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Stairs complete

The document discusses the design, construction, and classification of stairs, emphasizing their importance for vertical transportation in buildings. It outlines key components and technical terms related to stairs, as well as general requirements for safety, comfort, and fire resistance. Additionally, it categorizes stairs into types such as straight and turning stairs, and describes materials used in their construction.

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Sheiia Sheiia
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21 views19 pages

Stairs complete

The document discusses the design, construction, and classification of stairs, emphasizing their importance for vertical transportation in buildings. It outlines key components and technical terms related to stairs, as well as general requirements for safety, comfort, and fire resistance. Additionally, it categorizes stairs into types such as straight and turning stairs, and describes materials used in their construction.

Uploaded by

Sheiia Sheiia
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CHAPTER 4 \ stair is a set of steps leading from one floor to the other, It is provided to afford the means of es sr rerhlmhrhmrr—r—r™—_—i 4 beyond the face of the riser. Rendall = It is usually rounded off from : architectural considerations. 9 Scotia: It is a moulding provided under the nosing to improve the elevation of the step, and to provide strength to nosing. 10. Soffit: It is the underside of a stair. . 11. Line of nosings: It is an imaginary line parallel to the strings and tangential to the nosings. It is useful in S ° the construction of hand rails, Figure 14.1. Terms Used in Stairs giving the line with which the under-surface of the hand rail should coincide. 12. Pitch or slope: It is the angle which the line of nosing of the stair makes with the horizontal. 13. Strings or stringers: These are the sloping members which support the steps in a stair. They run along the slope of the stair. 14. Newel post: Newel post is a vertical member which is placed at the ends of flights to connect the ends of strings and hand rail. 15. Baluster: It is vertical member of wood or metal, supporting the hand rail. 16. Balustrade: It consists of a row of balusters surmounted by a hand rail, to provide protection for the users of the stair. 17. Hand rail: Nis a rounded or moulded member of wood or metal following generally the contour of the nosing line, and fixed on the top of balusters. 18. Head room: It is the minimum clear vertical distance between the tread and overhead structure (i.e., ceiling, etc.). 19. Run: It is the total length of stairs in a horizontal plane, including landings. 20. Header: It is the horizontal structural member supporting stair stringers or landings. EEE] Requirements oF a Goon STAIR Zl Stair is the means of vertical transportation between the floors. It should, a a so as to provide easy, quick and safe mode of communication between the floors. Fol the general requirements which a stair should fulfil, oe 1. Location: (i) It should be so located as to provide easy access te the cunuphns the building, (i) It should be so located that it is well lighted and ventilated di") exterior. (iii) It should be so located as to have approaches convenient oe et 2. Width of stair: It should be wide enough to carry the user within Tn the inconvenience. Width of stairs depends up to its location in the building | 308 Building Construction al ‘90 cm wide stair is sufficient while in public building, building itself. In a domestic building, 1.5 to 1.8 m width may be required 3. Length of flight: From comfort point view, the number of steps are not more than 2 and not less thar 4. Pitch of stair: The pitch of the stairs should match with the French theory: ‘the abour of moving vertically is about twice that of moving horizontally’ if the average human stride i taken ag 29 inches, Ifthe rie and going are measured in inch units, the best pitch of the stairs is that inclination which by doubling the rise and adding the going equals 23. When measured in cm units, a comfortable slope is achieved when twice rise plus going is equal to 60 approximately. Pitch should however, be limited to 30° to 45°. 