Another Stair Puzzle


robdyck
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For those of us who like the stairs to be in the actual right position...this requires that the top of the stair does not directly make contact with the platform framing line.

There will of course be some type of finish material added to the risers. This usually includes the top riser, and yes, it's thicker than Chief's 'zero' thickness 'riser surface at top landing'. For this exercise we'll say that material is 1/2" thick.

And depending on your regional construction methods, there may be some structural material at the top of the stairs. In Alberta, and probably most of Canada, there is a stair 'hanger' which is plywood that extends vertically from the underside of the stringer to the top of the upper nosing. For this exercise we'll say that plywood is 1/2" thick.

 

This means that the stairs need to be set 1" away from the platform framing line. The question is: what invisible wall type would you use that will properly define the platform framing edge and not produce a gap in the floor between the stairs, or a gap in the drywall?

 

A typical 2x4 wall, drywall both sides:

image.thumb.png.4c2a691e51635b624fabd6dd816b2a7f.png

 

A Room Divider, 1/2" thickness:

image.thumb.png.5d251f9e84c101653a970810cc40b92b.png

 

So my solution: An invisible wall, 1" thickness, material drywall.

image.thumb.png.ef7f9688641004794e5bfa455f811a70.pngimage.thumb.png.87eef5cd496d67e9b3e5f07c4a3d3591.pngimage.thumb.png.ccc90148364e36f02b80cf3b2f43dc9d.png

Hopefully someone else finds this useful.

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7 minutes ago, Doug_N said:

If you manually move the stairs back, sometimes the railing regenerates across the stairs, AND the handrail will not connect (continuous handrail required by code).

I'm not entirely following your description Doug. Could you be more specific and maybe provide a pic or two?

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1 hour ago, robdyck said:

I'm chucklin' but...it seems like a bit of a stretch. Maybe we need to be at that bar!

Okay, perhaps not super funny, but the comeback probably would've required you to stretch... :)
Just messin' @!

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1 hour ago, robdyck said:

I'm chucklin' but...it seems like a bit of a stretch. Maybe we need to be at that bar!

Around here there are no open bars - they've all been required to close indefinitely. :(

OTOH, my home bar is pretty well stocked and is open. :D

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2 minutes ago, DzinEye said:

Actually,  now that I think about it, I'm kind of wondering about that stair detail...   It seems a bit sketchy to me to have that stringer completely bearing on just the plywood?  

I hear what you're saying but it does seem to work well. That's how most guys do it around here and I have to say I've built hundreds of stairs like that without any issues.

Glued and screwed to each stringer, and the rough tread, and to added blocking between the stringers, under the rough tread.

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5 minutes ago, Joe_Carrick said:

Around here there are no open bars - they've all been required to close. :(

OTOH, my home bar is pretty well stocked

Actually I'm more of a pub person than bar, but yep... they're all closed here too... and worse, the closure was the last straw for one of my favorite local micro-breweries, announced today they're closing for good.  Bummer.

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1 hour ago, Alaskan_Son said:

What are you expecting to happen?

That is exactly what I was expecting actually.   That was my comment about moving the stairs away from the landing to allow for materials on the final riser.  It solves a problem but creates others.  It is not a viable solution.  Just saying.  

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1 minute ago, Doug_N said:

That is exactly what I was expecting actually.   That was my comment about moving the stairs away from the landing to allow for materials on the final riser.  It solves a problem but creates others.  It is not a viable solution.  Just saying.

Doug, I think you missed that Robert was not only questioning, but offering his solution to how to successfully do it, using a 1" invisible wall.

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15 minutes ago, Doug_N said:

Maybe I did miss the point.  Does that solve the railing problem?  I will have to try that out.

 

I was also showing that with interior stairs. Your example was deck stairs. In my example, I didn't 'move the stairs" away 1"; they butt up against the wall layer. I'm just using a 1" thick wall to allow for finish materials.

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7 minutes ago, Doug_N said:

railing problem

Railing is completely different than just stairs despite the fact that they can be defined within stairs. A handrail-to-post connection is based on a lot more than just how the stairs are mounted. Like, the thickness of the post, for example of which there are hundreds of styles. Or a rail-to-rail connection which also can vary greatly (in real, not in Chief).

And then there's the configuration of how the stair connects to the upper floor. I could go on for days here. My original post only applies to situations where it applies. Not to situations where it doesn't.

For certain projects, I go just a wee bit further than what Chief's dbx tools will allow so we're probably not talking about the same things.

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OK so here is the problem that I can see using the 1" invisible wall.  It disconnects the railing so a transition is lost.   Maybe someone can see a way around this?2020-03-19_18-17-47.thumb.jpg.6a5f46927f2f87a020ee0cb22a2b7a5a.jpg

 

The railing above on the left has an invisible wall, the one on the right does not.  

 

Here is a better view from the other side.

2020-03-19_18-19-08.thumb.jpg.96dc9b4bc29dae86d1b78d39db392856.jpg

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