The owners of country houses, especially those suffering from insufficient space on the site, often try by all available means to expand the living space of their possessions. One of the best and most popular solutions is the arrangement of a residential attic in the attic.
The process of arranging an attic space into a full-fledged residential attic includes many stages, including the creation of an effective and subsequent high-quality finish. But no less important is the organization of a convenient, reliable and safe interfloor transition in everyday operation. This article will describe and show in detail how to gradually build a staircase to the attic with your own hands.
Carrying out preliminary calculations of the attic mid-flight stairs
Stairs to the attic can be located inside or outside the house. Of course, for all-weather use, the internal staircase looks much more advantageous. This option will be considered further.
The staircase itself can be marching, winding or. If you think in terms of maximum security, then it is preferable to make a choice in favor of the marching option.
But mid-flight stairs have one pronounced drawback - large dimensions in projection onto the floor plane. And a common occurrence is when the area of \u200b\u200bthe room in which the staircase should be located is not so large that you can stop at the simplest, single-flight option. The fact is that if there is not enough space, such a staircase will turn out to be very steep and extremely inconvenient, and even dangerous for everyday use, especially for children or family members who have some kind of disability due to health reasons.
The maximum angle of steepness for such stairs is considered to be 45 degrees. But it seems a little too much in terms of comfort. rise and descent. So it is better to stop at an indicator up to 40 degrees.
So, a single-march option is obtained very infrequently. And in order to achieve the desired angle of steepness, you have to break the rise into two marches (sometimes more is practiced). Between the marches, a transitional horizontal platform is made (it is easier to install and safer in everyday use). Or the marches are connected by a curved section with winder steps (it looks beautiful, but it is more difficult to calculate and install, and not so safe to use).
Further, we will only talk about a marching staircase with a platform, as a simpler and safer option. And who is interested in winder stairs - he needs to go to another page.
TO
how a winder staircase is designed and installed
Drafting a staircase with a running section, carrying out assembly work - all this has a number of important features. Read more about - read in a special publication of our portal.
So, the construction of a marching staircase must be preceded by some calculations.
A. It is necessary to calculate what area of the room will be occupied by the horizontal projection of the planned staircase with a certain angle of inclination. Or, on the contrary, how steep the march will be, built on a specific area allotted to it. If one march for these reasons, is impossible (as often happens), then the stairs will have to be divided into two flights, and the mentioned parameters will be calculated for each of them, taking into account the location and height of the transition platform. In this case, a prerequisite is the same slope angle for both marches.
Prices for wooden stairs
wooden staircase
The dependence of the steepness of the march and the value of its horizontal projection on the floor plane will allow us to evaluate the calculator located below.
When building a house, an equally important stage is the arrangement of the attic to increase living space. True, you first have to build a staircase that will help connect two adjacent floors. And you can do it yourself.
Choosing the location of the future structure
Before do-it-yourself attic, you need to choose the best place for it. Usually the entrance to the attic is made from the hall of the building or the living room, but if the room is open, then it can be done from the street.
Do-it-yourself mansard is considered an excellent option for country estates, as it allows you to save space inside the house. Another similar design is suitable for those who plan to permanently live in the attic. Stairs made of wood or metal with luxurious lace railings will not be able to spoil the appearance of the house. They, on the contrary, will give it a European look.
The only drawback of external structures is that they will have to be constantly tinted and treated with anti-corrosion agents. In addition, you will definitely need to install on the steps.
An internal staircase to the attic floor, made by hand, is a more common design, since it is more convenient to use. In addition, it is not necessary in cold weather to climb to the attic across the street. Such a design inside the house can decorate any interior, especially if it has an original and attractive look. The disadvantages of this method of going up can only be attributed to the fact that such a structure can take a lot of living space.
But the main thing is that the attic staircase, made with your own hands, meets the following requirements:
- did not occupy a lot of necessary and usable area;
- when choosing its location, the total height of the floor was taken into account;
- had a comfortable and safe lift.
Varieties of structures for lifting and lowering to the attic
The attic staircase (with your own hands), the types of which may differ not only in location, but also in the type of construction, has its advantages and disadvantages.
