Open tread stairs and cable side
Im just wondering if anyone has this with kids? We are building a house and want to do this but Im not sure how safe it is. we have no kids yet but soon.
Im just wondering if anyone has this with kids? We are building a house and want to do this but Im not sure how safe it is. we have no kids yet but soon.
Get a grip, cgfan, 4 and 5 year old don’t run up and down stairs willy-nilly, not at least in my house. It’s called SUPERVISION. It’s silly to worry about these things, kids are infinitely more adaptable than adults. A few falls and they’ll learn ;).
When a kid climbs up and down these stairs, where do they hold on? Is the top rail an easy hold for a small toddler? To answer your question — yes, I’ve seen homes full of expensive glass tables, art, and stairs like these and there are small kids living there who obviously learn how to maneuver them all and keep away from the dangerous and expensive and breakable stuff. But with kids come playdates. I assume you want your kids to have friends over to play, and try to imagine 4 or 5 year olds running up and down these stairs. You don’t only have to worry about your own, you have to worry about the kids who visit you as well. I wouldn’t want the hassle myself, but it can certainly be done.
minard, I beg to disagree. I have a similar open staircase and similar rail. You can see it in the reno blogs, first one down from the top.
I can assure you that our Sheltie runs up and down the stairs as he sees fit. Our Abyssinian cat flies up and down. This week we are hosting our daughter’s Siamese, and it too manages to get up and down at an amazing rate of speed.
Maybe you think pets have design sense? Put a pork chop on the top step, watch what happens.
elpe, maybe you are right, but guess what, my PE and numerous inspectors signed off on it.
I thought I recently saw an article about a change in NYC building code that would NOT allow you to build a staircase with open risers. It was one of the new rules that jumped out at me, as well as one saying any newly built apartments could not have an elevator open directly into a persons apartment – there had to be a vestibule of some kind. You might want to check that out.
This seems to me the type of modern stair only an architect or interior designer would love. I think anyone could break a leg, or worse, taking a header from one of those little tray-like treads.
Dogs cannot deal with these sorts of stairs at all.
They are not into open tread architectural statements.
Once consideration- The sphere rule usually applies to all the stair parts- you may run into code trouble with the open risers for that reason. Don’t know, but you’ll want to check that-
Architect here.
There’s absolutely no need to install acrylic panels if you’re already installing the cable system. It would provide no more safety for your kids. In fact, one could argue that acrylic is less safe because it can break into sharp shards.
There certainly is no need to do both. Just stick to the 4″ rule with the cables and you and your family will be fine. Keep in mind that it is illegal to do the cables or even wooden balusters horizontally (as shown in the picture you posted). They must be installed vertically. Open treads must also adhere to the 4″ rule. Any opening greater than 4″ is considered illegal. This change came into effect July 1, 2008.
I hope this helps. Feel free to email if you have any other questions.
60designers@gmail.com
Northheights, Thats a good point! Essentially we could do the cable system throughout the house and install the acryllic when we have kids. This is something im going to look into! Thanks for the great advice!
Since you’re designing from scratch, you could also incorporate screwholes into the posts that could hold pieces of acrylic to cover the cables while the kids are smaller, and then remove the pieces when they’re older. This is essentially the same kit that’s sold to childproof a regular open banister but it’s more of a kludge with wooden posts that you don’t want to screw into.