5. Head room : The clear distance between the tread and soffit of the flight immediately above it should not be less than 2.1 to 2.3 m, so that even a tall person can use the stair with some luggage on its head. 6. Balustrade: Open well stair should always be provided with balustrade, to provide safety to the users. Wide stair should have hand rail to both the sides. 7. Step dimensions: The rise and going should be of such dimensions as to provide comfort to the users. Their proportion should also be such as to provide desirable pitch of the stair. The going should not be less than 25 cm, though 30 cm going is quite comfortable. The rise should be between 10 cm (for hospitals, etc.) to 15 em. The width of landing should not be less than the width of stair. 8. Materials of construction:'The material used for the construction of stair should be such as to provide () sufficient strength, and (ii) fire resistance. | 14.4 | DIMENSIONS OF A STEP ] For comfortable ascent and descent, the rise and tread of a step should be well-proportioned> The following thumb rules are followed: (i (2 * Rise in cm) + Going in cm) = 60 (i) (Rise in em) + Going in cm) = 40 to 45 (iii) ( Rise in em) x (Going |__| in cm) = 400 to 450 |W (iv) Adopt Rise = 14 cm IE 7 and Going = 30 cm as standard; 1 then for every 20 mm subtracted x J from going, add 10 mm to the Bullnose step rise Thus, other combinations for rise and going would be 15cm x 28 cm; 16 cm x 26 em; 17 cm x 24 cm. For residential buildings, the common size of the steps is * } 16 cm x 26cm. In hospital, etc., _ Commode step the comfortable size of the steps ® is 10 cm x 30cm. ii Stairs 309 | Types of steps: Steps in a stair may be of the following of 1. Flier 3. Round ended step 5. Commode step 7. Winder, 2. Bull nose step 4. Splayed step 6. Dancing step A flier is an ordinary step of uniform width and rectangul 4.2(@). A bull nose step, generally provided at the bottery of the newel post. Its end near the newel forms the quadrant of jar shape in plan, is shown in of the flight, projects in front f a circle Fig. 14.2(a). A round mi-circular end which projects inning of the flight, with its end, nin Fig. 14.2(c). A commode step, shown in Fig. 14.2(d) the winders which do not radiate steps, such as those which radiate ‘ated at the centre of a newel Fig. 14.2(/). [GI cusssirication oF stars | Stairs can be classified in two broad heads: 1. Straight stairs 2. Turning stairs (® Quarter turn stairs, (ji) Half turn stair 's (dog-legged and open well stairs), (iii) Three- quarter turn stairs, (iv) Bifurcated stairs, (v) C ‘ontinuous stairs, Each of the turning stairs are of three types: (@ newel stairs (6) well or open-newel stairs, and (©) geometrical stairs A newel stair is the one which has a new. and in which newels are conspicuous features, between the turning fights. Open newel stair present the best appearance and acc strong. Geometrical stairs have the strings and hand rails continuous and are set out in accordant: with geometrical principles. They may be circular, spiral, helical, or even elliptical, A newel may be introduced at the bottom and top of suc *h a stair, though it is not an essential part of the construction. Geometrical stairs require care and good deal of skill in their construction. They are not so imposing as the open newel type, and are comparatively weak. el at the foot and head of each flight of the stair, In well or open newel stairs, lateral space is left 1. STRAIGHT STAIRS In this type, this stair runs str: there are restrictions in avail: more than one flight (usually aight between the two floors. It is used for small houses where lable width. The stair may consist of either one single flight or two) with a landing, as shown in Fig. 14.3. | 1 114 Tt | Landing ++! | Landing (|| Landing Zz LULL ZLLLA (2) Single tight (0) Two fights Figure 14.3. Straight Stairs 2. TURNING STAIRS () Quarter Turn Stairs Plan (b) With winders Figure 14.4. Newel Quarter Turn Stairs (a) With quarter space landing ai : Stairs 311 Quarter turn stairs are of two types: (@) Newel quarter turn stairs (b) Geometrical quarter turn stairs. (a) Newel quarter turn stairs ‘These stairs hi 's have the conspicuous newel posts at the beginning and end of each flight, At the quarter turn, there may cith ‘ + er be Of this type are shown sa Fig Ta arte sPace landing or there may be winders, Two forms (6) Geometrical quarter turn stairs In geometrical stairs, the stringer as wi re tinuous, with no newel post 7 alee ell as the