Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-27
Designing and Constructing Stairway
Arthur {. UAussu. Architect.

Stairway designing and construction Is
not confined by precedent or tradition to
any one form or style, a broad field is
therefore opened to the designer In which
to make the best OF his Unborn originality;
al opportunity which he rarely fails to
avail himself OF. sometimes presenting a
stairway of beautiful proportions and de-
sign and at other times a hopeless In
~congruity. Stairway building is In fact
an art by itself. not only in its design. but
also in its construction, requiring consider
able skill in joinery, as 1t Is usually built
of many light and small parts all Joined
together with concealed bracing and much
use of glue. This calls for highly trained
labor, which has developed into a special
class OF joiners who make stair building
their only work.
The front and back stairways and the
chimneys when located properly on the
first floor usually control the second floor
plan. It is therefore very necessary to
consider the desired arrangement of the
second floor when planning the stairs.
Stairways present more complications than
any other feature of the house. Many
times a whole plan has to be remodeled to
obtain room for a single extra tread. Now
to the layman OF the uncaging designer the
omission OF THIS eAlId lTcdu may HOl SccuS
a vital consideration. but to the old folks
or the small children the extra quarter
inch given to each riser to make up for the
omission is greatly felt before the top Of
the stair is reached. The average house
with the first floor nine and a half feet
from floor to ceiling requires seventeen
risers ~(sixteen treads) from floor to floor.
Then there is the head room above a stair.
Many times II is found necessary on the
second floor to project one of the rooms
over the lower part OF the stair, thus re-
ducing the head room over the stair as you
ascend. When this Is necessary be sure
you do not project the second story over
more than the first four risers dhree
treads) unless your first story is more than
nine and a half feet in the clear.
The first consideration in stair building
"a the plan, second the number and rela-
ton OF risers and treads which will be
dealt with at some length later on. and
the last. but very important consideration,
the design.
For the economy Of space and the mere
purpose of passing from one floor to an
other, the old spiral stairway handed
down to US from time remote served the
purpose admirably. But in the present day
It has almost become ar axiom that win
dows OF any sort should never be included
in a stairway. The plans usually
adopted for the ascent are one run and no
landing or three runs with two landings,
making in the second and third cases one
and two right angle turns. One run OF
stairs from floor to floor is not advisable,
as II makes the ascent tedious work un-
less more space is allowed the stairs for
wide treads than can usually be afforded
I'm the average house. Three runs and two
landings make an ideal ascent. but this
usually necessltates an unslightly promi-
nence OF the under side OF the last run
unless Il is skillfully built in.
One principal run. a broad landing and
a short final run, makes an ideal stair.
This always allows Of considerable space
under the landing that can be used as a
coat closet, a lavatory, a repository for
books OF a roomy nook.
Try TO so plan your home that the stair
way does not have the appearance Of be-
ing crowded. The plan of placing part
OF the stair OF the landing out into a bay
projecting from the outside wall il an abom'
~ination. While l admit that 1t is otter
a handy way OF solving the stair problem
It is one hat should be accepted only Al
a last resort.
The principal features embodied in 4
stairway design should be characteristic
OF the established style OF the house. II
fact, a we'll designed stairway may be saiC
to practically be a harmonious compost