Stair Step Dimensions

Nashville Home Inspections – Stair Step Dimensions

Staircases seem to always be a part of Nashville Tennessee Home Inspections completed by HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC.  In older homes staircases can present a problem when it comes to dimensions.  Look at the picture below.  Does this look OK?

HINT:  You are looking down the staircase leading to a basement in a house about 100 years old.

The pic below is a closeup of the stairs while standing in front of the stairs in the basement.

ANSWER:  It is hard to know for sure without using a tape measure, but these stairs are very steep and therefore present a falling hazard.  Look at the pic below to see the measurement of the step rise.  Almost 9 inches!

The pic below shows the step run, or horizontal measurement.  Less than 8″!

Proper step rise and run dimensions are shown below in a drawing from Code Check.  Most municipalities use IRC numbers.  In this staircase, both dimensions are wrong.  If either measurement is inadequate the Client for the Home Inspection needs to know because this presents a safety hazard.  When both dimensions are wrong, this is a serious falling hazard.  So the answer is NO, this is not OK.

Thank you,

Richard Acree

Comments in this blog posting are the copyrighted intellectual property of Richard Acree, President, HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC,  and are intended to educate and otherwise assist home owners, sellers and buyers, building owners, sellers and buyers, realtors, real estate investors, property managers, and lenders in the process of owning, buying or selling homes or commercial buildings.  HABITEC is a residential (home) and commercial building inspection company serving Middle Tennessee including Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Mt. Juliet, Hendersonville, Dickson, Belle Meade, Columbia, Spring Hill, Lebanon, Gallatin and more!  In addition to building inspections HABITEC offers Environmental Services for mold assessments, radon testing and water quality analysis.  Additional information about HABITEC can be found on our website at http://habitecinspections.com, or call 615-376-2753. 

Richard Acree is the author of  the HABITEC Home and Building Inspections blog at ActiveRain, WordPress, and Blogger, and Founder of the ActiveRain Group Tennessee Home and Building Inspectors.  All are welcome to join and comment on those blogs and group.   You can also follow HABITEC on Facebook and Richard on Linked.  Thank you!