity is about twice as high as that of a metal-wooden one, but it pays off with the fact that you can forget about creaking and regular repairs of the walking part of the stairs once and for all.

For steps and platforms, a special one is needed, with increased resistance to bending. Knead the solution only in, do not have time to knead with a hand mixer until completely homogeneous. Its composition (parts - bulk) and method of preparation:

Cement PC-400 - 1 part.
Fine dry river sand - 2 parts.
Marble chips - 2 parts.
Water - 0.7 parts.
Plasticizer C3 - 0.01 part.

For kneading, an empty mixer is turned on, marble chips, dry sand and cement are sequentially loaded. Knead dry for 1 minute, then add water in a thin stream. Knead for another 1 minute, add a plasticizer and knead for another minute. The solution is suitable for pouring within 20 minutes after the end of the batch, so there is no need to overdo it with the load. Let the mixer work better not under full load, it will mix more homogeneously.

The manufacture of stairs from concrete poured into metal has the following features:

Explanations. The solution of the described composition is characterized by increased plasticity, holds any finish well, and after polishing it looks good itself. However, he is prone to isolating the so-called. cement milk, which drastically worsens the quality of the finished casting, so the leakage of milk must be prevented by all possible means.

The plate under vertical load works in general in bending. At the same time, its upper layer is compressed, and the lower one is stretched. Concrete holds compression perfectly, but tension is disgusting. This circumstance explains the recommended location of the reinforcement.

Video: framed concrete stairs

As for monolithic reinforced concrete stairs, they are suitable for individual construction only in the form of finished standard or custom-made products. It is not recommended to build a monolith staircase yourself for the following reasons:

To prevent laitance from flowing out and to support a very heavy concrete mass, a strong special construction is required from expensive high-quality lumber: seasoned wood, waterproof plywood from 25 mm, MDF, see fig. on right.
To match the shrinkage of the stairs and the building, the concrete must be vibrocompacted. In industrial conditions, the casting is shaken on special stands, but manual artisanal compaction methods cannot be used. One has only to hit the armature with the tip of the vibrator once, and cavities filled with cement laitance form in the thickness of the concrete. Cracks will subsequently creep from them, and it is hardly possible to repair a monolithic staircase connected into one with the power structure of the building.

Video: making a monolithic concrete staircase

We design a staircase

More than once specifically ladder terms have been used above. The figure explains them, there is little to add:

Bowstring - the bearing beam of the stairs, perceiving both vertical and horizontal loads. To do this, the steps of the stairs crash into the bowstring.
Kosour - a beam that holds only a vertical load; the steps are laid on the kosour.
Tread - the length (because the steps are extended in width) of the walking part of the step on which the foot is placed. Equal to the length of a walker's foot in shoes.
Winder steps - a piece of a spiral staircase built between straight marches. "Running" is used if it is impossible to find a place for the landing, because. they have all the disadvantages of spiral staircases. They were called zabezhnye because everyone who can jump over them.
In a monolithic staircase, the size of the riser and the height of the step are the same.
The riser can be empty, then it is called a gap, and the entire staircase is called a staircase with gaps.
A spade is made to get the necessary step tread on a steep staircase, see below.

Ladders with gaps are very widely used in private homes. Their injury risk is higher than that of solid ones, it is easier to knock off the toes of shoes on them. But if the same people use the stairs all the time, these disadvantages are negated. But a staircase with gaps is much cheaper, easier to manufacture and less obstructs the light. If the staircase starts in the living room, then the option with gaps is the most preferable.

More about stairs

Further, in the process of calculating the stairs, we will see how harmful these values are - the tread and the height of the step, and how they do not tolerate each other. The values recommended by SNiP for public and service stairs are shown in fig. on right. To get acceptable dimensions, most often you have to make steps with an overhang. But in private houses, where you can’t walk around with a ladder, its allowable size is small, and a large overhang makes the ladder traumatic and fatal for shoes.

The designers of the very first Khrushchevs found a way out: the risers must be made inclined outwards. Best concave, as shown in fig. on the left, but it can also be flat. If the entire staircase is trimmed with linoleum or carpet, then without harm to it, and to the walker, and to his shoes, you can bring the spade up to 60 mm.

man and ladder

Man, as a biological object, was not formed in high mountains, and all his kinematics and physiology of movement are designed to move along flat surfaces, horizontal or inclined. Climbing stairs forces the human body to do something that is not characteristic of it, so the stairs must be designed so that inconvenient factors affect less.

