Winder stairs, angled, or curved stair specifications:

 

The angled stairs shown at page top are not "winders" but also involve irregularly-shaped stair treads. That photo shows angled stair treads squeezing a stairway onto a New York City sidewalk.

Q&A about Winder Stairs - Angled or Curved Steps & Stairways

These FAQs about the codes & construction of angled or winder stairways were posted originally at WINDER or ANGLED STAIRS - be sure to review that data.

Question: Convert from L-shaped to U-shaped landing? No Headroom.

(Nov 27, 2012) salah said:
If I have a scenairo where I want to rerout my stairs on the 1st to the 2nd floor from an L shape to a U shape and having a landing in the transition will violate the headroom clearance.

And then I want to add stairs to the 3rdh floor from the second with some headroom clearance issues too.

The only way to accomplish that, i think, is to have winder stairs. Would there be a violation here? if yes, what is another way to account for that?

Reply:

Why would winder stairs themselves be a de-facto code violation? I must not understand the question.

If you mean that there are multiple turns in the stairs, yes that can be an issue as we cite in

WINDER or ANGLED STAIRS.

You can use a landing to make the turn. The landing can lead to a right-angle turn or to a "U" turn as you describe it. If you have adequate space, that is.

Headroom is a separate issue that you can sometimes fix by moving the landing and / or extending the length of the stairway run.

See our HEADROOM articles in the ARTICLE INDEX.

On 2019-03-11 by (mod) -

Thank you for tne question, and of gourse we are sorry you were hurt and wish a speedy recovery.

Perhaps you can post photos of the stairs and railings, and we can offer specific safety comments and follow up questions.

1 photo per comment.

On 2019-03-11 by Maisymog - I tripped over the anti slip strip and fell down the stairs resulting in two fractured elbows and various cuts and bruises

Hi,I work in a house (converted into a hospital ward) which was built well over 200yrs ago The stairs leading to the very top of the house are very steep and curved.

They are now carpeted and on the end of each step is an anti slip strip which is part rubber part metal of some kind and is coloured black and silver, the stair carpet is dark grey .

However I tripped over the anti slip strip and fell down the stairs resulting in two fractured elbows and various cuts and bruises. The stairs curve to the right as you walk down them with the smallest part of each step being to the right.

There is only one handrail (banister made of wood) on the right hand side (where the smallest part of the stairs are) which is painted the same magnolia colour as the wall it is on. The carpet on the riser of the stair from which i fell had also come away fro the nose of the stair. I am keen to know if my employer is at fault here?

On 2018-06-19 by (mod) -

I don't quite understand the straps. Why don't you attach some photos to comments and let us take a look.

On 2018-06-18 by Home Renovator

Staircase in house built in 1994 has 4 pie shaped stairs. There is a one inch metal strap on each of these stairs running up the riser and across one corner of the step. Now we are changing the flooring and these straps are interfering with having a flat level surface. Is it ok to remove these?

On 2017-10-10 by (mod) -

Nice question Solo. My opinion is that a single winder "step" is in effect a triangular landing.

You would want sufficient walking space in the direction of travel and you will perhaps want to restrict stepping into the small apex of the triangle at the inside of the turn. In the article above I include model code citations that include restricting walking access into portions of the stairway where treads are less than 6" in depth - the inside apex of the triangular step or "landing".

In sum I think you can make this work but it's got the same trip hazard as any winder stair - so railings are IMO really important.

Near the top of this article at the start of the article text you'll see my photo of a barrier in a winder stair - this was installed in a stairway in San Miguel de Allende in a restaurant - the owner doesn't want patrons falling down their stairway. See this larger copy inspectapedia.com/Stairs/Spiral_Stair_1647_DJFs.jpg

The barrier pretty much gives a grab point but is not a continuous handrail on the stairway's inside turn. A closer look shows that there are no complete handrails on either side of this stairway - something that would be required in most jurisdictions.