A folding staircase, as a rule, is made if the attic room is rarely used, otherwise it will wear out instantly, constantly requiring expensive maintenance and repair. The main advantage of such an attic staircase is the simplicity of design.
Screw structures are usually mounted in houses with a limited area. They have low rates of convenience and lifting safety. On top of that, a spiral staircase should not be installed if old people and children will live in the house, since it is difficult to move along it.
Simple is very popular. Such structures are considered the most durable and reliable, in addition, they differ from others in their attractive appearance and high safety.
The choice of material for the future design
It is always necessary to focus on the interior design of the room when buying the material from which the do-it-yourself attic staircase will be made. The assembly instructions will help you quickly assemble and install it. But remember that it is unlikely that a metal or glass structure will fit into a room decorated with clapboard, and a wooden structure will fit into a room decorated in a modern style.
Most often, attic stairs are made of metal or wood. But stainless steel structures are still more popular because they have a long service life and are perfectly combined with other materials. But wooden stairs are easier to do with your own hands due to the ease of processing.
Another suitable option for the attic would be a staircase made of concrete. True, it will be difficult and difficult to make it yourself, in addition, additional decoration costs will be required. However, if the house has a large hall, then such a staircase will fit perfectly. Concrete structures have a long service life, are easily repaired and can cope with high loads.
Manufacture of a hatch for stairs
The first step is to mark up the attic floor to avoid hitting the beam. In the absence of flooring, this is much easier to do, but the floor elements are not always available for inspection, because most often during construction, the ceiling of the upper floor is immediately waterproofed and insulated. If they cannot be reached, then a long, thin drill will have to be used to determine the best location. To find out the contour of the future hatch, it is necessary to make several holes in the ceiling. After that, it remains only to draw the surface.
You will need a circular saw to cut the floor covering. In this case, it is desirable to use disks with hard alloy teeth, since fasteners often come across on the way. As a result of the work, a through hole should be obtained, it will become the entrance to the attic.
Calculation of the size and number of steps
A do-it-yourself attic staircase is a rational solution that should begin with preliminary calculations. For comfortable operation, it is recommended to adhere to the following indicators:
- the width of the step should not exceed 28-30 cm, and the height - 14-16 cm;
- the width of the ladder structure should be at least 1 meter;
- the size of the winder steps in the narrow part should be about 20 cm.
If you can’t do the calculation yourself, then it’s better to ask for help from a design company.
Calculating the angle of inclination
When constructing an attic staircase, it is necessary to adhere to the standards. Therefore, a vertical passage should be made no larger than 2 meters from the ceiling to the step. This also applies to the distance between the strapping of the upper hatch to the attic and the step.
The angle of inclination of the structure depends on the height of the lift. For example, a staircase with a slope of less than 35° takes up a lot of free space. But on a design with an inclination of more than 55 °, it will be very difficult to move around, since you will have to go down backwards. It is better to design a functional element that provides vertical connections with a slope of 35-45°. It turns out the most comfortable is the attic staircase made in this way with your own hands.
How to make braids?
The main details of the staircase structure are stringers. As these load-bearing beams, boards with sawn notches for steps can be used. They should be approximately 50 mm thick and approximately 250 mm wide. Most often, two beams are used, but when more than 120 cm is made, an additional stringer is installed.
First of all, it is necessary to stretch the twine along the wall from the ceiling of the attic to the place where the staircase begins. Then, changing the slope of the rope, you should check the number of expected steps and the length of the carrier beam, comparing with the calculations.
Then you need to measure the angles that have arisen between the flooring and the twine, and also between the rope and the ceiling. At the place where the stringer is fixed to the ceiling, a protrusion of at least 10 cm should be left to secure the structure to the attic floor.
After that, the stringer is fixed to the surface of the wall and the attachment points of the steps are marked on it. To determine the verticality and horizontality of the lines for the seats, you should use the building level. The board must be detached from the wall and notches should be made according to the markings. It is necessary to ensure that the cuts are even, and the level of the grooves is suitable for the device steps. The second kosour is cut out similarly to the first.
Do-it-yourself attic staircase: installation
First, the ladder base is mounted on a bar at the bottom. Then, load-bearing beams are fixed to it, and at the top, spikes are inserted into the recesses, previously lubricated with carpentry glue. The resulting structure is connected with metal corners. To strengthen the attic staircase, as a rule, they are used. With the help of these fasteners, additional load-bearing beams are connected in several places.