Human

Without going into the details of physiology, we will immediately take into account that the human muscles can work in two energy cycles: glycogen and oxygen. Glycogen - our usual. On glycogen, everyone develops average power for a long time in accordance with their physique and physical fitness.

The oxygen cycle is turned on in an unprepared person in critical circumstances. On oxygen, muscles work at the expense of their own energy reserves. The oxygen cycle allows you to develop very high power, but for a short time - the muscles' own energy depot burns out in 2-3 seconds; it takes about the same amount of time to replenish it. Known cases of ordinary people displaying incredible strength are explained precisely by working on oxygen.

Note: the most ordinary person in the most ordinary circumstances, running up a flight of stairs of 17-18 steps in one go, jumping over the steps, develops a power of 600-1500 W, or 0.8-2 hp, by 1.5-2 s.

Each inclusion of "oxygen" causes an involuntary contraction of the muscles for about 0.1-0.2 s, which consumes the energy of the muscle depot. Those. 20-30 inclusions of oxygen completely deplete muscle superpowers, even if no useful work. This process is similar to the fuel consumption for starting and warming up the internal combustion engine.

Man on the stairs

For a clear understanding of what follows, it is useful to imagine that the entire mass of the human body is concentrated in its center of gravity (CG). In humans, the CT is located in the lumbar region slightly inward from the spinal column. When moving on a flat surface, up or down, the CG moves approximately uniformly and in a straight line; the whole evolution of man has adapted his kinematics precisely to this.

On the stairs, the central heating experiences jerks up and down, and on the screw, it also jerks to the side. At the same time, every time you have to accelerate the body and then immediately slow down. The inertia of a person is not small: try to drop a load of 75-80 kg from a step height of 14-18 cm, make sure. Vegetative nervous system perceives rhythmic pushes as force majeure, and on the stairs at each step turns on oxygen.

ladder and man

Important conclusions already follow from the previous one: it is impossible to increase the number of steps of one march over 20 even for the most gentle stairs, a walker will run out of steam on such a walk for no apparent reason. Secondly, between marches it is highly desirable to arrange platforms at least 1.2-1.5 m wide. Only 2-3 steps on glycogen, and you can turn on oxygen again.

Further, a simplified calculation of the zero derivative gives a minimum of total energy consumption on the stairs with a ratio of tread to step height of 2:1, which corresponds to a staircase slope of 30 degrees. In reality, the very minimum falls on a larger angle, approximately 32-34 degrees. The fact is that overcoming / extinguishing inertia does not occur instantly, but during the reaction time of the muscles, 0.1-0.2 s.

In the direction of a smaller slope, energy costs increase rapidly, see fig. Here again, there is a complete analogy with an auto engine: by revving without measure on the first or second, you will first burn the entire tank and engine before you get somewhere. Specifically: the consumption of energy depot for switching on/off oxygen turns out to be much greater than for the actual movement. We draw the third conclusion: too gentle stairs are useless; a slope of less than 28 degrees is inconvenient and tiring, and less than 25 is just a ramp.

Large slopes are more economical. This is affected by the fact that the CG moves relatively uniformly for a large part of the step span. To an ordinary person no need to restore oxygen by climbing 4.5 m stairs to 75 degrees, this angle is considered the limit for general purpose stairs.

“Rising” above is not without reason. When descending stairs, another factor comes into play, namely, the balance of the body. In order for the CG not to go beyond the support area and not to have a “boom”, you have to lean forward when stepping over. But, going down the steep stairs, you can’t take your walking foot far, there is air. Therefore, very steep stairs have to go down backwards, and the maximum slope of public stairs is considered to be 45 degrees.

Builders for calculations do not use energy curves, but summary pie charts, see fig. Nothing is clear from physiology there, but the permissible angles of inclination are clearly shown. They are somewhat different from the "energy", because they are statistically averaged.

Staircase for yourself

We need, when designing a staircase, gain as much area as possible. The natural way to do this is to take a bigger slope.. But you can’t overdo it, once the cumulative harmfulness, which was mentioned at the beginning, will manifest itself. How then, without complex research, to find your own energy capabilities, and on them - the angle of inclination of the stairs?

The first thing we do is determine the average height Τ of adult physically full-fledged family members. The "small" kinematics with physiology are significantly different, they once again warm up only for the benefit. And normal people do not drive the elderly and infirm to the second floor.

But why - average height without gender difference? Because in women, firstly, the CT is located lower relative to height. Which of the men did not furtively lick their mouths at appetizing forms? Secondly, the width of the female step (the most important parameter, as we will see later) is also larger relative to height.