hand rail is conti: . with no ne Commode step ‘ Up. T “TH LL (a) With landing (b) Continuous Figure 14.5. Geometrical Quarter Turn Stairs (if) Half Turn Stairs Half turn stair is the one which has its direction reversed, or changed for 180°. Such stairs are quite common. These may be of three types: (a) Dog-legged or newel half turn stairs (b) Open newel half turn stairs (c) Geometrical half turn stairs. (a) Dog-legged stairs This name is given because of its appearance in se of newel (or solid newel) stairs in which newel posts are p! each flight. These may be of two forms: (i) with half space landing and winders. Generally, the former type (ie., without wind shown in Fig. 14.6, There is no space between the outer strings of the .ctional elevation. It comes under the category rovided at the beginning and end of landing, and (ii) with quarter space jers) is more common, as two flights. _ crammmmmmmamiasa [LLL LLL LLL LLL : I. 1112119141816 17 1810,20 21 UPper acl | he | landing IE her, ce “The-Newel > Figure 14.6. Dog-legged Stair (6) Open newel half turn stairs or pen newel half turn stair has a space or well between the outer strings. Open well This is the only aspect in which it differs from the dog-legged stair. The additional width is required between the two flights; the space between the two strings may vary from 15 cm (min) to 100 cm, When the g} ig two to four steps may be introduced at the turn, ter space landing, as shown in Fig. 14.7(5), Otherwise, for small width wel 'ing may be provided as shown in Fig. 14.7(a) space left is more, a small flight containin; between the two quar Il, a half space landi (a) With halt space landing (©) With quarter-space landing ‘and intervening fight Figure 14.7. Open Newel Half Turn Stairs (c) Geometrical half turn stairs ‘The essential features of such stairs are that the stringers and the hand rails are continuous, without any intervening newel p a and the : Sr wit land Pa ee om ‘These may be either with half-space landing (Fig. 14.8(a)] lanai (a) Wath landing Figure 14.8. Geometrical Half Tum Stairs (iif) Three Quarter Turn Stairs A three quarter turn stairs has its direction changed three times with its upper flight crossing the bottom one. It may either be newel type or open newel type. Such type of stair is used when the length of the stair room is limited and when the vertical distance between the two floors is quite large. (iv) Bifurcated Stairs This type of stair is commonly used in public buildings at their entrance hall. The stair has a wider flight at the bottom, which bifurcates into two narrower flights, one turning to the left and the other to the right, at the landing. It may be either of newel type with a newel post as, shown in Fig. 14.9 (left side) or of geometrical type, as shown in the right portion of Fig. 14.9 with continuous stringer and handrails. Continuous stairs are those which do neither have Post. They are, therefore, geometrical in shape. Conti @ Circular stairs, (id) Spiral stairs, and (ii) Helical stairs. any landing nor any intermediate newel ‘nuous stairs may be of the following types: Gireular stairs are shown in Fig. 14.5(6) and Fig. 14.8(b). Spiral stair is shown in Fig. 14.10. Such a stair is usually made either of R.C.C. or metal, and ig employed at a location Where there are space Finsitations. These are also used as emergency stairs, and are provided at the back side of a building. All the steps are winders. The stair is, therefore, not comfortable. A helical stair, shown in Fig. 14.11, looks very fine but its structural design and construction is very complicated. It is made of R.C.C. in which a large portion of steel ro required to resist bending, shear and torsion. top and bottom Pian (a) Pian (b) Elevation Figure 14.10. Spiral Stair Figure 14.11. Helical Stair [EET stairs oF pirreRENT MATERIALS Stairs may be constructed of the following materials: 1, Timber 2. Stone 3. Bricks 4. Steel and 5.R.C.C, 1. Timber Stairs Timber stairs are light in weight and easy to construct, but they have very poor fire resistance. ‘They are used only for small rise residential building. They are unsuitable for high rise residential buildings and for public buildings. Sometimes, fire resisting hard wood (such as oak, mahogany, ete.) of proper thickness may be used. The timber used for the construction should be free from 316 Building Construction ! fungal decay and