Installation of steps
They should be installed from the bottom tread. Steps can be fixed with self-tapping screws. Joints must be treated with wood glue.
When mounting the riser, treads are screwed on the back of the ladder structure. After that, they are sewn up to the top of the stringer, and the side line of the steps should be ennobled with a board or plywood.
Handrail installation
If the attic staircase, made with your own hands, has a width of more than 120 cm, then the railing is not needed on it. It's easy to make them if you want. To do this, vertical posts are bolted to the beams, and then fences are already attached to them. Optimal about 85 cm.
An easy way to increase the living space of a small country house is to organize an attic in the attic. In order to bring living conditions in the attic to normal, it is necessary to carry out a number of construction operations, where it is important to organize safe movement from the first floor of the house to the attic. In this article we will talk about stairs to the attic: what types are used, what materials they are made of, what requirements for stair structures are imposed by SNiPs, as well as several technologies for their construction. The information will be useful to all those who are thinking about building an attic in a private house.
Types of attic stairs, their advantages and disadvantages
Let's start with the fact that the stairs to the attic themselves can be installed both inside the house and outside. The second option is rarely used, only if the area of the rooms on the first floor does not allow the installation of a staircase. It is dangerous to operate such stairs in winter or in the rain, so they are covered with visors or canopies of various shapes and sizes. Although not always. The photo below shows an example of such a wooden structure.
Basically, stair structures to the attic are installed inside the house. Purely constructively, three of their varieties are chosen: marching, screw or folding. Each of them will be discussed.
Marching stairs to the attic
This is the simplest design option. Such stairs are very convenient in terms of moving along them. But one very important requirement is imposed on them - the angle of inclination should not exceed 45 °, but, as experts say, no more than 40 ° is better. Therefore, this variety is not always possible, especially in small rooms. Because mid-flight stairs have a large projection onto the plane of the floor base. In fact, they take up a lot of space.
Marching structures are distinguished by the number of marches: with one, with two with a turn of 90 °, with two with a turn of 180 ° and an intermediate platform. In the latter version, the platform can be replaced with winder steps. To give you an idea of what we are talking about, the photo below shows such a design.
Consider each version of marching models separately.
Single-march
This is the simplest design, straight without turns and turns. It is impossible to call it a compact staircase to the attic, it takes up too much space, taking into account the slope of no more than 40 °. If the room through which the transition to the attic is organized has decent dimensions, then this variety can be installed. It is not installed in small private houses.
The advantages of a single-march design are many:
minimum materials from which it is made;
respectively and low price products;
simplicity installation and assembly;
if correctly installed near the wall, then places she will take Little;
can be arranged under the stairs storage places for household utensils or a recreation area, as shown in the photo below.
Installation of a single-flight staircase is a simple process. If it is small in size, then it is delivered to the house ready-made. Such structures are made to order, the main thing is to accurately measure the dimensions of the area where the ladder will be installed. And this is the height of the ceiling in the house, the angle of inclination of the structure, its width and the height of the railing.
Often, craftsmen bring only lumber with them, and they are engaged in manufacturing locally. In this case, all dimensional parameters are measured in the house and immediately transferred to boards and beams. We must pay tribute that the first option is easier. The finished product should simply be installed in the ceiling opening and fixed to the floor of the first and attic floors. If the ladder is located against the wall, then to this plane too.
Pay attention to the photo below, which shows how easy it is to assemble a simple single-flight staircase.
Install two beams connecting the floor of the attic and the lower floor of the house.
They are installed and fixed with self-tapping screws on their internal planes. bars section 50x50 mm.
On bars mount boards acting as steps.
Then they produce railing installation fences.
On our website you can find the most . In the filters, you can set the desired direction, the presence of gas, water, electricity and other communications.
two-march
When the task is to make a staircase to the attic in a small house, they often choose a two-flight design or a screw one. In this section, we consider the first model. They can be of two versions: with a turn of 90 and 180 °. It cannot be said that one of the two options is preferable. It all depends on how high the ceiling is in the house, and how much space in the room is allocated for the construction of the stairs. The second option takes up less space.