Are you surprised? This is just not visible, because. women's gait is smooth, and men's is sweeping. But take a closer look on the street: a lady 165-170 tall goes hand in hand with a gentleman 175-180, not adjusting to him at all.

All this theory is needed in order to determine:

The limit slope of the stairs in degrees as α \u003d T / 4 - 2;
Normal step width as d = 0.36 T.

The formulas are valid for height limits of 160-180 cm. For short men, α \u003d 38 degrees, and for tall ones - 45. We do not deal with the smallest slope, firstly, because it is very energetically unfavorable. And secondly, a gentle staircase will take up too much space, which is worth the money.

Types and dimensions of stairs

Before we start counting, let's see what we need to choose and design. The main types of stairs for private houses are shown in fig. In the top row, the first 2 from the left are console, or hanging. Monolithic is designed at the same time with the house and a ready-made purchase is taken. Nearby is a ladder on the bolts, which has already been mentioned. The following 2 also belong to the category of hanging ones, on stringers pushed under the steps. Their advantages are more aesthetic, they do not visually reduce the volume of the room.

Single-flight stairs (first from the bottom left) are rare in private homes; with normal step sizes, they most often simply do not fit there. More are built turning stairs, the next pos. The angle of rotation is recommended at 90 degrees if the stairs go up from the room, and 180 degrees if from the corridor. Such angles facilitate design.

Stairs with winder steps on curvilinear beams are discussed above, in the subsection on elaborate wooden stairs. Spiral stairs are built around the inside of a lantern, half-window or bay window.

Stair calculation

Calculation of stairs stands inviolably on 3 "pillars" - immutable principles:

All steps - with an accuracy of 0.5 cm of the same height. "Jumping" steps knock the tactile sense out of rhythm, which is why injury is inevitable over time;
The staircase should be between rooms with the same temperature regime. Uneven heating of the stairs during the heating season can lead not only to its damage, but also to a violation of the supporting structure of the building;
The calculation necessarily ends with an accurate drawing on a scale and with detailing, see an example for a wooden spiral staircase in fig. Sketch "offhand" does not guarantee against failure, even an experienced specialist.

Note: it is permissible to build a staircase between heated and unheated rooms if the passage to it from the warm side is tightly closed with self-closing doors.

Dimensions and proportions

The dimensions of the staircase required for calculation according to the English system are shown in fig. on right:

L is the length of the stairs.
H is its height (rise).
G is the height of the passage.
B - overall width.
W is the width of the passage.
N is the number of steps.
A - the length of the opening in the ceiling of the upper floor.
P is the height of the railing.
C is the gap between the balusters.

The product LxB gives the area occupied by the stairs on the lower floor; AxB - on the top. Their sum is the total area under the stairs. These values are necessary for budgeting and minimizing costs. G according to the DIN standard for private houses should be taken from 185 cm, according to SNiP - from 190 cm. In fact, it is better to stick to the value of 195-200 cm. Then the tall guest will not instinctively tilt his head in the aisle and will not stumble.

Here, the figure shows the way in which designers of private houses, who are not rigidly tied to typical elements, gain up to 5 cm G and up to 30 cm L: the lower edge of the upper opening is beveled. The thing is that the upper opening needs to be protected and a good half a meter away from it practically does not experience operational load.

W should be taken from 1200 mm for common interfloor stairs and from 900 mm for stairs to the sleeping floor. For official or individual (in the attic, mezzanine) - from 700 mm. N for calculations is taken as N-1, because the floor of the upper floor is the last rung of the staircase. The admissible N in one march was discussed above.

P is taken at 800-900 mm, depending on growth. Its value is not critical, do what is more convenient. C in families with children should be taken no more than 100 mm; for an adult family - up to 170 mm. This is according to the norms, it’s really better to be wider, and to put a solid fence along the bottom with a strip, it’s safer.

Note: not so long ago, a funny thing flashed several times in the news. A certain couple decided to have sex right on the stairs, causing the girl's head to push through between the balusters and get stuck. To get out, I had to call the Ministry of Emergency Situations and an ambulance. You see, the mind is there just in size for stupidity ...

Step calculation

The main difficulty in calculating the stairs is to determine the dimensions of its steps. The energy-optimal angle of inclination of the stairs α = 32 degrees; then the ratio of the step height l to its tread will be equal to tgα = tg 32 = 0.625. But the optimal one in terms of the minimum occupied area (and construction costs depend on it squared), determined by personal parameters, as described above, α will be about 40 degrees, and tg 40 \u003d 0.84. These two stubborn people need to be brought into one team so that it was convenient for us.

