| You can see in the
picture above that there are no wood stair risers on the staircase in
the picture above. This is what most people would refer to as a set of
stairs with open risers. Most building codes give you the impression
that the days of an open arise their stairway are numbered.
For most private residences or single-family homes, you're allowed to
have open risers, but they will fall into the 4 inch round sphere rule.
In other words, a 4 inch round sphere can't pass through the riser areas
located throughout the entire stairway.
If you are using a stairway for a building exit, you
will need to close the risers. Make sure that you use the correct
building materials when closing of risers. I worked on a job one time
where I needed to use a minimum of 1 1/2 inch thick lumber to close the
stair risers. This provided the stairway with a one hour fire protection
rating.
What do you do, if you already have the stairway built? You can secure a
piece of wood underneath or on top of, one of the stair treads to reduce
this space down to 3 3/4".
Attention: Don't forget to check with your local
building department to verify any building codes on this website. This
information could be incorrect or outdated. Building codes are updated
regularly and to some building departments have different
interpretations for certain building codes.
Back To
Closed Treads and Open Risers
Maximum Rise
Maximum Total Stairway Rise
Maximum Angle of the Stair Risers
Closed Stairway Riser Options
Maximum Variation in Stair Risers
Stair Tread Minimum
Stair
Tread Nosing Requirements
Floor and
Landing Overhang
Problems with Open Risers Stairways
Minimum Stair Clearance
Painted Riser For
Safety
Stair Guard Railing
Upper Guard Rail with 8 Inch Maximum Spacing
Baluster Spacing |