Let's look at how the masters assemble a staircase with a 90 ° turn.
First applied to the walls markup intermediate platform. That is, its location height, width and length. The last two parameters can be the same.
According to the labels a site is being built, under which four racks of support made of timber with a minimum section of 100x100 mm are necessarily installed. Racks are attached to the floor, and which stand against the wall in addition to its plane.
supports tied with boards 50 mm thick or beams 100x100 mm.
The resulting structure over board up 30-40 mm thick, plywood, OSB or chipboard can be used.
The site is ready, now a single-flight staircase is installed to it from the floor of the lower floor, which with its upper ends will rest against the prepared site. She will stick to her. The installation technology of a single-march structure is described above.
Now, from the intermediate platform towards the entrance to the attic, another single-flight staircase structure is being installed. Only it is laid along the adjacent wall, and it is additionally attached to it.
Video description
The video shows how a two-flight staircase to the attic is assembled with a 90 ° turn:
A two-flight structure with a 180° turn is a more complex structure, although it consists of two flights, like the previous version. They just fit in opposite directions relative to each other. Often such stairs are installed in the attic in a small room that is not residential. For example, it can be a corridor, a veranda, and so on.
The essence of the whole structure is that the intermediate platform is made wider so that two marches can fit on it on one side at once: the lower and the upper. And since the minimum width of the marching structure is 80 cm, accordingly, the width of the platform must be at least 160 cm. It is from this value that we must build on when constructing this type of staircase.
As for the assembly process itself, it is no different from the previous one. That is, first an intermediate platform is assembled, then a lower march is installed on it from the lower floor of the house, after which the upper one. Both parts of the stairs can be assembled in the workshop, and ready to mount, you can assemble them on site.
It should be noted that today more and more often the stairs connecting the attic with an intermediate platform are abandoned. Preference is given to models with winder steps. They are easier to install and cheaper in terms of material consumption. We will not describe how such a design is made. Watch the video to see it all.
Video description
The video shows how easy it is to assemble a finished two-flight staircase with winder steps:
I would like to add that today the so-called modular stairs are very popular. They are assembled in modules made of metal pipes. Parts of the structure are selected by size. They are easily connected to each other in a bell-shaped way and fixed with bolts, which already guarantees high reliability of fastening. But the steps are made of durable wood. It turns out a kind of symbiosis of metal and wood, which always looks presentable. Metal is often painted black, but here manufacturers offer different options.
screw
These are the most original and unusual stairs with which you can climb to the attic. Their main advantage is compactness. They fit in almost any room.
Their design feature is a pillar, on which steps are mounted along a helical ascending line. Moreover, the shape of the latter can be different: from the classic rectangular to the original rounded.
This design can be installed in the corner or against the wall of the room, and it will not interfere. At the same time, the space around the stairs can be beaten in different ways.
Today, manufacturers offer different options for assembling spiral staircases to the attic. But more and more consumers are choosing modular designs. They consist of pipe segments on which supporting elements are welded. The latter are already metal steps. They will subsequently be finished (covered) with steps made of wood. Between themselves, the modules are assembled using a bell-shaped method, followed by bolting.
folding
What can be said about folding stairs to the attic. In Russia, they did not take root. They are also used, but not as often. Still, our compatriots are accustomed to monumental construction. They do not accept the Western approach to housing.
Purely constructively, these stairs consist of several parts, which are interconnected by hinges. Therefore, they easily fold up to the ceiling or, in general, are removed into the attic room. Such structures are called attic and they belong to the category of ladders. Today, manufacturers offer their huge range. They can be selected according to the length and number of sections, according to the design, as well as according to the type of raw material: metal or wood.
Here are some advantages of this type of stairs:
Maximum compactness.
If necessary, they can put away(fold), and in the lower room they will not interfere.
Manufacturers are doing everything so that transforming stairs have maximum security. Indeed, very often children's rooms are organized in attic rooms, which means that children will mainly move along the stairs.
It is not difficult to expand the device or fold it. All required several manipulations.
Small specific gravity is also a big plus.
Acceptable price compared to other varieties.