The calculation method is as follows:

Based on tgα \u003d 0.84 and H \u003d (ceiling height + ceiling thickness + screed height of the upper floor + floor thickness in the same place), we calculate the length of the stairs L \u003d H / (tgα) \u003d H / 0.84.
On the draft design of the house, we are looking for a place where this length will fit with a margin, subject to the overall width B. Here we need a creative vein and some experience: we try straight and turning stairs, apply design tricks, some of which see below.
According to the chosen place, we determine the constructive length of the stairs Lk.
From it and H we find the actual angle of inclination as Α = arctg(H/Lk).
To begin with, we take N-1 = 15, i.e. N = 16 and find the height of the step h = H / (N-1). h should be within 140-180 mm for an average family height of 160-180 cm; the optimum is found by proportion. If h deviates far from it, we correct N.
Calculate the length of the tread as l = h/(tgΑ). It will most likely turn out to be less than 280 mm, then we define the offset of the step as b = 280 - l, it should be no more than 60 mm for steps with an inclined riser and no more than 40 mm for all others. For stairs with a clearance, we always take b = 0, otherwise injury is inevitable.
If the steps “do not converge”, we repeat the calculation cycle starting from step 2.
When everything seems to have converged, we check the result for common stairs according to the formula from SNiP 2b + l = d, where d is the width of the “family” step defined above.
For individual and service stairs, we use the formula b + l = 0.75d for verification.
If our specific results agree with the statistical SniP formulas with an accuracy of 10%, wow! We got tired of the stairs.
If not, go back to point 2.

There is a nuance in the calculation of spiral stairs: the angle of divergence of their steps β should not exceed 60 degrees, and it is best to be less than 20 degrees. Therefore, radial stairs are considered according to the residual principle: the remainder of the total lifting height H, which falls on the radius part, is set in proportion to its share in the total length of the stairs, the height of the step of the straight parts is calculated and their number on the radius is determined from it. Then they check the opening of the steps by dividing the angle of inversion of the stairs by the number of steps in the arc. In ordinary homes, problems almost never arise.

Design subtleties

Here are 2 fairly well-known ways to save on stairs without compromising its ergonomics and functionality:

"Russian layout": the stairs are made either in a wide corridor ("novorusskaya") with a 180-degree turn, or on a veranda / in the hallway with a 90-degree turn. The first march is long and high. An additional combined bathroom, guest toilet, boiler room, etc. are stuffed under the landing, and under the march they arrange a descent into the basement.
"Spanish layout": the villa is designed as one and a half storey. The sleeping semi-floor is placed above the built-in garage with a removal above the entrance to it and, possibly, to the sides, up to 1 m. Then it is possible to place 2-3 small bedrooms in the semi-floor. And due to the basement of the building, the ceiling and the floor of the first floor, the mezzanine is shifted down by 1 m or more. The height of the stairs is also reduced by the same amount. In this case, it is most often possible to make it generally single-march.

Video: making stairs - from calculation to construction

About attic stairs

Stairs to the attic are needed in any home. Its well-known design, which does not take up useful space, is shown in Fig. There is only one drawback: it is in plain sight. You can get rid of it by hanging the ladder on a rail from a piece of pipe and sliding it behind the furniture in the folded position. Then it makes sense to attach a decorative overlay to the outer string.

Now popular and widely offered by sellers of various kinds of compact attic stairs. The most common types are shown below. rice:

About basement stairs

In instruction manuals, it is often advised to build a staircase to the basement on a separate foundation. Like, it will be stronger. This is a typical amateurish mistake, the house as a whole sits down faster and the stairs will simply warp or come off over time.

On the contrary, it is better to attach the basement stairs at the top with bowstrings brought together to a wedge to a horizontal swivel hinge, and round off the heels. Then, during shrinkage, the angle of its inclination will only decrease. If the obstruction of the steps becomes noticeable, it is enough to file or trim the heels.

Summing up

In general, for the interfloor staircase of general use the best should be recognized as metal-wooden or metal-concrete. Their increased labor intensity and cost compared to wooden ones are more than compensated by strength and durability.

For budget housing, in which it is in no way possible to carve out a place for a staircase, a wooden staircase modeled on a computer in bowstrings of complex shape is optimal. To make one yourself, you will have to strain your skill and ingenuity, but the living space will be taken away and the material will go to a minimum. The same ladder is well suited for giving, and if the family is physically developed and not lazy, then a hybrid of "Finnish" with "Polish".

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