insect attack, and should be well-treated before use. In timber stairs the strings are the support for the stair and act as inclined beams spanning between the floor and the landing. For additional support, a bearer or a carriage may be placed under the treads (Fig. 14.12). The normal practice is to provide one bearer. For a 90 cm wide staircase, and an additional bearer for every 40cm of width, The thickness of strings may be 3 to 5cm and depth may be between 25 to 40 cm. Step: The thickness of Figure 14.12. Construction of a Simple Timber Staircase tread of a timber stair should not be less than 32 mm at inch) and that of riser 25 mm (1 inch). Figure 14.13 shows timber risers and tread, jointed by tongue and grooved joints, The joints are nailed or screwed, The nosing of the step should not project beyond the face of the riser for more than the thickness of the tread. Scotia blocks may be provided to improve the appearance of the steps. Stringers: These are the inclined beams of timber of 30 to 50 mm thickness and 25 {0 AO em deep, supported on newels, trimming joists or pitching pieces. These may be of four types: (a) cut string (b) housed string (c) rough string and (d) wreathed string. A eu! string has AS pper surface having carriages or houses accurately cut to receive the treads and neore i appearance of a stairs. Howeyer, its lower edge is kept Figure 14.13. Timber Stairs Details arallel to the pitch of the stair. Because of cuts made, it becomes weak. A housed or closed Games has its top and bottom edges parallel to the pitch of the stair. Grooves are cut on cS eae a its inside to receive the treads and risers of the steps, which are generally nailed, glued and wedged to the stringers. The grooves or housings are tapered so that wedges may be driven below the treads and risers, thus forming a tight joint on the upper surface (Fig. 14.13). These wedges are best made from hard wood; they are dipped in glue before driving these. To add rigidity, blocks are glued between the string and the treads, and the treads and the risers. A rough string is an intermediate bearer provided for wider steps, as shown in Fig. 14.12. The carriage giving support to the treads and risers has rough brackets under the tread, A wreathed string is a curved or geometrical stair string, which may be either of cut or closed ww Landing: A landing is constructed of tongued and grooved boarding on timber joists: which are supported on walls. In the case of half space landing, a timber joist, known as timber, is placed across the full width of the staircase. In the case of quarter space landing, 4 timber joist, known as pitching piece, is placed in the wall at one end and housed with the newel at the other end. 2. Stone Stairs Stone stairs are widely used at places where ashlar stone is readily available. Stone stairs are quite strong and rigid, though they are very heavy. Stone used for the construction of stairs should be hard, strong and resistant to wear. Stones are fire resistant also. The simplest form of stone stairs are those supported on both the ends, though an open well staircase can also be built. Dog-legged stairs, with cantilevered spandril steps are also constructed of sand stones, such as the type available at Jodhpur. Stone stairs may have following types of steps: (@ Rectangular steps with rebated joint (ji) Spandril steps (iii) Tread and riser steps (iv) Cantilever tread steps (0) Built-up steps. (i) Rectangular steps: These are the simplest type, prepared from rectangular blocks of stone ashlar. The steps are arranged with the front edge of one step resting on the upper back edge of the step below, with rebated joint cut into it (Fig. 14.14. Figure 14.14, Rebated Rectangular Stone Steps jangular in shape so as to get a plain () Spandril steps: These steps are nearly triangu eee ae) Soffit. At the end, each step is builtin the wall, Such steps give pleasant appearance. The soffit may either be plain, broken or moulded, as shown in Fig. 14.15 (a), (b), (c) respectively Steps are rebated to fit on the one's below. _-~ (@) Moulded sort Figure 14.15. Spandril Steps Figure 14.16, Slab Tread and Riser Steps (iv) Cantilever tread slab steps: In this type, the steps are formed by treads only. made of thick stone slabs, without any riser. The tread slah is fixed at one end into the wall and acts as cantilever. The steps may either be rectangular op