We add that in the design of folding stairs are divided into the following varieties:
folding in the form accordion;
telescopic type;
folding- not the most popular type, because this option resembles a single-flight staircase with a large angle of inclination.
Conclusion
Regardless of where the stairs to the attic will be installed: from the veranda, corridor or living room, it is recommended to make it beautiful. Its appearance should fit into the interior design of the room. It should not stand out much, but it must emphasize the interior decoration. Therefore, when choosing the option proposed in this article, we recommend that you coordinate it with the designer whom you entrusted to organize the interior of the house.
Experienced builders and architects recommend not to miss the opportunity to make the most of the space in it when building a private house. There is an economical and easy way to increase the living space in a small house - to equip a residential attic.
An attic is a room equipped under a roof, which is used for permanent residence. To get from the ground floor to the attic, you need a staircase, which often becomes the most difficult technical issue when equipping an attic. In this article we will tell you what options for stairs to the attic are, as well as how they can be compactly placed even with a total shortage of free space.
Attic - living space, which is equipped in the under-roof space of the house. This is the most economical way to increase the useful area of \u200b\u200bthe dwelling, which only slightly increases the load on the foundation of the building.
To equip the attic, it is necessary to provide a special mansard roof, the slope of which is designed in such a way as to make the ceiling as high as possible, and the elements of the truss frame are shifted to the sides to free the central part of the room. Features of the attic are:
- Availability of natural light. In order for a room equipped under the roof of a house to be considered residential, it must have natural lighting in the form of dormer or gable windows. Vertical windows are considered the most convenient, as they allow the use of natural light for most of the daylight hours.
- Large ceiling height. For a comfortable stay of a person in the attic, the height of the ceilings should be at least 2-2.2 meters. In those parts of the attic where the height is less, storage places are usually equipped, furniture is installed on which to sit or lie.
- Availability of ventilation. To prevent the greenhouse effect from being created under the roof, it is better to equip the attic with a ventilation system. The most convenient option is flow-through forced ventilation. It provides an influx of fresh air, removes water vapor.
Note! To carry out the ascent to the floor from, the attic staircase is being installed. Moreover, with the constant operation of the under-roof space, it is much more convenient to use stationary, rather than folding models, but stationary ones, which are safer and more reliable.
Requirements for an attic ladder
Ladders to the attic in a private one are an indispensable element that is necessary if you want to use the under-roof space as a living space. Any homeowner is concerned about choosing the most acceptable staircase design, which will not affect the usable area of the room, but at the same time will be safe and comfortable.
The staircase to the attic must meet the following requirements:
- Strength. The attic staircase must have high strength, its design is calculated in such a way that it can withstand the weight of at least three people of average weight with a small margin.
- Convenience. When operating a staircase, the convenience of the entire structure is very important - its steepness, width, distance between steps. Marches should be spacious so that furniture or large items can be moved along it.
- compactness. Places for installing stairs in a private house are limited in area, so the design must be very compact, not occupying living space.
- Ease. When choosing a ladder, the weight of the material for the manufacture of elements is taken into account so that it does not greatly increase the load on the foundation of the building. Wooden stairs to the attic are quite light, but they are less durable than metal ones.
- Safety. A distinctive feature of a safe staircase is a railing that is installed along its entire length; they prevent accidental falls from a height during the operation of the structure.
- Aesthetic appearance. The staircase should harmoniously fit into the interior styles of the house.
Important! To carry out the manufacture of an attic staircase, it is necessary to calculate the load to which it will be subjected during operation, while taking into account the height of the opening, the optimal angle of inclination of the stairs when passing through the attic floor, and the availability of free space for installing the structure.
Parameters
Many homeowners are wondering how to make a staircase to the attic. The problem of equipping the attic floor is much easier to solve individually. Only taking into account the geometry of the space, the availability of free space and the height of the ceilings, it is possible to select all the structural elements in such a way that they will look organically in the interior.
Design when choosing a staircase is important, but its main parameters are much more important:
- Tilt angle. According to many years of research and experience of builders, stairs with an inclination angle of 30-45 degrees are the most comfortable for a person. However, reducing the steepness of the structure can lead to an increase in its size, which is not always rational in terms of the use of free space.
