Slanting Interior Stairways

Julio the staircase wizard, pulled my staircase back to the wall and refastened it. He worked from the top so he did not tear up the plaster under the stairs. Julio 917-214-9354

hancockone

in General Discussion 7 years and 3 months ago

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Aprotraveler | 7 years and 4 months ago

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Hi Everyone, I have a two family townhouse and in the past five years it seems to me the stairway leading to the top floor is slanting to one side. Has anyone had any experience with their original wood interior staircase slanting and what did you do? Can anyone recommend who i might contact to look into this and have it fixed. Huge thanks for your advise.

yudashasom | 7 years and 4 months ago

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Soxco

EJR | 7 years and 4 months ago

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you essentially need to rip open the plaster below the staircase and refasten it to the wall. It’s not a huge job, but it’s a messy one. Our 2nd to 3rd floor staircase also slants, but we figure it’s got a few years left before it’s actually unsafe, so we’re letting sleeping plaster keys lie for the time being.

daveinbedstuy | 7 years and 4 months ago

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Has nothing to do with plaster keys. It’s a structural issue of sorts. First start with looking at the beam in the basement and make sure that has secure footings and is level and joists are level though problems there would likely show up as cracks elsewhere. Depending upon the degree of slant, I’d leave it. These things happen with old houses and without knowing more it may not be an issue. If the townhouse is newr construction though, the side of the stairs away from the wall may not have been built properly and would require raising the stringer and sistering the studs holding it up.

EJR | 7 years and 4 months ago

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DIBS, the plaster covering the area below the staircase has everything to do with plaster keys. Once you rip that all out you can access the structural support system for the stairs and address the structural problem. If you’re going to rain on my pun parade, at least make sure you’ve got the reading comprehension part down.

daveinbedstuy | 7 years and 4 months ago

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Reading comprehension is fine as long as someone can actually express what they are trying to convey. Your first post said nothing about accessing and examining the structural support system, just the plaster. A lot of this is new to many people here and your post served only to confuse.

EJR | 7 years and 4 months ago

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to quote myself “you essentially need to rip open the plaster below the staircase and refasten it to the wall.” The “it” being the pronoun modifying the most recently placed noun in the sentence, “staircase”. So, to unpack the plain English, you need to remove all the plaster below the staircase and refasten the staircase to the wall. Refasten in this context referring to the manner in which an item (staircase) is once again connected to the object which supports it (the wall).

daveinbedstuy | 7 years and 4 months ago

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Actually, a staricase against a wall may be supported on one side by the wall but is most likely supported from below on the side away from the wall and likely to be the side that is sagging. To support it from the wall would require the use of cantilevered beams which wouldn’t have the support from inside the walls. Your instructions are a start, to open everything up but then leave the OP hanging without further instructions. You make this a far more difficult process than it should be. [All-about-eve](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s2/:brownstoner:UqRo:allabouteve.jpg.jpg)

EJR | 7 years and 4 months ago

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given the OP is clearly not going to undertake this project him/herself, my reply succinctly provided the information that to correct the stair support issues you remove the non-support structure underneath and address the support structure. The stair is likely pulling away from the wall (on the wall side). Yes, this may be caused by an issue with the riser on the non-wall side. It may also be caused by the general settling of the house. In any event, the process for fixing it starts in the same place.

Most relevant to this thread, which you have now hijacked (admittedly with my willful participation), if the entire house has settled, fixing the slant in the staircase may result in them looking “off” as compared to the slightly slanted nature of the house (short of jacking up the entire house). The best compromise is probably to ensure that the stairs are structurally sound while leaving a slight slant. As I originally said, it may not be worth undertaking this project until the stairs seem structurally unsound.

daveinbedstuy | 7 years and 4 months ago

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All of which I covered in my first post. And in a far more succinct manner. Good day, sir.

EJR | 7 years and 4 months ago

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…which was twice as long as my original post saying that same thing, while simultaneously disparaging my joke, for which I will not stand (or sag, as the case may be).