The total run is the horizontal distance between the
first stair tread and the last one. The picture below provides you with
an excellent illustration of the total run, for a staircase. This is
another critical measurement used by stair builders, to figure out and
build a stairway.
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There's two ways to use your total run or to even
figure it out. Let's start with the first one.
The most common way used by architects, to figure out the total run for
a staircase is to use each individual tread as a starting measurement.
For example, you have 11 - 7 1/2 inch risers, so we now know that you're
going to have 10 treads. You're always going to have one less tread than
risers.
A comfortable stair tread for a 7 - 1/2 inch riser would be 10 inches.
This is when the architect multiplies these two numbers together and
comes up with a total run. 10 individual treads multiplied by 10 inches
will provide us with a 100 inch total stairway run. This is the most
common method used by stair designers for figuring out the total
distance between the first and the last tread.
The second method is even easier, someone will give you a distance or
you will have a fixed distance to work with. Then you will divide the
amount of treads into that distance.
For example, you have 90 inches that you're going to be working with as
your total run. This is the horizontal distance between the top floor
stair head out and the hallway below. You can't extend your stairway
into the hallway, without creating building code issues.
You know that you need 10 steps so you divide 10 into 90 and come up
with 10 - 9 inch treads. If this measurement is acceptable to your local
building department and meets your local building codes, you can build
your stairway. If it doesn't, then you're going to need to make some
modifications to the building.
I told you that I had two methods, but I didn't tell you that they were
both going to be easy. Coming up with the total run for a stairway is
difficult, sometimes in small buildings.
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