What to do if the stairs in your old house aren’t up to code

When my wife and I purchased our home a few years ago, we were very happy. charm of the centuryThen I fell down the stairs—more than once. When I calmly examined it,Building Standards LawA thing, it was on an unusually steep incline and featured a short tread on it. Since then, I’ve developed the skills to climb the stairs of death without incident and began offering a quick safety lesson to all visitors to our home before sending them to the guest room.

So why didn’t you tear down the stairs and replace them?

That’s not it ImpossibleJust changing the stairs would require a major renovation of the entire house. If you’ve bought (or are thinking of buying) an older home with plans to modernize it, your old stairs can be a bigger headache. you Also imagine. Here’s what you need to know about living with your old “grandfather’s” stairs.

Era before the Building Standards Act

If your home was built before the 1950s, your staircase was probably built by a carpenter. basically fit them into the available spaceThat doesn’t mean stairs are necessarily dangerous. That means they took measurements and packed the stairs as much as possible.

When uniform building codes became more important in the mid-20th century, many of these staircases became ‘old’. -teeth. In other words, the original, non-compliant stairs are perfectly legal and no one is forcing you to replace them.Unless you try to change them significantly. Aesthetic changes to a staircase are usually fine, but if you decide to tear the staircase down and replace it, suddenly your area’s current building codes apply, you must comply with them.

this can be a problem. modern building codesA stair is defined by rise (measured from bottom to top, each vertical is called a) riser) When Run (its horizontal length, each step is called a ) tread). The higher the rise, the shorter the run. Older stairs typically had about 9 inch risers and 9 inch treads, but these dimensions varied as needed. Modern codes tend to require a much longer climb as well as making staircases safer. It often happens.

This different standard means that replacing an old staircase often requires more space. If the staircase needs to be wide and long, it’s very difficult (or impossible) to fit it in the same space.

Living with “grandpa’s” stairs

What if the contractor told me that replacing the stairs would require moving two load-bearing walls, and that I would need to purchase and add to the neighbor’s house? There are two options. You can increase the amount of your renovation loan and ask the architect to figure out how to make the stairs compliant with the law, or figure out how to live with it.

If you’re not planning (or budgeting for) a major renovation, redecorate your existing staircase instead. Note that stairs do not apply unless you change the climb and run.i.e. it’s not real stairs It is important, but the existing measured valueAs long as the original specifications are maintained and the ‘new’ stair fits into the same physical space, virtually any side of the existing stair (treads, risers, handrail) can be replaced.unless climbing stairs is a problemyou can achieve a “as good as new” look without violating local building codes.

MeIf the old stairs are solid, Aesthetic refurbishment by covering treads and risers with cap a treador by laying carpet, gIving A completely new look and feel without changing a single measurement that could affect your stairs code compliance.