"I'm the original owner and did everything myself!"

 

 

 

"I'm the original owner and did everything myself!"

 

Whenever I pull up to a property to be inspected, and the owner/seller and the selling agent meet me at the street curb gushing with excitement about how the owner/seller is the original owner and "did all the work himself," even possibly having built the house, I put extra batteries (AA, AAA, and lithium for the handy dandy Canon Rebel XSi), extra pens, extra paper tablet, in my work bucket. I know it's going to be a long inspection with lots of notes.

Such was the case a few days ago when the stairs to the garage looked like this:

 

The first thing to notice is that there is no handrail. Depending on the codes being enforced in any specific jurisdiction, a handrail is required whenever there are as few as three steps or as little as thirty inches in height to be traversed.

Next are the balusters. In this case they are actual 2x4 studs, spaced greater than four inches, which is the maximum recommended spacing and that used by most of the building codes. Four inches apparently (I don't have any personal experience) prevents the heads of youngsters from getting caught between the balusters so that they can't choke themselves to death.

Then we have this:

 

Landings at both the top and bottom of the stairs should be full and complete so that they don't themselves present trip hazards.

In the landing pictured in those two photographs, I'm not sure whether they owner was using the concrete as the landing, or as just another step. Regardless, it's wrong.

Individual steps should be of the same vertical rise and horizontal run, although slight variances are allowed. This variance, however, is not slight and, therefore, is not allowed.

Following are some things to look for with interior stairways. There are exceptions depending on the year of construction and which code the house was built under, so these are general rules for safety, and who doesn't like safety?

• Adequate head clearance, defined as a minimum of 6'8" for main stairs and 6'4" for basement and service stairs. I'm 6'4" and dislike basement and service stairs for that reason.
• The width of the staircase should be 2'8" for main stairs and 2'6" for basement and service stairs.
• The horizontal run should be a minimum of 9".
• Maximum vertical rise for any individual step should be 8¼".
• Landings at the top of stairs should be no smaller than 2'6" if there is a door that swings towards the stairs.
• Stairs with more than three risers (the horizontal run and vertical rise combined) need a continuous handrail that runs the length of the stairway.
• Stairs need a light in them that can be operated from both the top and the bottom of the stairs with a two-way switch. Never use the stairs in the dark!

Steps and stairways are inherent trip hazards, so everything possible should be done to minimize that hazard.

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1. Unlocking the secrets of your home — All things related to home inspections and real estate, including safety and ongoing maintenance.
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