This is in RE to my earlier post:

http://bstoner.wpengine.com/forum/archives/2009/06/open_tread_stai.php

Regarding the 4″ rule…The 4″ rule does not apply to cables (as I have understood), but rather it applied to the gap between the risers on the stairs. Basically the gap between the stairs according to the new NY law can not be bigger then 4″. I honestly dont see how a child can get through a 4″ space.


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  1. saturday, I hear ya. My gap is 7″ btw risers.

    Maybe these staircases frazzle the inspectors so much, being new, that they just sign off. Altho that didn’t work for my new boiler.

    eman, we don’t think it’s corny looking. What I think is corny looking is cheap pine risers with cheap mass-produced turned vertical balustrades. But to each his own. Nevertheless if you consult such books as ‘Creating the New American Townhouse’ and ‘Brooklyn Modern’ similar open stairs are more the rule than the exception.

  2. How do you build an open staircase with less than a 4″ gap between risers, unless you are using stair treads that are 3″ thick (presuming a 7″ step). ???

    Denton?

    (PS: I think you won an O’Douls. I’m preggers).

  3. No, I believe the 4″ rule is any gap in the risers or railings.

    Why do you think this has anything to do with real-life kids or situations? It’s code and ye shall obey it. Probably a microcephalic child was strangled somewhere and his parents sued the city.

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