- Step Height. This design parameter is no less important than its steepness. The optimal value of this parameter is 14-21 cm. If the height of the steps is greater, then it is harder to use it, especially for elderly family members or children.
- Tread Width. When a staircase to the attic is being designed, the dimensions of its steps should not be less than 20 cm.
- Ladder width. Do-it-yourself staircase to the attic is a very real task, however, when designing, we must not forget that its optimal width is 120 cm.
- Railing height. During operation, it must be taken into account that the minimum height of the staircase railing is 90 cm, and the distance between the balusters should be no more than 18 cm.
Remember! Many novice craftsmen are wondering what materials to use and how to make a staircase with their own hands. In order to withstand all design parameters in the optimal range and comply with all safety standards, before building steps to the attic, we make a drawing, determine the required number of stringers according to the calculation of the required bearing capacity.
Types by configuration
Do-it-yourself staircase to the attic is a difficult task, but doable. Especially now, when all the necessary components are sold in construction stores, from which, as from a designer, you can assemble a ladder of the required configuration.
To begin with, it is worth deciding that there is an internal or external staircase to the attic. The advantages of the first option are obvious: the internal design is convenient and comfortable to use at any time of the year.
Outdoor placement is used only if there is no free space inside the house. According to other features, attic stairs are divided into the following types:
Note! If you are equipping an attic for regular use or living, do not install folding, attached or retractable ladder models, they are all only a temporary solution to the problem, inconvenient and unsafe.
Types by material
Experienced craftsmen know that stairs can be made from almost any material. However, the choice will affect the bearing capacity, weight and aesthetics of the structure. For example, wooden ladders are lighter and more inexpensive, while metal ladders are stronger and more durable.
Therefore, when making an attic staircase with your own hands, you often have to find a compromise. According to the material used for the manufacture of stairs, they are divided into the following types:
Important! Concrete stepped structures are almost never used as attic structures, since they are made only in standard sizes, and also weigh a lot and look unattractive.
Video instruction
Also come to an end. It remains only to build a staircase to the attic floor. But which one to choose? How to arrange, inside or outside? And how many marches should the stairs to the attic have? In this article we will try to answer all these questions, and also tell you how to build a staircase with your own hands.
Structures and places of installation of stairs to the attic floor
Stairs for attic floors differ in the types of structures and the place of their installation. And in your choice you need to be based on the needs of residents, the area and technical characteristics of the entire building. Next, we will consider the most popular designs of those used for attic floors.
Types of designs of stairs to the attic floor
Screw - the smallest in terms of the area it occupies than all those structures that will be described below. If you have only 1-1.5 m 2 at your disposal, then the screw structure will be your salvation.
Designs of stairs to the attic: from the simplest to the artsy
The picture below shows a classic single-march design. It is easier to calculate and mount than the rest, but, as you can see, it takes up a lot of space. This can be corrected by increasing the angle of inclination of the march, but in this case it will not be very convenient to climb the floor.
Do-it-yourself one-flight staircase to the attic is the easiest to install
Classical two-march systems are straight, g- and p-shaped. The first type for attics in private homes is rarely used, but the other two are very common.
If there is not a lot of space in the house, then attic stairs in two flights are suitable
Above you can see the layout of the marches, and in the photo below - examples of finished structures. In the space under the stairs to the attic floor, you can either install a heating system, as in the photo, or make a pantry.
Attic stairs: photo of classic two-flight structures
It is also worth mentioning the way the marches are connected. The most familiar option for us is reversal platforms. However, so-called winder steps are often made instead of platforms, you can see them on the left side of the photo.
The device of the stairs to the attic: winder steps and a reversal platform
Another type of attic stairs - folding, attic. Such designs are used more often if there is an attic on the second floor. When there is no need for a ladder, it is completely retracted into a hatch in the attic ceiling.
Folding, compact stairs to the attic floor
Installation of stairs to the attic floor inside and outside the building
Climbing to the floor from the street is a good option if two families live in the same house. Both floors are isolated from each other, no one bothers anyone: there are two entrances to the house, internal and external.
External staircase to the attic: separate entrance to the second floor
The staircase to the attic from the veranda also makes it possible to use different entrances to the living quarters, but there is no need to go outside, as happens when the staircase is external.
