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Visited a 1970s split level and the basement stairs made me rethink my own
My friend's parents just bought a fixer upper in Cleveland, and I tagged along to help them take measurements. The basement stairs were original, narrow, and had this super shallow tread depth, like 7 inches maybe. I've been planning to rebuild my own basement stairs for a while, but stepping on those things reminded me that code is there for a reason. My current stairs are steep too, and I always just assumed it was fine since they've been there 40 years. Anyone else ever found a compromise between keeping old house charm and fixing safety issues like shallow treads? I'd love to hear what you did instead of a full tear out.
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blake3222mo ago
That landing idea is genius, felix147. My own basement steps have about eight inch treads and I added a handrail on both sides last year, which honestly helped more than I expected. Halfway landings sound like the perfect middle ground between keeping the old bones and not eating shit on the way down with an armful of laundry.
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felix1472mo ago
My mother's house has those same stairs and every time I go down them I grip the rail like my life depends on it. Seven inches is rough, but I built a tiny landing halfway down which made it way more doable without gutting the whole thing.
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