There are common parts to every house. Meaning you find these things almost with out exception on or in every home. So it would stand to reason that common items would be made correctly. Being that they are so pervasive you would expect them to be building 101, the easy stuff. Regrettably there are those that either skip class or were sleeping during the lesson.
Stairs are a great example of a common item and building 101. And yet they are constructed wrong much too often.
Take for instance this porch stairway I found during a recent inspection. Stair stringers, the part the stairs are nailed to, must fall with in certain guidelines to be safe. One of these is the depth of the notch into the wood. The corner of the notch can not be less than 4" inches deep. This is measured from the corner to the back side (flat part) of the stair stringer.
If you look at this stringer you will notice that the notch gets progressively smaller (indicated by arrows) as you move toward the ground. Also the bottom stair is much lower in height (referred to as rise) than the rest, another no, no.
This rear stairway was so poorly constructed (these weren't the only problems) that it will need to be completely rebuilt in order to be safe and properly functional. So you see how being well strung is vitally important to a safe stairway.
James Quarello
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC
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