In the photo there is a staircase to the attic floor located on the veranda
Installing stairs inside the house is the more common option. If one family uses the building on a permanent basis, then, of course, it would be logical to choose just this type of installation.
Internal staircase to the attic. Photo of the simplest design for lifting to the second floor
How to make and install stairs to the attic floor
Stairs can be made from almost any material, but wood is perhaps the most common. They will fit almost any attic interior, especially considering how popular wood paneling is today. Let's see how this is done using the example of a straight single-flight staircase.
We calculate the parameters of the flight of stairs
- Floor height. We measure the difference between the levels of the finishing floor of the first floor and the attic. Let it be 250 cm.
- Number and height of steps. We divide the height of the rise by the recommended height of the risers - 18 cm. So: 250:18 = 13.88 pieces. Fractional numbers should not be, round up to 14 pieces. Now we calculate the height of the steps: 250:14 = 17.85 cm. We got 14 steps with 17.85 cm risers.
- The total length of the march. We take the width of the steps 27 cm. We consider: 14x27 \u003d 405 cm.
The layout of the stairs to the attic. Start of calculations
Based on these calculations, we make a drawing and put down all the dimensions. Now we measure the distance from one attic floor to another, in the drawing we mark the edge of the second floor. From it we measure the distance to the steps of the flight of stairs, according to GOST it should not be less than 185 cm. If this distance is less, we reduce the length of the march by reducing the number of steps and giving them a greater height.
Table for determining the optimal step sizes
Stringers and treads
For stringers, we need the following formula: height 2 + length 2 √22.65 = stringer length. That is: 4.05 2 +2.50 2 √22.65=4.75m. The width of the stringers is calculated so that it is twice as large as the size of the risers. In our case, this is 17.85x2 \u003d 35.7 cm. More is possible, less is not.
The marking of the slots on the stringers is done using a joiner's corner. If it is not there, we make a homemade one, from plywood and a pair of slats. We number the steps. We purchase boards for stringers with a margin, with the required length of 4.75 m we take 5 m.
Marking the stringers: a) the height of the risers; b) the width of the steps
We carried out all calculations without taking into account the step boards. We measure their thickness, and cut the lower part of the kosour exactly as much. Now about the width of the treads. To their width, we must take into account the thickness of the riser. According to the diagram below, this is: b + d \u003d e, where b is the width of the tread, d is the thickness of the riser. This is a calculation without an overhang, if you plan to do it, then add its width to "b". The diagram shows both options, with and without an overhang.
Do-it-yourself attic stairs: tread width with and without overhang
Important: the stringers should match perfectly with each other. Otherwise, we will not be able to assemble the stairs. After both stringers are sawn, put them together and check how identical they are.platform beam
Its width is equal to the width of the future staircase (90 cm) + two thicknesses of the stringer + 14 cm at the edges. The last digit changes depending on the parameters of the stairs. So: 90 + 10 + 14 \u003d 114 cm is our platform beam. You will need 2 in total.
In the figure you see the ways of fastening the stringers to the platform beam: with and without a cut. You can choose the method that suits you best. On the right side of the figure, there are two versions of the frieze step: ordinary and pushed into the platform. We cut out the required number of steps, then sand all the details.
How to make a staircase to the attic: fastening the stringers to the platform beam and installing a frieze step
Retreating 7 cm from the edges, we make cuts in the platform beams, equal in width to the thickness of the stringers. In the latter, we also make gashes, if the method of fastening you have chosen implies them. Now we attach the platform beams to the ceilings. This can be done with anchors. The figure shows the fixing methods for the upper and lower floors.
Construction of stairs to the attic: fixing platform beams to the first and second floor
Assembling the stairs to the attic floor
We put stringers in the grooves, fasten them to the platform beams with dowels or studs. The kosour, adjacent to the wall, is attached to it with anchors, if the material of the wall itself allows. Now we fix the steps and risers. You can choose any of the methods shown in the picture.
Ways of fastening steps and risers
Now it remains to fix the balusters. At the top we do this with screws, obliquely, at the bottom with the help of dowels. You can choose any shape of balusters and steps that will suit the design of the attic.