Keep in mind that your local code official has the final legal authority. I'd check there before building anything that's nonconforming.

On 2017-10-10 by Solo "Winder" step in a run?

Can you put a single "winder" stair in the middle of a five step run? It's super awkward and you can't freely use the regulation steps, that are above above and below, because it forces you to avoid the narrow side of all the stairs, regulation stairs, included and there's not a lot of room to begin with. (These stairs are 30" wide)

The bottom stair would mimic the angle of this "pie" step," that's above it, but the bottom step is just a regulation step with no wider or narrower part to it, so it really becomes a third different type of stair in a five stair run.

Also, wouldn't the hand rail be required to be on the side of the steps that has this narrow sided step? I've only seen winders/ pie stairs in sets.

(Well, it could work as a singleton in a landing). Is this arrangement as awkward as it seems to me? Is this code anyplace in the US? Not set in concrete . . . yet. Advice?

On 2017-04-03 by (mod) -

You can also contact your building department directly at

Dallas Building Inspection
City Government Office
Dallas, TX, USA
+1 214-670-8160

On 2017-04-03 by (mod) -

David,

At BUILDING CODES for STAIRS - https://inspectapedia.com/Stairs/Stair-and-Railing-Codes.php we include links to Dallas TX and other building codes including stair codes and specifications.

We also include a few of those links in the bottom of the article above (though it may tak 24 hours for them to show up as we've just updated these two pages).

On 2017-04-03 by David Sanchez

Where can i find about spiral stair specifications dallas tx.show details???

On 2016-04-22 by (mod) - restriction on number of staircase turns

Joe, I have not found, on reading through codes, a restriction on number of staircase turns provided other safety measurements & specs are maintained. Ultimately you could describe a circular stair.

On 2016-04-22 by joe rohrich

In the 2003 international building code, can there be more than one set of winders in a staircase?

On 2015-04-08 by (mod) - stair codes vary among countries

Thanks for your note, John. We understand that differences in standards among countries can be confusing; we'll review the article series to make more clear US, Canadian, UK, Austrailian, German, EU, and other standards differences.

Carsun Dunlop's data is not in error but may differ from stair codes where you live.

On 2015-04-08 by John Carroll

Every diagram from Carson Dunlap needs to be pulled from this document. I looked at 3 diagrams and they all contain glaring errors.

The 2 diagrams on winders are inaccurate. The one on straight stairs says that tread depth can be 9 - 9-3/4" and risers 8 - 8-1/4".

Question: want to reroute my stairs from an L to a U shape

(Nov 27, 2012) salah said:
If I have a scenairo where I want to rerout my stairs on the 1st to the 2nd floor from an L shape to a U shape and having a landing in the transition will violate the headroom clearance.

And then I want to add stairs to the 3rdh floor from the second with some headroom clearance issues too. The only way to accomplish that, i think, is to have winder stairs. Would there be a violation here? if yes, what is another way to account for that?

Reply:

Why would winder stairs be a code violation? I must not understand the question.

If you mean that there are multiple turns in the stairs, yes that can be an issue as we cite in the article above. You can use a landing to make the turn.

...

Continue reading at STAIRS, RAILINGS, LANDINGS, RAMPS - INSPECTIONS, CODES - topic home page, a complete list of articles on stairs, railings, and ramps, their inspection, trip hazards, and good design, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see

Or see these

Stair Construction & Code Articles

• BUILDING SAFETY HAZARDS GUIDE
• CIRCULAR & CURVED STAIRS
• STAIR CODES & STANDARDS - home
• STAIR CODE DETAILS
• SLIP TRIP & FALL HAZARD LIST, STAIRS, FLOORS, WALKS
• STAIR CODES & STANDARDS PDF downloads
• STAIR DIMENSIONS, WIDTH, HEIGHT
• STAIRS, RAILINGS, LANDINGS, RAMPS - INSPECTIONS, CODES - home
• WINDER or ANGLED STAIRS

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