triangularly shaped, as shown in Fig. 14.17. (@) Rectangular (©) Triangular shaped Figure 14.17. Cantilever Tread Slab Steps (v) Built-up steps: These ste i it marble slabs, placed oes ben tbs use treads and risers in the form of thin sawn stone or marole brick or conerete steps. The thickness of stone slab may vary from 3. Brick Stairs Brick stairs are not very common, except at the entrance. However, brick stairs of single straight flight are often made in village houses. The stair consists of either solid wall, or also, arched openings may be left for obtaining storage space, as shown in Fig. 14.19. The brick steps need frequent maintenance. Hence these may be faced with stone slabs. Alternatively, these steps may be cement-plastered at the top of treads and side of risers. atalalaEal Figure 14.19. Brick Stair 4. Metal Stairs Stairs of mild steel or cast iron are used only as emergen residential and public buildings, though they are strong and fire are not good looking and also, they make lot of noise when used by use used in factories godowns, workshops, etc. In its simplest form, a meta , stairs. They are not common in resistant. This is because they 1s. They are, commonly 1 stair consists of rolled ee 320 Building Construction a ted and steel steel stringers (mostly channel sections), to which angle irons are welded or a ae plates are used as treads. Another form of metal stairs commonly used are the spi 5. R.C.C. Stairs R.C.C. stairs are the one which are widely used for residential, public and industrial buildings ‘They are strong, hard wearing and fire resisting. These are usually cast-in situ, and a variety of finishes can be used on these. Based on the direction of span of the stair slab, concrete stairs may be divided into two categories: (O Stair with slab spanning horizontally. (ii) Stair with slab spanning longitudinally. (i Stair with slab spanning horizontally: In this category, the slab is supported on one ‘side by sidewall or stringer beam and on the other side by a stringer beam. Sometimes, as in the case of straight stair, the slab may be supported horizontally by sidewall on one side of each flight and the common newel on the other side between backward and forward fights. In such a case the effective span L is the horizontal distance between centre to centre of the Supports. Each step is designed as spanning horizontally with the bending moment equal to WLI8, where W is the uniformly distributed load, per unit area, on the step, inclusive of the self weight. Each step is considered equivalent to a rectangular beam of width b (measured parallel to the slope of the stair) and an effective depth equal to D/2 as shi Main reinforcement is provided in the direction of L, while distributio Provided parallel to the flight direction. A waist of about 8 cm is provided. jown in Fig. 14.20. mn reinforcement is B b Main steal | #~ aa Figure 14.20. Stair Slab Spanning Horizontally (ii) Stair with slab spanning longitudinally:In this category, the slab is supported at bottomand top ofthe flight andremain unsupported onthe sides. Each fightofstairiseceem sous, and is supported on beams at top and bottom or on landings. I in the latter case, the landings also become the part of the slab. Dog legged stairs are typical example of this type, shown tn Fig. 14.21. The Stairs 324 main reinforcement is provided parallel to the direction of the flight, and the distribution reinforcement is provided along the width of the slab. = tt — eieeet f —— aa | HT] [] Pott TTT] = JLitii it | (a) Key plan Lang (©) Section Sometimes, specially for wider stairs, a central stringer beam, spanning between the end walls or columns is provided on which the stairs slab (waist slab) is supported; the waist slab is designed as slab cantilevering both the sides of the stringer beam, The stringer beam itself is designed as a T-beam Fig. 14.22). R.C.C. helical stair R.C.C. can be used in construction stair of any geometrical shape, Figure 14.11 shows a helical stair, which is cast-in- situ. Alarge amount of steel reinforcement is used to resist bending moment, shear force and torsional moment. The Continuous slab varies in thickness from top to bottom-less jure 14,21. R.C.C. Dog Legged Stair { Landing 7 Landing Beef TTT Stringer beam Column 11 Stringer beam Figure 14.22 at top and increasing at the bottom. There are two or three sets of reinforcement with top i a layers