Stairs are often a neglected part of home design yet their role in your home is crucial.  I often receive initial sketches from clients with stairs that are undersized and relate well to only one floor.  It is easy to think two dimensionally when space planning.  Stairs, being three-dimensional, transcend two dimensional thinking.  They are such strong vertical elements, which set against the horizontal elements of your home, often influence your home’s entire architectural form.

    Stairs play an integral role in both your home’s space planning and appearance.  They are critical to the room relationships and movement through your home, as well as the overall feel and flow of your home.  In log homes, their strong architectural characteristics are often more prevalent because of the desire to feature the stairs rather than hide them from view.

    The placement of stairs is critical if your floor plan is to work successfully because they have to support the spatial relationships and circulation on several floors.  A stair location that supports your main floor may completely destroy rational space planning on your upper floor or basement.  Keeping stairs centrally located helps.  They don’t necessarily have to be in the center of your home but they should terminate at a convenient and logical place on all floors.  Placing a stair in the middle of an open plan may force you to have clear circulation on all sides.  This can use up valuable floor space unless you can locate a fireplace or furnishings along one side.

    Because both stairs and entry foyers often are best centrally located, their relationship is critical.  You may need to decide whether you want a stairway dominating your entry foyer or whether it should be set well off to one side.

    The shape of your stair will generally be the outcome of its placement.   While a straight run stair is the simplest, other configurations may be required or desirable.  For example, you may simply not have enough distance available to use a straight run.  Or the bottom of the stairs may work for your main floor, but the top end up at an awkward location.  You may find an L-shaped or U-shaped stair works best.  They can also be more elegant and easier to use. Use landings for transitions.  They can even be used functionally, for example incorporating a window seat.  Winders are both awkward and potentially dangerous and should only be used as a last resort.  Circular or spiral stairs are often desirable because of their strong architectural characteristics.  As a primary stair they should be at least ten feet diameter.  Remember, they come with a higher price tag than conventional stairs.

    Many of the sketches I receive from clients do not allow adequate headroom for the stairs.  This often occurs when the stairs are against an outside wall from near a roof intersection.  In this situation, a second floor structure, or a dormer must house the stairwell, or you must limit yourself to two or three treads before turning away from the exterior wall.  While building codes often allow less, I suggest maintaining at least eight feet clear height above each tread.

    Codes specify minimum sizes for stairs.  You will most likely want to exceed these for aesthetic and practical reasons.  If your stairs are an architectural feature if space allows, make them a minimum three foot six inches wide.  Some log stair designs have the treads set into the sides of log or timber stringers.  In this case, make the stairs even wider to allow sufficient tread width.  On U-shaped stairs, inside handrails will need room to pass each other, adding an additional eight inches or more width to your stairwell.  The significant room required for feature stairs make them even more crucial to space planning.  In tight floor plans, stair location and configuration is critical.  In this case, a central location against a wall is almost manditory, with minimal circulation around it, reducing hallways.  A straight run stair obviously uses the least amount of space.  If you don’t have a basement you can use part of the space underneath for storage, even a small half bathroom in some cases.  Very large homes may want to consider a second set of service stairs.  This would likely only be required in very long plans or where you have specific areas such as a private suite to service.

    The ‘rise’ of your stairs refers to the vertical height between treads. The ‘run’ refers to the depth of each tread.  While respecting codes and formulas, they are also a function of the purpose of your stair.  As a rule, the greater the run, the shorter the rise.  For primary stairs, you will likely want a deeper tread, for example, 11 inches; with a 7 inch rise.  If your stairs are less important decrease the run and increase the rise.  For a short stair such as to a sunken living room, a run of up to sixteen inches with a gentle rise permits you to navigate it with ease, plate and drinks in hand.

    Choose your stair materials wisely.  While log treads are understandably popular in log homes, it is critical that they are extremely dry and stable.  As a natural material, logs are subject to twisting and warping. If they are only supported on a single stringer in the center, I recommend using treads used from kiln-dried laminiated wood.  As wood treads can often be very slippery, you may choose to carpet them.  A full wrap or a recessed carpet on the surface of the tread can be both attractive and functional.  Log handrails and balusters are popular but can be overused.  And they are not generally easy to grasp (see sidebar for safety concerns of stairs).  Consider using other materials such as metal or finished hardwood for a contrast that makes both your log home and balustrate shine.

    Stairs have always been one of my favorite parts of log home design.  Their crucial role in space planning and the opportunity to feature them as a strong vertical architectural element is a fun, creative, and rewarding challenge. 

Sidebar

Safety Concerns for Stairs

Building Codes generally have specific criteria for stair safety.  In their absence, the following guidelines are suggested:

Treads—As a general rule, 2 times the rise plus the run should equal about 25 inches.  Wood treads can be slippery.  If carpeting is not used, consider texture strips or a textured finished using ground nut shells in your finish.

Handrails—To be fully graspable, the rail should be about 1 Ω” diameter countered to the shape of the hand.  They should be continuous over posts and preferably extend past the end of the stair.  They should be between 34” and 38” above the nosing of the treads.

Balusters—They should be spaced so that a ball four inches in diameter can not pass through them at any point.

Landings—Should be used at the bottom and top of stairs.  Doors opening on to atop landing should be a minimum of one foot away from the stair.  When winders are used maintain minimum six inches tread width at the narrowest point.

© Murray Arnott