what's a comfortable pitch and riser height for stairs

[u587162]

In a couple of months we will need to select some stairs for our new hall way which we are moving from one side of the house to the other, so new opening, stairs etc.

My architect's plans show measurements of 3375mm (risers and not nosings) and are 850mm wide for the first set of stairs (15 steps with no turnings) and 2250mm for another flight of stairs from 1st to 2nd floor together with a 900mm quarter turn (12 straight steps and 3 turns).

Mindful of the fact that my parents are elderly, I want to ensure that walking up the stairs is comfortable for them rather than climbing stairs with higher risers which make it feel that you need more effort getting to the top.

I understand that 42 degrees is the max pitch allowed by building regs, but could someone please tell me what sort of degree pitch I would get with those measurements and whether it would be a more comfortable climb i.e. less steep if we had 16 steps instead?

What is generally a good comfortable pitch, riser height etc?

Many thanks.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

For any given angle of the flight of stairs, you can divide it up into any number of steps. The problem is that as you have more steps then they become smaller and you end up not having enough room to put your foot flat on the step. I would measure up your existing steps on your stair case (and your parents) and see if there is any room to increase/decrease any dimension to make them more comfortable to use.
If you are going to use a pre made flight of stairs, make sure that that the steps are horizontal +- 1 mm. I have seen a pre made flight being tilted to fit a non standard ceiling height and walking up them is very disconcerting!
Frank

 

[noseall]

Maximum rise is 220mm and max going is 225mm. Work back from there.

Not sure I can work out going or pitch with the info' supplied, but you must adhere to the reg's regards headroom also.

 

[jeds]

It would be easier if you just gave the overall going and rise of the flight.

 

[u587162]

It would be easier if you just gave the overall going and rise of the flight.

I don't have that information unfortunately, the info in my first post is what is contained in the architect's plans. Hence I'm tryin to understand from comments here, what would be a comfortable rise and going of each step, if headroom and stair length was not an issue.

Thx.

 

[^woody^]

It's not about what is "a comfortable rise" but more to do with how we perceive steps.

Small rises need much longer treads. But we don't like long treads and low steps in stair flights, they are OK for one or two steps, but unnatural for stairs. Mess it up with some random dimensions and your parents will be falling down the stairs when they misjudge tread length and rise depth to be something that it isn't.

If they can't cope with standard 13 tread stairs then fit a chair lift.

 

[roganty]

There was a grand designs program on (series 13 episode 4) about a royal marine who lost three limbs. The stairs he built had a shorter rise and a longer going than normal.

This was to make it easier for him to walk up and down the stairs easier. Kevin McCloud commented that the stairs were a pleasure to use!

 

[u587162]

There was a grand designs program on (series 13 episode 4) about a royal marine who lost three limbs. The stairs he built had a shorter rise and a longer going than normal.

This was to make it easier for him to walk up and down the stairs easier. Kevin McCloud commented that the stairs were a pleasure to use!

Thanks, I just watched it on YouTube.

 

[saladdays]

This website calculates the angle: http://www.blocklayer.com/stairs/