STAIRS

TECHNICAL TERMS IN STAIRS

1 STEPS – a portion of stairway comprising the tread and riser which permits
ascent or descent from one floor to another.
2 TREAD - the horizontal upper part of a step on which foot is placed in
ascending or descending stairways.
3 RISE - this is vertical distance between the upper faces of any two consecutive
steps.
4 RISER - the vertical portion of a step providing support to the tread.
5 FLIGHT - a series of steps without any platform ,break or landing in their
direction.
6 LANDING - this is a platform provided between two flights. A landing extending
to full width of stair is known as half spaced landing and the space extending only
half across a stair is called a quarter space landing.
7 NOSING – the outer projecting edge of a tread is termed as nosing ,usally
rounded to give good appearance to tread and makes the staircase easy to
negotiate .
8 LINE OF NOSING - it is imaginary line touching the nosing of each tread and is
parallel to the slope of the stair.
9 SCOTIA - it is moulding provided under nosing to beautify the elevation of the
step .
10 FLIER - it is a straight step having a parallel width of tread.
11 GOING - this is the width of the tread between two successive riser. Or it is
horizontal distance between the faces of any 2 consecutive risers.
12 WINDERS - these are tapering steps which are provided for changing the
direction of a stairs.
13 SOFFIT - it is the under side surface of a stair.
14 STRING OR STIRNGER - this is sloping member which supports the steps in a
stair.
15 PITCH OR SLOPE - it is the angle which the line of nosing of the stair makes
with the horizontal.
16 HAND RAILS - this is a protective bar placed at a convenient distance above
the stairs for a hand hold .
17 BALUSTER - it is a wooden ,metal or masonry vertical member supporting a
hand rail.
18 BALUSTRADE - it usually consists of a row of balusters surmounted by a rail
and is provided to perform the function of a fence or guard for the users of the
stair way.
19 NEWEL POST - this is the vertical post placed at the top and bottom ends of
flights supporting the handrails.
20 RUN – this is total length of stairs in a horizontal plane, including landing.
21 HEAD ROOM - it is the clear vertical distance between the tread of a steps
and the soffit of the flight or ceiling of a landing immediately over it .
22 SPANDREL - it is the triangular framing under the out side sting of an open
string stair.
23 CARRIAGE - this is a rough timber supporting the steps of wooden stairs.
24 HEADER - this is a horizontal structural member supporting stairs stringers or
landings.
 REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD STAIRS
1 LOCATION - located that sufficient light and ventilation is ensured in
syairway.it should be located centrally so as to easily accessible from different
corners of building.
2 WIDTH OF STAIR - width depends upon purpose and situation for which it is
provided . The usally adopted average value of stair width for public building is 1.8
m and 0.90 m respectively.
3 LENGTH OF FLIGHT - for the comfortable ascent of stair the number of step in
flight should be restricted to a max. of 12 and min. 3.
4 PITCH OF STAIR - In general , the slope of stair should never exceed 40
degree should not be flatter than 25 degree.
5 HEAD ROOM – it should be not less than 2.14 m.
6 MATERIALS – preferably be constructed material which possess fire resisting
qualities .
7 BALUSTRADE - the open well stairs should be provided with balustrade so as
to mini mise the danger of a accident.
8 LANDINGS - width of landing should be not less than the width of stair.
9 WINDERS - the introduction of winders in stair should be avoided as far as
possible .they are difficult to carpet and are especially unsuitable for public
buildings. The winders cannot be dispensed with, they should be provided near
lower end of the flight. Thus instead of quarters space landings, three winders
may be used and for half space landings , five or four radiating risers may be
adopted 10 STEP PROPORTION – the riser and tread of each step in a stair
should be of uniform dimensions throughout . The ratio of the going and rise of a
step should be so proportioned as to ensure a comfortable access to the
stairway.
 FIXING THE GOING AND RISE OF A STEP
In general , the following thumb rules are considered as a guide to obtain
satisfactory result.
1 ( GOING IN CM ) + ( 2 x RISE IN CM ) = 60
2 ( GOING IN CM ) x ( RISE IN CM ) = 400 TO 410 APPROX.
3 ADOPT THE STANDERED SIZE OF GOING AND RISE AS 30 CM AND 14
CM RESPECTIVELY AND FOR EACH 25 MM DEDUCTED FROM GOING ,
ADD 12 TO 13 MM TO THE RISE.
The following rules must be kept in view while deciding the step size . The result
given below are the ones which are practically adopted in the stair
construction.
1) For resi. Building the size of step commonly adopted is 25 cm x 16 cm.
2) For public building the size of step various from 27 cm x 25 cm to 30 cm x 13
cm.
 CLASSIFICATION OF STAIRS
1 . STRAIGHT STAIRS 2. DOG LEGGED STAIRS 3. OPEN WELL STAIRS.
4 . GEOMETRICAL STAIRS 5. CIRCULAR STAIRS 6. BIFURCATED STAIRS.

1. STRAIGHT STAIRS -
 The use of straight stair is to from access to entrance , porch or portico.
 Cannot be avoided in places, where the staircase hall is long and narrow and
the possibility of any other form of stair may not be practically possible.
 If the ascending is step, straight flight may be broken at an intermediate
landing
2 DOGLEGGED STAIRS
 It consists of 2 straight flights of steps with turn between them.
 a level landing is placed across the 2 flights at the change of direction.
 Useful where the width of the stair hall is just sufficient to accommodate 2
widths of stair.
3 OPEN WELL STAIRS-
 it consists of 2 or more straight flights arranged in such a manner that a clear
space called a well occurs between the backward and the foreword flights .
 if the width of the staircase hall less is such that it becomes difficult to
accommodate the number of steps in 2 flights, without exceeding the max.
allowable limit of steps in each flight , a short flight of 3 to 6 steps may be
provided along the width of the hall .
4 GEOMETRICAL STAIRS-
 this is similar to the open well stair with the difference that the open well
between the forward and the backward flight is curved .
 in this from of stairs, the change in direction is obtained through winders.
5 CIRCULAR STAIRS-
 provided at the backside of a building for rendering access to its various
floors for services purpose.
 the circular stairs are commonly constructed in r.c.c ,cast iron of stone .
 In this form of stairs all the steps radiate from a newel post or well hole ,in the
form of winders .
6 BIFURCATED STAIRS-
 this type of stairs is provided in modern public buildings .
 the flights are arranged that there is a wide flight at the start which is sub
divided into narrow flights at the mid landings.
 The two narrow flights start from either side of the mid landing.