Staircase in 1 straight flight
- Measure A : Represents the total height between the FINISHED floor at the bottom of the stairs and the FINISHED floor at the top of the stairs.
- Measure B : Represents the total thickness of the floor structure at the top of the stairs. Determines the available surface area where the anchor plate will need to be attached.
- Measure C : This measure is OPTIONAL. Only required if there is a minimum or maximum distance to respect (e.g. obstacle such as a door opening, hole for a staircase to a lower floor, etc.)
Recommendations
- Measurement A should, if possible, be taken at the approximate location where the anchor will land at the bottom of the stringer. This will usually be more accurate than if it is taken directly under the floor structure at the top of the stairs, as the floor may not necessarily be perfectly level.
- Always provide measurements taking into account the finishing materials when the stringer is installed over them, which is usually the case.
- A laser level can help provide a reference line to make it easier to take measurements in locations far from existing structures.
Staircase in 2 straight flights separated by an existing landing
- Measure A1 : Represents the total height between the FINISHED floor at the bend and the FINISHED floor at the top of the staircase.
- Measure A2 : Represents the total height between the FINISHED floor at the bend and the FINISHED floor at the bottom of the staircase.
- Measure B1 : Represents the total thickness of the floor structure at the top of the stairs. Determines the available surface area where the anchor plate will need to be fixed.
- Measure B2 : Represents the total thickness of the floor structure at the landing. Determines the available surface area where the anchor plate will need to be fixed.
- Measure C1 : Represents the distance between the floor gypsum at the top of the stairs and the gypsum of the wall opposite.
- Measure C2 : Represents the distance between the floor gypsum at the top of the stairs and the landing gypsum.
Recommendations
- Measurement A1 should, if possible, be taken at the approximate location where the anchor will meet at the bottom of the stringer on the landing. This will generally be more accurate than if it is taken directly under the floor structure at the top of the stairs.
- Measurement A2 should, if possible, be taken at the approximate location where the anchor will land at the bottom of the stringer. This will generally be more accurate than if it is taken directly under the floor structure at the landing, as the floor is not necessarily perfectly level.
- Always provide measurements taking into account the finishing materials when the stringer is installed over them, which is usually the case.
- A laser level can help provide a reference line to make it easier to take measurements in locations far from existing structures.
Guardrails & handrails
Please note that if we have to provide the fictitious drawings from a sketch without measurements (or photos only) fees apply ($100/h). If the client can provide the sketch(es) himself with approximate measurements already indicated, only the drawing fees already provided for in the order will be charged.
Customer Sketch
The client can send us a sketch of each of the railing sections, illustrating at least the number of steps and whether one end attaches to the wall (or another railing section). Ideally, having supporting photos greatly helps us understand the required configuration.
Fictitious plan (for taking measurements)
We take the configuration appearing in the client's sketch and produce a fictitious version without measurements (therefore not to scale) so that the client can fill in the missing measurements represented by “ ?? ”.
Final plan (for manufacturing)
Upon receipt of the customer's measurements (completed fictitious plan) we produce the final technical drawings to scale with the actual measurements so that the customer can validate everything before production. When everything is approved, we send to production.
Manufacturer's advice
Whatever the staircase project, our team will offer clients recommendations following basic general standards. That said, the client must make sure to make the necessary checks with their municipality and/or insurer in order to validate the viability of the project in their personal context.
Some basic rules for stairs:
- Maintain a step height of between 6” and 8” (top of step to top of step)
- Respect a tread of between 10” and 13” (step nose to step nose)
- Maintain a comfortable angle between 25° and 40°
Some basic rules for guardrails:
- Barotin spacing of 100mm (4”) or less