stair case banisters?? any rules on these?(now with piccy!)

[renton]

hi all .
im doing a bit of work in my first house and have a query about the stair case.

are you allowed to have an exposed staircase with out and form of stopping you falling off it to the side?? (stair rail)

the stairs in my house run up the side of one wall and the other side is covered in by planks of wood coming down from the top floor which form the fence(cant think of the realname for it!!)to stop you falling from the top floor.

if i remove these wooden slats the stairs open up onto the hallway.

is this allowed or do you need some sort of banister fitted??

cheers

steve

[renton]

here is a picutre hopefullt to explain it better!!!



i want to remove the wooden slats on the right of the stairs and also the hand rail .

am i legally allowed to do this??

cheers

steve

[dirtydeeds]

assuning you intend to stick to the rules on staircases they are essentially only two rules

one
the top of the handrail should be no less than 900 vertically above the nosing of the treads

two
the gaps between the balusters should not let a 100mm ball pass

in practice because most balusters are turned the horizontal gap bwtween the square faces of two adjacent balusters is about 89mm

in the case of balusters on a landing the spacing is closer, 80mm


the difference between the two spacings is because on staircases the turnings are separated due to the angle of the staircase allowing a slightly larger spacing





as for details the easiest source of information is the Richard Burbage catalogue which you will find either at a local B&Q or on line

[dirtydeeds]

lets understand legal and illegal

it isnt illegal (you wont be prosecuted) for having balustrading that does not conform to the building regs

however no insurance company will pay out if your stairs do not conform to the building regs and a sharp eyed building surveyor will point this out when you want to sell the house.



for exactness sake your existing ballustrading is already outside the building regs, you can get a 100mm ball through the gaps


and for further exactness we are only talking about gaps below the handrail

[renton]

thanks for that dirtydeeds!! i never new it was out of the regs. surely the survy should of picked that up when it was done(only bought the house in november!!)

i just think that the wooden planks look awful.

any ideas then on what to replace them with as there doesent look like enough room to put a proper thing in with lots of spindles??

cheers

steve

[dirtydeeds]

if you want a fully open staircase and still comply with the building regs the best way forward is to install glass (it would have to be safety glass)

but to comply with the building regs you still need a handrail at a minimum of 900 above the nosing

there are also rules as to the size of the handrail. this may seem very complicated and very restrictive but essentailly the rules revolve around the size of a human hand.

to make things easier suppliers such as Richard Burbage sell handrails that comply anyway

[dirtydeeds]

for a traditional staircase with balusters (spindles) and a handrail you need to do the following

rip the vertical timbers and the handrail out

install a newel post at the foot of the stairs over the string and one at the top in the same place

install a base rail ontop of the stair string, ususlly screwed or nailed

install a handrail between the two newel posts (richard burbage supply the fittings to allow you to bolt it in place)

then install the balusters (spindles) the richard burbage system already has spacers pre cut.

because of the way your stairs are you will still need a handrail fixed to the wall above where the hand rail dies into the ceiling

ive left some information out about how to set out the balusters so they are the same all the way up

if you dont like maths you wont like it but it is quite simple if you have a scientific calculator

for simplcity and speed of cutting all the balusters and the handrail and baserail a mitre saw will help but isnt essential

[gib_goblin]

You could always put the handrail on the left-hand side if you decide to enclose the stairs with glass or otherwise seal it.

[big-all]

answerd on diy not

[Mooncat]

I noticed that in the Grand Design programme shown tonight, you could have kicked a beachball through the gaps in the balustrading on the staircase and landing. I wondered how they got away with it.

[owen]

I noticed that in the Grand Design programme shown tonight, you could have kicked a beachball through the gaps in the balustrading on the staircase and landing. I wondered how they got away with it.

they probably waited until the building inspector had signed it off then ripped it out and did it how they actually wanted it