1. Building Construction I Sofia Sebastian 1
Staircases
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Stairs
Buildings have stairs so that people can gain access to the upper floors.
Put sturdy handrails within reach of all people
Handrails should be supported by balustrades on the open sides of staircases to prevent accidents
Building Construction I Sofia Sebastian

3. Building Construction I Sofia Sebastian 3
Stairs
Parts of a staircase – An overview
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Technical words for parts of staircase
Baluster – The infill between the handrail and the string. It usually consists of square vertical balusters fitetd to the string capping and supporting a timber handrail.
Balustrade – the protection erected on the outer edge of a staircase to prevent anything or anyone falling off the edge
Flight – a series of steps between floors or a floor and a landing
Going – The horizontal distance between two adjacent risers
Tread – the horizontal surface of a step
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Technical words for parts of staircase
Handrail – an inclined rail that follows the slope of the stairs which is either fixed to a wall or supported on a balustrade
Landing – The level space that breaks up the vertical incline of a flight of stairs
Newel – a stout vertical post at one end of the outer string to support the inclined handrail at each end
Nosing – The part of the tread that projects beyond the face of the riser
Rise – the vertical distance between the tops of adjacent treads
Riser – the vertical surface of a step
String – the side support for the flight of timber steps
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Stairs
Straight flight
90 degree turn with a quarter landing
L shaped with Tapered staircase with no landing
180 degree with a half turn landing
Doglegged staircase
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Stairs
A 90º turn needs a quarter space landing
A 180º turn needs a half space landing
A staircase that turns through 180º can either have a well or a dog leg.
Open well
L shaped staircase tapered
Straight
Open well with tapered
Spiral
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Circular

8. Building Construction I Sofia Sebastian 8
Stairs
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9. Building Construction I Sofia Sebastian 9
Stairs
Parts of a timber staircase
Timber staircases
Most traditional
Consist of two strings, treads and risers, a balustrade and a handrail
Tread – 25mm thick
Riser – 19mm thick (solid wood) or 12mm plywood
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10. Building Construction I Sofia Sebastian 10
Stairs
Reinforced concrete staircases
are increasingly popular
Usually cast in situ on formwork
The treads and risers are cast in one piece so they do not have strings
Parts of a concrete staircase
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11. Building Construction I Sofia Sebastian 11
Stairs
Steel staircases
Normally used for fire escapes or for external access
Has metal strings with steel treads fixed to metal brackets
Usually do not have risers
Parts of a steel staircase
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General principles of staircase design
The going plus the height of two risers must be a
Max of 700mm
Min of 550 mm
T + 2 R = mm
Stairs should not be steeper than 42º
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Designing a straight flight of stairs
Vertical rise = 2760 mm
Staircase length = 3000 mm
Preferred riser height = 190 mm
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14. Building Construction I Sofia Sebastian 14
Designing a straight flight of stairs
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15. Building Construction I Sofia Sebastian 15
Designing a straight flight of stairs
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Designing a straight flight of stairs
Vertical rise = 2760 mm
Staircase length = 3000 mm
Preferred riser height = 190 mm
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Timber staircase – Construction detail of the underside
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Making a concrete staircase
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19. Building Construction I Sofia Sebastian 19
Two types of baluster for stair balustrades
Inclined balusters
Vertical balusters
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20. Building Construction I Sofia Sebastian 20
Detail to fix vertical balusters in concrete stairs
Vertical balusters
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