in each: (i) continuous bars running the length of the spiral, (ii) cross or radial bars, an (ii) diagonal bars laid tangential in two directions to the inner curve. Square seating ‘built into wall (a) Rectangular cantilever steps. (b) Spandril cantilever steps Figure 14.23. Precast Concrete Steps Precast concrete stairs Precast concrete units are now-a-days available for the construction of conerete stairs of various shapes. The three common types of precast units are: (j) rectangular cantilever steps [Fig. 14.23(@)}, (i) spandril cantilever steps (Fig. 14.23(6)], and (iii) sector-shaped cantilever units, The latter type is used for the construction of open riser spiral stair shown in Fig. 14.24. (6) Open riser spiral stair Figure 14.24. Precast Open Riser Spiral Stair Steps Example 14.1. Plana dog legged stair for jg a building in which the vertical distance between 5m ——______+ the floors is 3.6 m. The stair hall measures 2.5m x 5m. Solution. Figure 14.25 shows the plan of the stair hall, Let the rise be 15 cm and tread be 25 cm. Let us keep width of each flight = 1.2 m. Width of landing = Width of stairs 1.2m. — eyes Hitt | /) etededla tah | rey dit Height of each flight 7 {1.05 a4¢ 9 75 m——_—ve-1.2-41 15 = 12 in each flight. required No. of risers req Figuredacs Stairs 323 No. of treads in each flight = 12-1=11 Space occupied by treads = 11 x 25 = 275 em. Space left for passage =5-12-2.75= 1.05 m. Example 14.2. Figure 14.26 shows the plan of a stair hall of a public building, which mecsures 4.25 m x 5.25 m. The vertical distance between the floors is 3.9m. Design a suitable stair for the building. Solution. Since it is a public building, let us fix the width of stairs = width of room is 4.25 m, space left between Suggests that we can provide an open well-ty) 5m, Since the the two flights = 4.25 - 2 x 1.5 = 1.25 m. This pe stairs. Tet the height of risers be 15 em, Keeping two flights, no. of riser in each flight, = 13.9100 20 No. of treads in each fight = 13 — Keeping width of tread = 25 em, and width of landing = 1.5 m, horizontal distance required to accommodate these = (25 * 12) + 150 = 450 cm = 4.5 m. This will leave width of passage = 5.25 — 4.5 = 0.75 m only which is not sufficient. Also, in public buildings, maximum number of treads in each flight is limited to 9. Hence let us provide 6 treads in the landing portion, which can be easily accommodated in a width = 5 x 25 = 125 em, which is equal to the width of well. Provide 9 treads in each flight. Thus there will be a total of 9+9+5=23 treads, The stairs will be of quarter He 2.25 m—oe— 1.5m landing type. Total number of risers to sm os accommodate 23 treads in three flights Figure 14.26 will be = 23 +3 = 26. Height of riser Thus the steps will have risers of 15 cm and treads of 25 cm. Horizontal space required for 9 treads = 25 x 9 = 225 cm = 2.25 m. Width of passage left = 5.25 — (1.5 + 2.25) = 1.50 ‘The plan of the stairs is shown in Fig. 14.26. PROBLEM aaa 1. (@) State briefly the requirements of a good staircase. (6) How are the treads and risers proportioned? State the circumstances under which you use the following types of s (® Dog-legged stair (ii) Open newel stair (ii) Half turn geometrical stair (iv) Spiral stair. ———————7~ 324 Building Construction 8. Briefly describe various types of stairs. 4. Explain, with the help of sketches, the following terms: (@ Landing (i). Nosing (iii) Winders (iv) Stringer (v) Newel (vi) Hand rail 5, Write short notes on the following: (@ Metal stairs (iii) RCC. stairs (v) Helical stairs. (i) Stone stairs Gv) Spiral stairs Draw plan and sections of a typical dog-legged stair of R.C.C. Differentiate between: (® Quarter turn stair and bifurcated stair (ii) Helical stair and spiral stair GD RCC. stair with slab spanning horizontally and slab spanning longitudinally (iv) Dog-legged stair and open newel stair (©) Quarter space landing and half space landing. Draw a typical sketch showing details ofa timber stair. How are the risers and tread jointed? Plan a stair case for a residential building in which the vertical distance between each floor is 3.36 m. The size of the stair hall is limited to 4.5 m x 3m. Discuss the various considerations made in planning of stair cases. Illustrate the different types of stair cases generally used, indicating their suitability for specific use. 10,

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