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Posted by Crabshell on October 6, 2006, 12:58 pm
>
>>
>>
>>> Your breezeway is below grade on one side? Having trouble picturing
>>> the situation. Or are these steps down from the den, in a well in
>>> the breezway floor, to an exterior door?
>>
>>> Either way, going to a shorter rise will require a longer staircase.
>>
>> The breezeway / den is on a slab. The rest of the house is peer and
>> beam, so there is about a 20" difference from the den to the kitchen.
>> The top of
>> the stair -- sort of a landing I guess you could call it -- extends
>> about a
>> foot from the kitchen. So if I make the first step right at the edge
>> I gain enough room so that the stair doesn't have to be longer.
>> However, since the area behind the stair will become sheetrock, I may
>> have to have the first step extend otherwise what keeps the sheetrock
>> from being kicked?
>>
> You add a hardwood 'riser' under the door opening, leading down to the
> first actual step. But if there is a door between the the breezeway
> and kitchen, you need a landing outside the door.
>
> Can you crawl under the house and see the back of the steps? That
> should be a real good clue if they are hollow or not.
>
> Once you figure out how to demo the old steps, I'd replace with wood.
> Big-box has precut stringers and treads- may have to search for
> non-treated wood, but even the treated stuff would be appropriate
> looking in a breezeway. Or, the local precast concrete place sells
> concrete stringers suitable for use with 3x12 treads of whatever
> material, for that 'floating slab' look you were going for. Are the
> steps square-cornered in sideways profile, or does each step have a
> bullnose on the front. If they have a bullnose, the odds are they are
> hollow precast.
>
>
Just to be clear the breezeway is now an interior room (den). The
breezeway was sealed off on both ends to make the den.
There is no door between the kitchen and den (there used to be and the
frame was even left in place) so no need for a landing. There already is
a riser in the doorway that leads to the first step -- about a 1" - 2"
drop. But I've seen room transitions -- typically 1 foot level changes,
that have no riser, just a drop off to the first step. I'd prefer that
if it doesn't present a hazard or look funny in order to keep the step
from encroaching into the room any further. It is a small (32") opening
between the rooms however so it's not your basic level change within a
single room.
The steps are up against the concrete that forms the perimeter of the
foundation so you can't look behind them. They are separated by a gap
however.
They are squared off with no bullnose at all. They appear to be poured in
place. I also risk digging up the floor slab where they attach,
requiring a patch to make that part of the floor level. So maybe I need
to live with them. I guess that's why room garage and similar
conversions are never perfect.
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